Have you ever thought about running Cross Country? No not track, cross-country, there is a difference between the two. Cross Country is all running no throwing or sprints, races are 3.1 miles long, and practices are up to your coach.  

Anyone who thinks that they could just randomly say “Cross Country is so easy.” I invite them to try it. There is so much more than just running. What is the most important thing about running Cross Country? Mental Toughness.  

The sport of cross country is 90% mental, if you think about it, you’re done, if you think about the pain you’re done. The Run and Become website says that “Running exhaustion is often mental rather than physical.”  

High School Cross Country and all cross-country teams compete in the fall. Although the Scott Skyhawks Cross Country coach Mikey Smith says, “Cross Country is a summer sport that you compete in fall.” He continued to tell us that this was because you must spend the summer “preparing” for the races and actual practices. “There is no thing called conditioning in cross country, we just run anyway.”  

A common misconception of cross-country runners is that all runners are very fast, every single cross-country runner has to be fast. Wrong, some people just aren’t fast. Someone might be able to beat someone in a 50-yard dash but the same person that lost might be able to beat them in a two-mile race. This is because some people have fast-twitch muscles and some people have slow-twitch muscles.  

Someone with fast-twitch muscles are no doubt going to be fast. Their muscles are stronger and can move faster than someone with slow-twitch muscles. Some people are just built to be distant runners. A cross-country runner might win a 5-mile race and then go to a elementary school and lose the 100-yard dash.  

So before you go try to beat the cross-country runner in a race, run that 5k with them.