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Running is something I never liked. In fact, I hated running. I had always thought that running long distances was really boring and painful especially not having a soccer ball with you. During my junior year, I trained with the cross-country team on the days I did not have club soccer to get fit. I never was crazy about running but I really enjoyed the people and the feeling of pushing myself. So during the summer going into senior year I decided to actually give it a go. I started training a little on my own. I did my first test run in June and realized I was really out of shape. I ran a 27:25, which is literally a 9-minute mile.

I felt really discouraged but I knew that there was a lot of progress to be made. I started training a lot during the summer to get better and by the start of the year I was a lot faster. My first race I got a 24:04 which for not running a ton wasn’t bad and felt I was seeing progress. Over the course of the season I kept setting new records for myself. For some reason my brain does not let me take anything easy so I was pushing myself to the limit every practice to get faster. I wanted to Pr every race I could and beat my previous time. There is just something innate in me that whenever I do something competitive like this I have to give it a 100%. The feeling of running on the course never made me feel free nor did I really ever enjoy running its self. I enjoyed knowing that I was challenging myself and knowing that by the end of the race I would cross that finish line and make myself proud with a new Pr.

My family

The cross-country team as a whole meant a lot to me. JP just gave me the workouts and let me do the work, he never forced me to do anything and was always really supportive as a coach which is what I needed. And my varsity boys. They were my brothers out there. When we circled up and prayed, shouted: “slow feet don’t eat” and then sprinted back, that was the best feeling before a race. I appreciate you guys letting me be there and motivate you guys (or at least feel like I was) right before we were about to give everything for one another. That’s what brothers do, they give everything to see one another succeed and I couldn’t ask for better men to be apart of this group. 

My Brother

And… that brings me to my brother, my actual brother. My brother and I always had a strong bond over the past couple years especially after we started sharing a room together when my grandmother moved in after her house was destroyed in hurricane Ian. I didn’t really mind since I knew it was important for my grandma to make a home with us now. When I first started the season my goal was to break 7 minute miles on a 5k but really beating my brother was the ultimate goal and then rub it in his face a little (just a little). I’m kidding but I really wanted to beat my brother (still do) and this was a goal I set. I don’t back down from a challenge and I was really confident in beating him but every race goes by and he still manages to beat me, sometimes only by 9 seconds. You know in the end when it came down to getting to regionals I never beat my brother but this little freshman named Cody did. Cooked us both. So I was the alternate which was actually good since I wanted to start playing soccer anyway, but it was a let down, all that hard work I put in and I didn’t even make it to regional? But I had to remember this isn’t about me. Most people think that cross-country is mainly an individual sport but it is as much a team sport. The whole point of running your heart out shouldn’t be just for yourself but to win for your team and inspire your other teammates to do better. Even in practice I always pushed myself because I wanted those little wins and I always ran with my brother and Cody because I wanted them to have the same. See I knew that they were going to beat me but if they were going to do that they better beat me good. At least I gave my all and pushed the others a long the way. This is what teammates do, this is what brothers do. They push each other to be the best they can be everyday and that’s exactly what we did. 

States

Now, I have one more little story. Obviously I was very emotional after districts. I was pissed at myself that I didn’t do better and sad that this was the last race I would ever run in (or so I thought). In regionals I still did everything with my guys, warmup, huddle up, cooldown run. I wanted to give my all for the team even if I couldn’t run and I was prepared to do this for states as well. Actually it was a good thing I went because Aaron forgot his jersey and I gave him mine so he could run. I was excited for states even though I wasn’t going to run I still was going to have fun and cheer on my team best I could. Everything was normal, we did our run around the course, did stretches, and now it was time for football. We had to go over by this wooden fence because all the field was taken up by tents from other teams. Anyway, we were playing and everything was good, we were trying to be careful though because of that wooden fence that was near us. We had a couple of close calls but didn’t really think anything of it until my team was on the 4th down. Allister had to throw a deep one and he threw it deep. I turned my head around and saw Aaron running after the ball and almost getting it but he slipped a little and then that wooden fence I was talking about crashed into Aaron’s face. Not a pretty sight. Long story short he had to go to the ER and get stitches, he ended up being fine. After Coach got Aaron help we were packing up to go back to the hotel and Coach throws my jersey at me. I guess I’m up. You know I was feeling the pressure and we had fun that night playing games and stuff but I could only think about running. I didn’t want to let my team down, I had been training with soccer for 2 weeks so I felt a little out of shape. And then before I knew it we were up on that hill and the gun went off. The race went fine, but that last push was the hardest run I had ever done. I was in so much pain and was crying it hurt so bad but I had too. This is for my team, even if my score didn’t really matter. Giving everything you have for your team is everything. When I crossed that finish line I fell over dying, but I was sad it was over. This was the last time I was going to be able to run with my guys, last time I would be able to scream “slow feet, don’t eat”, the last time I could pray over us before a race. I will always cherish these memories of my team and I will forever remember strong and loving family I had in cross-country. I Appreciate and love you all. 

Love,

Luke