Working hard or hardly working?

If I learned anything from high school it was this: find something you want, figure out a way to achieve it, and work as hard as possible for it.  For my four years spent there, I had one goal.  Everything else in my life was secondary.  Hereford was once known for its prestigious running.  I wanted to restore the name of Hereford and show the rest of the running world that Hereford was not just a cross country course but a team of proud dedicated runners with a rich history.    

I worked as hard as I could every day.  Every day I was confronted with the same choice; do I run until I pass out or take it easy?  Taking an easy day was rarely an option and usually only done because the coaches told me to.  This level of intensity quickly caught on to most of my teammates.  It didn’t take long for us to see the results. 

It’s true what they say, “success breeds success.”  The new incoming classes would see how my class trained and think that we’re all crazy.  But then they’d see us at races and notice something.  We were winning.  They wanted to win too.  It didn’t take long for the new class to become just as crazy as mine.

It isn’t a hard concept to understand.  The harder you work at something, the more you’ll appreciate it.  For me, running was my life.  For four years I had feared my final day of practice.  And on that day I experienced a level of pride that I can only imagine happens seven or eight times in a lifetime.  Those years were the most painful years of my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  

Word Count: 292

FREE BEER! XXX! F*@#

Generation Desensitized.

“’sup, bitch!”

  “Not much, man.”

This is a normal greeting between me and my roommate.  Most people on campus that are my age are unaffected by this, but this greatly unsettles parents in tour groups.  This is just one example of how my generation has become desensitized. 

Two people are sitting on a park bench; a skate boarder crashes and gashes his leg.  One person says to the other, “I’ve seen worse on Youtube.”   This is not uncommon amongst my generation.  We’ve been scarred by the media so badly that we seem to be nearly unaffected by almost anything.    

word count: 100

King of the Hill

Hereford is evil. Hereford is gruesome. Hereford is terrifying.  Hereford is hell.  These are just some of the things you will hear about the Hereford cross-country course.  The course has been the host of the Maryland state cross-country meet since 1957 and the world famous Bull Run since 1996.  Most knowledgeable high school runners and coaches considered Hereford to be the “toughest 3 miles in cross-country.”      

Being a former runner from Hereford I take great pride in hearing outsiders smite my home course.  But I’m not the only one.  Every year, the whole community of Hereford is buzzing about Bull Run.  Many come to the school to watch the races. Nearly all of them bring a cow bell to clang as the runners go by.

In years past there have been attempts to move the state meet because parking had become a serious problem.  But once the community got wind of this they did their part to save the “Hills of Hereford.” Several businesses now allow their parking lots to be used.  And most notably, the farmer that lives across from the high school opens up two of his fields for spectator parking.

The course is not only important to the community but to the runners as well.  As the state meet approaches, some teams commute to the Hereford Zone so they can better prepare themselves.  Upon completing the course, the runners will feel exhausted, nauseous, lightheaded, and disoriented; but they will also feel something else, pride.

word count: 247

King of the Hill

Hereford is evil. Hereford is gruesome. Hereford is terrifying.  Hereford is hell.  These are just some of the things you will hear about the Hereford cross-country course.  The course is the host of the Maryland state cross-country meet and the world famous Bull Run.  Most knowledgeable high school runners and coaches considered Hereford to be the “toughest 3 miles in cross-country.”      

Being a former runner from Hereford I take great pride in hearing outsiders smite my home course.  But I’m not the only one.  Every year, the whole community of Hereford is buzzing about Bull Run.  Many come to the school to watch the races. Nearly all of them bring a cow bell to clang as the runners go by.

In years past there have been attempts to move the state meet because parking had become a serious problem.  But once the community got wind of this they did their part to save the “Hills of Hereford.” Several businesses now allow their parking lots to be used.  And most notably, the farmer that lives across from the high school opens up two of his fields for spectator parking.

The course is not only important to the community but to the runners as well.  As the state meet approaches, some teams commute to the Hereford Zone so they can better prepare themselves.  Upon completing the course, the runners will feel exhausted, nauseous, lightheaded, and disoriented; but they will also feel something else, pride.

word count: 242