The joys of running: high school cross country and beyond

People crowd the edges of a cross country course, each of them fighting for their words to be heard as they cheer for teammates, family members, and friends. As the first of the racers come flying through the home stretch, the clock continues to tick, and the athletes battle for first place.

One of these athletes is Cloe Ruth, who is the girl’s Cross Country team captain at Silver Creek High School. Cloe, as well as the rest of the Cross Country team, are about to compete for State in the following weeks.

This is Ruth’s final high school cross country season, and she says that she is preparing to leave for college. “The biggest thing that I would take away is the teamwork and leadership that it takes to be on the team,” Ruth says.

“When I first came, I had so many great leaders with me [and felt very welcomed] so as I got older and got more into a leadership position, I always wanted to ensure that everyone else feels welcome, just like I did,” Ruth says.

However, Ruth’s running career will definitely not end after high school, and not simply because of how fast she is. She has many 1st place wins under her belt and holds the school 5k record of 17:25.10.

Just like how Ruth’s love of running will follow her, that passion has also followed Rebecca Stull. Rebecca Stull is a mom of one of the runners here at Creek, and also a recreational runner herself. Though she didn’t run cross country in highschool, Stull believes that running has changed her life for the better.

She says that this was possible because “you can [run] anywhere, anytime. So even when I had no money, I could always exercise. I think that’s why it’s followed me, no matter where I went or where I lived or how much money I had, I could always go for a run.”

Stull also has many childhood memories of running races with her family, specifically her dad, which is another reason she enjoys running.

She has run in races such as the Buffalo Run and many other community races in Grand Lake county. Stull enjoys racing due to the strong community aspect it brings.

Some runners, however, may not enjoy racing as much as Stull does. The boys team captain at Silver Creek, Daniel Whitt, advises that you shouldn’t focus on other people during a race.

“Just focus on yourself and getting better, and you’ll make improvement,” Whitt said. “Like instead of comparing yourself to others just focus on yourself and your work, and you’ll get better.”

Ruth agrees that focusing on yourself is important.

“The most important thing is passion and hard work,” Ruth said.

But racing is just a tiny snippet of the work, time, and effort each of these athletes has put into the sport. Many people know how difficult Cross Country is, but few realize that there are many rewards to putting in the hard work.

Megan Bader, one of the sophomore cross country athletes at Silver Creek High School, recounts that though cross country is difficult, she truly loves the sport.

“Now [running] just makes me so happy. Like, if I’m having a rough day, I can go out and run and I feel so much better. And it just feels awesome” she said.

Bader elaborates on her love for running by describing that though cross country is definitely difficult, “it also feels so worth it at the end. Cross country is hard, and I think that’s one of the reasons it’s so rewarding. You feel proud of yourself afterward, and it’s like, wow, I just went out and did that…I worked hard for something.”

Update: During the 4A Region Colorado State Meet on November 2nd, Cloe Ruth finished in second with a time of 18:18.10 (minutes) and Megan Bader finished in 10th with a time of 19:17.50.