There’s nothing that sucks more than being at a cross-country meet in the freezing cold, not to mention it was a muddy, rainy, windy and miserable day. Correction: nothing sucks more than sitting in wet clothes.
We drove 5 hours to Lehigh University in PA to race at the Paul Short Run, with over 40 schools from the East Coast.
How the day went:
Oct. 2
7:00 a.m. A ten-minute “shake out” run in the hotel’s parking lot… I’m sure the cars going by thought we were crazy or something because who runs around in circles in a parking lot? Only Bonaventure XC.
7:10 a.m. Well, someone asked if we were a volleyball team, so that’s pretty much how breakfast went.
8:30 a.m. Getting a text from coach saying I have 30 seconds to get downstairs before the bus leaves isn’t quite ideal.
9:00 a.m. We arrived at the course, and it was a TORRENTIAL RAINSTORM. It was muddy everywhere, so the fact that I washed my sneakers before coming was a complete waste.
10:15 a.m. Four runners from the team ran in the Women’s Open. I envied every one of them for getting their race out of the way because they could now eat pumpkin spice cookies with a carmel kiss in the middle.
12:15 p.m. Men’s College Brown Race. From afar, it looked like a herd of animals running from how fast the people in that race were going.
1:00 p.m. Finally, the top 7 ran after waiting a long, painful 5 hours. By then, the course was so wet and muddy that it could’ve made a great slip and slide. Maybe next time.
2:30 p.m. The bus departed and we were on our way home. I’ve never, ever wanted to get off a bus so badly in my life…. Needless to say, I got to reword myself with a hot shower when I got back to campus.
(A quick shoutout to my parents and sister for driving hours to come watch me race for about 40 seconds).
Picture was taken after the first meet of the season.
Blonde Italian Runner 