Cross country is a competitive team sport offered in the fall for both girls and boys. Teams consist of five or more runners who all race together simultaneously against other teams. The top five finishers from each team are used for scoring, and their finishing places are totaled to see which team wins. It takes a certain level of discipline and stamina to run the 3.1-mile course, especially when training consists of running miles on hills and grass terrain to prepare for the race.
Almost all of our district’s high schools sponsor cross country where most training and racing takes place at Branch Brook Park. On any given Tuesday in September and October, hundreds of runners from the Super Essex Conference schools line up at the starting line waiting for their race to start. Once the air horn is sounded, these harriers (cross country runners) make their way towards the narrow path of the woods jostling for position to be near the top. The best runners pull ahead and once they emerge from the trail, they begin to surpass other runners in front of them while finding another gear to sprint to the finish line. Congratulations to the East Side girls’ team who recently won their division!