18 / FEATURES
THE PATRIOT
PERSPECTIVES
Runners battle the cold to stay in shape through the winter. BY NICHOLE THOMAS FEATURES EDITOR Head pounding, heart racing, hands freezing, kids running. Through all of the pain, students choose to run in mind-numbing weather to prepare themselves for track season. Feet hitting the pavement, the boys take off down the streets and trails around South for their warm up. Winter running is overseen by the cross country coach JJ Wannamaker. Even though he is the sponsor, the boys seemed to be running everything by themselves. Before practice they plan their warmup and their workout on their own. Starting ahead of the boys ran the group of girls starting their workout. Both groups had little conversation, no doubt blocking out the cold while their bodies warmed from the exercise. After a mile, they headed back towards South. When arriving, not a single boy was out of breath, walking off those two miles with ease. For the average person, running those two miles would’ve been the entire workout, but this was not the case. They continued warming up on the field with stretches. The close bond of the group was evident. Inside jokes and sharing familiar stories occupied many of their conversations.
For senior Mason Fitzmaurice, this is the last winter running season he will have. He seemed to be taking the practice very seriously, running ahead of all the boys during the workout, pushing himself to the brink.
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We can wear gloves or just put our hands in our sleeves but you usually just have to ignore it because it’s too cold.
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Junior ELI PRICE In some/most practices, the boys run shirtless, wearing only shorts or pants in freezing weather. A few boys said they couldn’t feel the cold because of the running, except in their hands and ears. Although, at the end of practice, the cold seemed to be getting to a couple of the boys. Because of this, I asked the boys if
PHOTOS BY ABBY COX
they ever got sick as a result. “The guys who run every day are sniffling until about March, it’s okay though,” junior Ben Curtis said. As a bystander, the cold seeped through our clothes as we watched the boys run and our hands became numb to any sensation. It seemed impossible to do anything but run, run away from the cold, run away from the stress of school, run into the freedom it brings. “Definitely the fingers [get the coldest] and the fingertips. Yeah, just the fingers in general. We can wear gloves or just put our hands in our sleeves but you usually just have to ignore it because it’s too cold. [The cold] gets too much,” junior Eli Price said. When asked, “Why do you run?”, everyone seemed to struggle with an answer. Running is part of their routine, it is part of who they are. Their goals for many practices is to improve their endurance, but there’s more than that. Watching the determination on their faces and the playfulness and joy in between reps, you could tell running was their passion. “Running is great. I can’t stop,” Curtis said.