e Grit of Cross Country by

WENCHY LAI

Cross country is not a sport for the weak.

It requires tenacity, discipline, and a genuine love for running. In my experience, cross country builds character and teaches athletes valuable lessons. One of the greatest lessons that the sport has taught me is that there are 2 great pains in life – the pain of discipline and the pain of regret.

No matter how tired I am, there is no greater pain than dropping out of a race simply because I wanted to give up. Cross country teaches you grit: the ability to hold on when your legs are aching in fatigue, your lungs are gasping for more oxygen, and every part of your brain wants to quit.

You look behind, and there are runners accelerating, ready to make the pass. You look in front of you, and the greenery in front never ends. You check your watch, and it feels like it’s been forever. Yet it’s only been 500 metres, you’re already panting, and you’re not even a quarter of the way there. You close your eyes for a second, breathing deeply into the air, which is a mixture of sweat, grass and mud, and tell yourself, “ is is hell, but I love it. I signed up to be here, I’m ready to give it my all and nish this race on empty!” is was the rst cross country race of the year. It was only week 4 of university at the time, so there were many fresh faces who were eager to run. As a secondyear club captain, I already ran the Parliament Hill racecourse last year, but I forgot how draining the course actually was. e season had gotten o to a brilliant start – there was a 30 minute delay because one of the marshalls had gotten lost. As you can imagine, this was fantastic for us since we had all just vigorously warmed up! e race atmosphere was a mixture of nerves and excitement. Not even the returning runners knew what to expect. Yet there were two con icting things that were certain – pain and the incredible satisfaction you feel once you nish the race! e race got o to an unusual start.

Men and women huddled together at the starting line, which was awkwardly situated on a muddy and grassy hill. We were told that the women’s race would be 5.6km, but there was an error with the course direction, causing all the women to run an extra 800m. While on the surface, an extra 800m doesn’t seem long, when you’re genuinely su ering, it makes a di erence! To complicate matters, my shoelaces came o , but there’s no stopping when you have a competitive re in your body.

To say that the race was incredibly challenging is an understatement.

We were met with a di cult course, ranging from several uphills, downhills, roads, grass, and mud. It was so tiring, and it felt like so many people were overtaking me throughout the race. Yet I pushed on, refusing to give up. I loved how rewarding it felt when completing something so strenuous.

Once the race nished, the team congratulated each other, cooled down and took photos together. It was a heartwarming moment. I was so proud of every single member of the team. ere is no better feeling than conquering a gruelling and unforgiving course with your teammates.

We are all uni ed, experiencing the pain of discipline rather than the one of regret.