The Spartan Harrier First Edition
The Newsletter for Past, Current and Future Spartan Runners
August 2009
Why the Spartan Harrier? Welcome to the first edition of the Spartan Harrier (see dictionary.com definition below). Har-ri-er n. 1. Any of a breed of small hounds originally used in hunting hares and rabbits. 2. A cross-country runner. The purpose of The Spartan Harrier will be to link past and future Spartan distance runners to the current boys and girls teams at West Bend West. For alumni, it will be an opportunity to keep up with the program that they’ve left behind (and of course to find out the start time of the annual alumni race). Equally important, the newsletter will be a way to communicate to the younger athletes in the area who have yet to discover the greatness of Cross Country and distance running.
Offering information and education to future Spartans can only help draw more talented middle school runners to the great sport of Cross Country (and track). While the newsletter may be published sporadically throughout the year…and take on all kinds of forms…here are a few topics it could feature throughout the year: Upcoming Events: Notes can be posted about upcoming meets. Meet Recaps: In-season recaps (just in case the Daily News misses something in their “coverage” of the teams. General Running Articles: or at least links to good articles on the net. Record Boards: We’ll attempt to piece together the archives of Times and Records to post occasionally.
Coach’s Corner: Coaches Hammer and Fulton may write an article of interest every so often. Captain’s Recap: An in-season view “from the top”. Alumni Feature: It’d be nice to catch up with former Spartans who took their running to the next levels. Guest Articles: Any athlete that wants to submit something running related… Accomplishments: Set a new PR? Break a middle school record? Eclipse your mileage goal for the summer? Post it on the brag board. Middle School Update: We’ll try to post some running feats of future Spartans if we can get them. Off-season Happenings: Summer runs? Pancake Breakfasts? Team outings? Road Races? YMCA Running Club? Let’s hear about them.
Spartans Open Season at Home after Alumni/Inter-squad Come September, you’ll have to take to the road to see the Spartan CC teams in action for the rest of the season. But August will feature an alumni and inter-squad meet (10:00 AM at nd the HS grounds on the 22 ), followed by the annual Jamie Block Memorial th Invite on August 29 . Boys will run a 4k and girls a 3.2k course. For the Jamie Block Meet on the th 29 , races begin at 9:00 AM. The boys and the girls each have a Frosh/Soph race and then a
Junior/Senior race. This is a format somewhat unique to the Jamie Block. For the first race of the season, it offers an opportunity for athletes to compete for medals against their own grade level, while building into the early season. As many as 700 runners could participate in this year’s invitational. The course at the high school grounds may not be your traditional, rolling cross country venue…but it offers better than usual vantage points for spectators, and a great
finish down the straightaway of the stadium track. In the girls meet, Cedarburg is the defending champion, followed by Neenah and Oshkosh North. WBW th will seek to improve on their 10 out th of 14 finish in 2008. On the boys side, WBW finished behind only Neenah last year in a nd strong 2 place finish out of 15 schools. Come see the teams in action!
“Why do I run?”
– a transcript from an anonymous runner/blogger found on the net…
I never thought that showing up at that first junior high cross-country practice would change my life so much. But it has. The experiences I have lived through during my running could and never will be duplicated. The friends I have made will last forever and the memories will last even longer. I'm sure that most people see runners as people who enjoy pain and discomfort. But that is not the case, I assure you. I do not enjoy working so hard that it becomes hard
to stand or going so far that I wonder if I can make it back home. But those negatives are nothing when compared to what running brings me. No one sees the sunset or sunrise like a runner. No one sees the ordinary world like a runner. It's beauty can sometimes be almost overwhelming. Only while I am running do I notice the beautiful world we all live in. I've run through nature's best and worst conditions and I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.
All too often we sit in the comfort of our own home and wait for the rain to stop, or the summer sun to go down. Maybe I run because during my runs I have never felt so alone, so much a part of a group, so accepted, so strong, so determined, so focused, so invincible, or so free. Still, I don't think that's why. I think the answer is much simpler to say (yet impossible to describe). I run for myself, and not for any other reason. I Run For Myself.
Ideas for the Spartan Harrier?? The idea behind this newsletter is not to have the editor CREATE lots of articles. Rather to accumulate, edit, and then distribute information in an organized fashion. So the content will only be as good as the collective contributions of the Spartan Harrier Community makes it. If you have suggestions or contributions for this newsletter, please send them to wbwspartancc@yahoo.com. Anyone interested may “subscribe” to the newsletter (or unsubscribe for that matter). Be sure to forward it to anyone you’d like and have them send a request to wbwspartancc@yahoo.com if they’d like to get future editions.
Distribution This letter will be e-mailed to anyone interested in “subscribing” to it. Current Spartans will get it forwarded from their cross-country coach. If you know an alum or a young runner that also might be interested in getting each edition, feel free to forward the newsletter to them. But also have them email a request to wbwspartancc@yahoo.com so they’ll receive it directly in the future (then you won’t have to forward future editions).
Facebook – Archives of The Spartan Harrier will also be posted on the West Bend West Cross Country group on Facebook (when we figure out how to do that). There are currently 66 members of this group (mostly alums)…so posting the Newsletter to this page will be an effective alternative to trying to hunt down e-mail addresses of the alums.
Resources WBW Boys Coach – Scott Hammer’s E-Mail: shammer@cashort.com WBW Girls Coach – Naomi Fulton’s E-Mail: nfulton@west-bend.k12.wi.us
Link of the Month Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association – State Rankings, Meet Results, etc.
www.wisconsinrunner.com/wccca/