The Nike Cross Regionals (NXR) is the one meet where competitive cross country high school runners come together to compete. The air is cold and the trail is covered in snow.
Every stride, mile, and practice led to this moment. Five Gardner Edgerton runners decided to take the challenge and ran. Bryson Delong is a senior runner who was excited to run. He noticed how “sluggish” the trail was because of the snow but didn’t give up.
“The trail was completely covered in snow, when you were running it was a complete sheet of ice even in your spikes. While we were in our spikes and getting ready to get out of the start line,” Delong said. “Every single step my opponent took, especially with me, you could hear a crunch sound. I would probably run in the snow again, it would be fun. But the worst conditions to run in cross country is snow. Heat is not as bad as snow because it’s easier to breathe compared to running in the cold. The pros while I was running at NXR was that not everyone could run their time so they couldn’t really go all out. For the cons every single step I was taking I was slipping, I couldn’t really get a grip on the ground because it was ice or snow. Later on in the race there were certain parts of the course that were a complete slug or like grass so people could get a grip but other times they’d slip.”
Cooper Peyton, a senior who decided to go to NXR to have fun. Peyton noted how “unique” the trail was.
“It was cold and snowy, but it was a nice experience,” Peyton said. “It was a very unique race because of the snow. It was something I’ve never experienced before, but the cons are the snow obviously made me slower and I wanted to get a PR and I didn’t get a PR because the conditions were troublesome. Maybe I will run in the snow again. I will be running in college but I don’t know, maybe it will snow sometime.”
Mathew Brooks, a senior, was optimistic about running at NXR.
“NXR was a very fun meet. The vibes were awesome, there was a lot of snow and it was very cold,” Brooks said. That’s what makes cross country very special, it’s the challenge of the sport, you run a very far distance, in different conditions. I didn’t really like the race part of it, it was very hard but that’s what makes it fun, it’s meant to challenge you, you’re not supposed to feel the best you’re supposed to give it your all. I would definitely run in the snow again.”
Ciera Lynch a Junoir runner, our number one runner on the girls distance side. Choose to run in Colorado in the snow.
“It was great but it was so cold with a ton of snow,” Lynch said. “I decided to go because it’s a really great opportunity to run against fast people and college coaches also watch you run. It’s a big deal, and if you get the opportunity you should go. Running in the snow is both a pro and a con cause most people never get to run in the snow their whole life, so that is super fun. But it’s like running through slush or sand so it definitely slows you down. But if you don’t care about your time it’s super fun.”
Wyatt Schrepel, a junior runner, ran at NXR for the first time and had a good time.
“The race was a good experience getting to run in the snow,” Schrepel said “I would say for the cons the cold and the course was not the best, it made it hard to run fast. But the pros was it was a good experience to run in the snow, I will be doing it again next year. The one moment in the race that I thought I did the best was at the end when I was finishing. I was excited that I finished because the race was really hard and people were cheering. It was really cool.”
