RUNNING WITH THE YOUNG

“Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.” --J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2003.

A few weeks ago, I played hooky for a few hours and it was great. I didn’t go to the movies, or shopping, or fishing. (Think for a moment, where would you go if you were playing hooky?) I went to school—Southwest Middle School—where I had a date with the cross-country team.

When I was in school, girls didn’t have the option of running cross-country so I do not know a lot about how the sport is organized. Coach Gary Miller invited me to run with the team and I’d eagerly accepted. I was curious and excited as I drove through the gap and over to SWMS.

I parked my car and headed toward the cross-country team as they warmed up at the football field. I was surprised to find boys and girls together. It makes sense in that running is running, i.e., more gender-neutral than most other sports, but I had assumed there would be separate practices.

Coach Miller introduced me to the team and we chatted briefly about some of my running experiences. This was just after I’d run the Rushmore (Monumental Challenge) and Denver Marathons. The first is on the Mickelson trail while the latter is run entirely within Denver city streets, making for some marked contrasts. The group was anxious to get going, as was I, so I kept my remarks to a minimum and suggested we hit the streets. I was there to run! Accordingly, we looked to the coach for our instructions.

This was late in the season, so the run for that day was a longer one. Coach Miller explained that they practice every day after school except Friday, when they meet at 7:00 am. About once a week they do some sort of interval training, running shorter and faster, or uphill. Since these are very young runners, he tries to keep the intensity down. Early in the season, they might run out 10 minutes, turn around and come back. Using time instead of distance allows the better runners to go farther and gives him a sense of the varying strengths on the team.

The plan that day was to run to Common Cents and back, a distance of about 4 miles. One of the reasons the team wanted to get up and running was because an additional part of the plan involved Coach Miller springing for Slurpees (Slushies??) for each runner at the Common Cents Store in exchange for a promise that they run, and not walk the 2 miles back. My training drink is Accelerade, so I declined the offer, but I swear I did run both ways.

In fact, I ran 5 or so miles that day. I’ll explain why I got extra distance. When he’s not running with his team, Miller runs with the Black Hills Runners Club, as do I. He’s a little faster than me, which works out well. When we run together, I get to push my pace and he gets to talk while I listen. During our last few runs, he’d been telling me about an eighth grade girl on the team who has a lot of potential. He’d even compared her running style to mine. Her name is Kalie Maiden.

As the team was about to head out toward the Common Sense, Kalie and I were paired up to run together. In preparation for the upcoming All City meet, Kalie was running somewhat longer distances than the rest of the team. An extra mile or so was fine with me. We took off on her route at a brisk but companionable pace, allowing for some dialogue.

I learned that the All-City meet is the culmination of the middle school season, just as the high schools finish with their statewide competition. The team’s goal throughout the season is to run its best at that meet. All 5 middle schools compete, and medals are given out to the top 5 in each race. There are 6 races, boy & girls for 6th, 7th and 8th grades.

The day was a bit chillier than normal; I regretted not having my gloves, and Kalie had tucked her hands into her sleeves. Once we got moving, however, the nip in the air felt good. The leaves were turning beautifully but most were still on the trees, and the sun was in and out of the clouds. Kalie was the leader, as I had never run the route we took before, and she of course was quite familiar with it. We talked about running, school, other sports; Kalie was just over an injury so we compared notes on physical therapists and recovery techniques.

She told me about some past meets earlier in the year where she’d just missed coming in first. She was hoping to do well at the All City, but was a little concerned about the setback she’d experienced with the injury. On our way back to the school, she dutifully stopped and did her stretches.

There was nothing profound about our chat. We didn’t solve any problems or share any major insights. It was just comfortable conversation. Because of my work schedule, I most often run by myself. Running with someone is a pleasure. Running with someone who is at your pace (assuming Kalie wasn’t slowing down to be kind!) and easy to talk to is an even greater treat. I asked Kalie who she usually runs with at practice and she explained that she too usually runs alone as she often runs longer distances than the other team members.

While it was just a regular practice run for Kalie, it was an “eggshell” afternoon for me. Remember those large, confectionary eggs with the hole at one end you’d hold up to your eye and look into to find an entire scene in miniature inside the egg? That’s what I mean; in my mind’s eye, I have an image of running alongside Kalie on an autumn afternoon, delighting in learning a little about her, in running, in being entirely happy just to be exactly where I was at that moment.

I can’t say that I truly was remembering what it is like to be young, as intimated by the quote opening this article. After all, I had given myself license to play hooky for an hour or two while Kalie was having an ordinary day. We adults on the outside looking in at youth often fail to see their worries and the cares. She had homework to do after practice, the meet looming in the future, and all the other concerns of a young lady with goals and ambitions in life. Still, being in the midst of the team and spending time with Kalie filled me momentarily with that lightness of a limitless future so characteristic of youth.

Kalie and I met up with the team at the Common Cents; most everyone kept their word about running and not walking back. It’s clear there is a lot of fun built into the cross-country season. Twice during the season they run to a local park, meet the Stevens High kids and the West Middle kids and play running games. At another practice, the team faced an urban orienteering course. Everyone got a map and then ran around to find the points delineated on it. Coach Miller also tries to build in a game day on a weekly basis.

All too soon it was time to return to my “real” life. While I could not attend the All City Meet, I avidly poured over the results in the Journal in the days following. Kalie did win the All City Meet. She ran 12:40 in the 3000-meter race, well ahead of her nearest rival, who finished in 13:14. Congratulations, Kalie! Her time shows she could probably run a 5K in about 21:00, according to Coach Miller.

Running with someone from a different generation is invigorating. It provides an opportunity to gain new insights and to change your perspective, if only temporarily. Coach Miller invites parents to run with the team at any time, but I understand some of the kids may not be too encouraging if their folks indicate a willingness to do so. (Something about a “geek factor” there.) If you’re interested, but your children veto you running with their teams, there’s a group called “Girls on the Run of Pennington County,” you could contact. They describe themselves as “a life-changing, non-profit prevention program for young girls in the 3rd through 8th grade” whose mission is to "educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living." Learn more at: http://www.gotrpennco.org/

In another Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling wrote: “Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.” (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2005) Spend some time with young people in the days ahead; it might just make you wiser and smarter!