Cross Country: Health Benefits of the World’s Best and Worst Sport
Cross Country, the best and worst sport out there. Many view it as a surreal escape from daily life, and many, many more see it as an insane pastime.
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Despite the name, the distances aren’t quite as insane as literally running ‘Cross Country’. The country simply refers to the terrain: out in the country. It originally started out as something more similar to present day Steeplechases, with participants running around the church. They would have to evade or conquer obstacles like hedges, ditches, or water. It eventually evolved into the event we know today from private schools in England organizing School vs. School meets.
While distances can vary slightly depending on the course, most high school races are 5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles. In larger races, such as the Spartan Invitational held in Ohio every year, the start of the race is a large field. Each team is assigned a box, which is usually only around 3 feet wide; teams usually have their top runner in front and the rest of the team follow behind, or bleed into other boxes if they are unoccupied. After a gunshot or horn, the runners must push to the front of the pack, as the course quickly narrows down. A course may be almost totally flat, or have lots of hills and obstacles. There are 4 stages in a race – the first is the opening dash for pack position. The second is the longest part, being able to take anywhere from 2 miles to 3 miles. This is the essence of the race, the steady jog and passing of the slower runners.
However, around 4 kilometers, some runners ‘hit the wall’, where the body no longer has a ready source of carbs to use, and must resort to fat. This is much less efficient and requires heavier breathing.
The fourth and final stage of a race is the sprint to the finish. Depending on the place of the runners and the course, the final race to the finish line can be less than 100 yards, or as much as 400 yards.
Training for Cross Country can be very demanding, and very monotonous, as there are only 3 areas that runners train in: Endurance, Speed, and Strength.
The most obvious, endurance, is the largest and usually longest part of the workout. An average endurance workout can be anywhere from just 4 miles to upwards of 7 miles, often with very short or no breaks. These workouts build up cardiovascular and cardio-respiratory health, which lets the body oxygenate blood more efficiently. Workouts such as pace runs and tempo runs fall into the endurance category.
But a course isn’t just a flat line to the finish. Strength workouts focus on being able to ‘push’ up hills and over obstacles. Most common are hill workouts, which are just continuous loops up and down hills, usually up a steep grade, across the hill, then a slow grade back down for a recovery. These workouts strengthen the leg muscles like the calf and hamstring. Other workouts can include weights, because the body needs strong upper body muscles to pump the torso with the legs.
The final type of workout is speed workouts. These are comprised of multiple reps of short distances, for instance, 100 meter dashes, or 300s, which steadily get faster as the number of reps increase.
At the end of a training session, it’s important to stretch out the muscles used and loosen up, to avoid cramps and soreness. Using RICE (Rest, Ice, Constriction, Elevation) on minor sprains and aches will lower the chances of swelling and pain.
The physical benefits of running are many, as long as you are willing to put the effort into it. Also, it is very much a team sport: unlike in football or soccer, everyone gets to participate. Crossing the finish line is an amazing achievement, regardless of whether it’s first place or last place.
