From your Assistant Athletic Director, Sarah Rhea
C.S. Lewis said, “It takes courage to live through suffering.”
Running is a sport that is not for the faint of heart, no matter the age. It requires continued choice to embrace the grind and the suffering training brings. Developing strong bodies and even stronger minds, Cross Country demands athletes push past their limits and recognize a deeper level of strength within. This level of fortitude allows them to accept that hard work and dedication are not meant to limit the pain that they will feel, but to give them the desire and heart to not only endure it but press into it. Running Cross Country takes courage. Choosing courage and pressing into pain will almost always result in joy. Joy mingled with pain, but resulting in a marked depth of character. As a Cross Country coach, it excites me to see our student-athletes pursue this challenging endeavor.
If you are at either our North or South campus around 3:45, you will notice a large crowd of students who have traded their navy and grey uniforms for running clothes. With the help of twelve volunteer parents and teachers, over one hundred 2nd-5th grade Grammar students are finding the beauty in training for their Cross Country season at The Academy. The volunteer coaches, led by Mrs. Tana Schuermann and Mrs. Abbie Wickersham do a wonderful job laying the foundation of joy in the pursuit of fitness through running. These young runners are inspired by over 30 Dialectic and Rhetoric Cross Country runners who are well into their own season.
Every Tuesday in September, our Dialectic and Rhetoric teams will be hosting a mile race for our Grammar runners to compete in. These young runners will come and run hard in an effort to do their very best. It will challenge them, and they will walk away each week feeling a sense of accomplishment and joy. The races will begin at 5pm and will take place outside at our South campus. Come and be inspired by those who are choosing courage in the face of suffering through the sport of Cross Country. You will no doubt see the joy in running on display.