Cross Country Persuasive Speech

The weather is perfect for racing: not too hot, not too humid, not too windy. I dash down the twisted trails in the woods, trying not to stumble on the gnarled roots protruding from the dirt. My spikes puncture the soft earth with every stride, and my legs repeatedly pound on the ground, soreness surging through them. As sweat trickles down my face and dirt smears across my aching calves, I ascend a steep hill, trying to bring forth the strength I have accumulated throughout endless hours of practice. Now that I am nearing the final two hundred meters, I must force my body to begin sprinting. Breathing heavily, I dart for the imminent finish line, trying to beat the uninterrupted tick of the timer. Even though the crowd surrounds all around me, I can barely hear their animated cheers, because all I can focus on is crossing the line before the girl next to me. I can feel adrenaline surging through my body, and I widen my stride to cap off the remaining distance. When I glance at my Garmin watch, a new personal best time flashes across the screen. I realize that all of the gruelling work I have put in is worth the final result: happiness. (Snapshot Lead)

Of the more than twenty million Americans who are running today, most who start do so for the wrong reasons, with the wrong attitude, and tend to lose interest after a few weeks or months. Many quit. This is usually because they become concerned with superficial goals such as time and distance and never discover the more profound mental benefits that running offers. (Lilliefors 15)

Feeling exhausted, I focus on my breathing. I breath in through my nose and then out through my mouth, breath in and out. Repeat. After passing the mile mark, my coach is shrieking for me to relax, because I am on my way to qualify for cross country states. The top twenty girls qualify, and I have been dreaming of this day since freshman year. All I have to do is hold my position, and then I am golden. Suddenly, my legs begin to feel like jello. My running partner slowly fades ahead of me, and I cannot keep up. It feels like I am running backwards as the rest of my teammates pass me one by one. Fighting fatigue, I tell myself I am finishing this race, whether or not I have to crawl like a turtle to do so. I am crossing that finish line.

I go to the grass by where we will line up for the race and I put my spikes on. Making sure every spike is tight; I double knot the laces and stand up. Now my stomach really hurts. The nerves of a runner before a race are one of the worst things to handle. The announcer puts me in line and I take a deep breath once it’s my time to go up to the blocks. I set up my blocks for my standards and take off my sweats. The breeze hits my thighs as my tank top flows from side to side. The sun wishes me good luck just before I start my race. I slightly shake as the announcer tells us, “Runners to your mark!” and I get down. Shaking more vigorously now, my heart is pounding in my chest. It seems like hours waiting for him to yell, “Get set!” “Go!” but once he does I know it’s go time. I push off my blocks, and I run as fast as I can. I can feel my legs moving together in motion as the balls of my feet dig into the track. My spikes are doing their job in helping me grip to the surface as I make my way to the finish line. Neck and neck with the girl next to me I hope she gets winded out near the end and slows down so I can just scarcely make it past her. I feel like I am running as fast as a horse. Crossing that finish line and coming to a slow stop, I breathe heavily as I exhale in relief of being over. I did it, I’m done… and I did well. My legs raw, I get off the track. (AB) Some fellow sprinters congratulate me as I do the same to them. That is what’s nice about track, it seems like most of the people are very friendly. They have no problem congratulating you or talking to you about how nervous they are before a race. We know we are all in the same boat and all we want is to succeed. Every blue moon a distance runner will congratulate a sprinter but I don’t think it has ever happened to me. I don’t know if they are just caught up in their own world or if they are just being stingy about the whole

“In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle or last. You can say, ‘ I finished’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that” - Fred Lebow. I began cross country in eighth grade shortly after my brother joined the year before. He enjoyed it a lot, so I thought it would be fun. I’ve been on the team for two years. I would like to run for the rest of my life. Cross country changed my life positively forever. It taught me to push myself past what I thought was my limit. It revealed to me a great community of people and it taught me to leave my comfort zone.

Cross Country is a team sport and ran by high school and college teams. The teams are divided by gender and have different divisions such as varsity, junior varsity, and freshman/sophomore. Races take place on terrain such as hiking trails, dirt trails, park paths, walking paths, and sometimes roads. The high school races are usually 3.2 miles but can be different distances depending on the course. The winner is decided by what team ran the course the fastest. The individual times are added up and that is the team’s score. Cross Country season is usually August through December in high school. Each high school time usually has a “home course.” Sometimes the course is located at the school but it could also be near the school. Also some courses

After every race, you can vaguely expect what you will see up on the clock. I know, now, how much I put in, is only as much as I can expect to get out. Running has helped me form some ideas that are still fresh in my brain but will hopefully help me become a better version of myself. Just remember, someone may have a lifetime ahead of them, but they need to make the last bit just as good as the

I’ve always had a desire for running and when I heard Richland Center High had a Cross Country team, I knew I wanted to be on it! When I did start, it was tough. There were times my sanity would ask, “ WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU

This will help me in the future to remind me to be happy, and grateful for the opportunity to run as I do in my life. This race changed my point of view of “opportunity” to try and do things right the first time, and if I don’t, then forget about it because I can’t change it. Before this race, I felt as if I failed, everything was over, and the disappointment would never leave. For example, if I ran a terrible race, with a terrible time, I couldn't stop thinking about it for WEEKS. Now, I let it go and forget it ever happened. This also keeps me humble, by not letting me think about my accomplishments for too long, because there’s always a new opportunity. Walt Disney once

The final seconds of a cross country meet when you are sprinting down the straight away, looking at the finish line, trying to beat just one more person, is one of the most mentally and physically exhausting moments I’ve ever encountered. In the Fall of 2014 things just clicked with our girls cross country team. Winning Bi-county, Conference, Sectional, and advancing to Regional and Semi-state, was unexpected to everyone around us. Losing five of our seven varsity runners the year before got us moved from our small school rank of 3rd to 13th. Getting moved ten spots on that list motivated us even more to prove to everyone what we could do without those graduated seniors.

When the gun goes off, the runner should go fast enough to get in a good position before they can settle into their usual pace. Even though they want to do well, the most important thing is to do their best and have a good time. The race’s distance can vary from two miles to a 5k. Eventually, when the runner is almost to the finish line they should give it everything they have and push themselves. When they finally finish, they should drink lots of water and be proud of themselves for completing a great race.

Runners up front trying to keep a pace that ensures them a victory at the end of the race, and the ones in the back pushing harder to keep passing people up trying to get closer to the front. You can see the gator driving at about ten feet ahead of the first runner, passing the 2 mile mark, leading them on the path to victory. As the race seems to get closer and closer to the finish, you see a big cloud ready to release water droplets, and one by one you begin to see them fall. The crowd begins to look for places where they can cheer for their loved ones without getting drenched in water. One would think the race would be canceled but, the rain isn’t stopping the runners from achieving their goal, they only have one mile to go and there is nothing stopping them from finishing the race. Uniforms soaked, shoes stuck with mud become heavy, and knees begin to go as high as they can; but no obstacle seems to be too much for these contenders. It’s always been said either you let it help you or kill you; which seems to be the situation for many of the runners in the competition. The competitors have the crowd’s full attention while the leading runner is about 500 meters away from the finish

I decided to distance myself, I walked down the mountain and set my board down atop the snow. Taking deep breaths, and moving the cold air through my body I slowly began to relax. I realised there were small movements each rider was choosing to make themselves go faster. I then made the decision that in my second run I would not care about the results, I decided that I would be happy if I had control over my board. I calculated the different motions I needed for each jump, roller, and turn. Instead of focusing on the finish line, I would focus on my movements through each element of the course. I pulled out of the gate for my second run and carefully positioned my legs approaching the first jump, I moved into the right position on the series of banked turns, and tucked my body across the finish line. I smiled as I braked following the end of the course, the run did not feel fast, but I was satisfied with my fluidity and

Cross-country is a tough sport- it requires a lot of endurance, practice, and strength. I remember going to my first high school practice as a freshman; I was scared that I would not be able to handle the increased mileage that varsity runs, and talked to the captain about it before we started stretching. She eased my worries, telling me that the practices always sounded more difficult than they were, and then that the other runners were dreading the first practice as well. It made me feel better to know that everyone else felt the same as me, and I was able to relax. Throughout the rest of the season, she pushed me to do my best in every practice and meet, which greatly improved my times. I looked up to her as a captain, and, as a result, looked up to

Welcome to the 2015 Cross-country season, thank you for coming. We are excited to start so we can begin discovering what is in store for this season. We have set lofty goals for this season and it will be interesting to watch the kids develop and strive for the opportunity to have new experiences. Cross-country is a bit different than other sports all participants grade 7-12, male and female work out at the same time and compete at nearly all of the same places. Everyone has the chance to compete at every event. Cross-country requires dedication and time, in return your athlete will have an experience they will remember, be properly supervised by the 4 coaches, learn a great deal about running and themselves, and have the opportunity to