Bluffton Race Recap!

 

    Last Friday marked a very exciting personal milestone: my first collegiate cross country race! ONU XC kicked off the season with the Bluffton Beaver Dam Invitational. Although we got beat out for first by Findlay, it was a great race with a ton of strong performances throughout the whole team. 

    If you've never heard of Bluffton University, don't worry, neither had I. Bluffton is an adorable little town that is home to an even smaller university whose mascot is a beaver (hence the name of the meet). The meet was held off to the side of the road in a couple of fields and a shaded gravel path. One advantage of the course was how flat it was, which was definitely a plus, but the gravel did make the footing a bit rough in a couple spots on the course. This course actually reminded me a lot of one I raced a lot in high school, I'm not sure if it was the hot and sunny fields coupled with the tree-shaded paths or the less formal racing atmosphere.

    Everyone came to compete, but there were only a handful of teams in attendance (one of them was an ONU alumni squad) and the fact that it was on the side of the road should be kept in mind. Another really fun aspect of the race was getting to compete against one of my favorite rivals from high school who now runs for Findlay's team right down the road. I love having a friendly face form an old chapter of my life carried into a new one.

    Speaking of friendly faces, my parents made the drive to come cheer me on in my first collegiate race. They've both been my biggest supporters throughout my running career and it meant the world that they were here for this milestone. Hearing my dad shouting for me to kick it in at the 800 meter mark and seeing my mom taking a million pictures gave the whole experience a tough of familiarity that was greatly appreciated. 

    Racing is honestly one of my favorite things to do in the entire world and racing at Bluffton was a reminder of how grateful I am to have the opportunity to continue competing for another four years. It was all joy and excitement leading up to this race and I'm hoping to keep that energy flowing this week as the Dennison meet approaches. This Saturday will be my first time racing a Six-K and I'd be lying if I said I know exactly what I'm getting myself into. One more kilometer shouldn't make that much of a difference in theory, and I'm hoping its the same in practical application. Hopefully I speed through it with flying colors. Either way, I'll let you know how it goes next week!