Why did you START running? [Archive] - dyestat.com Track Talk

lasseviren

06-30-2005, 09:09 PM

i couldn't play football in 6th grade. so i ran cross in that fall because i was bored. i used to think i was a sprinter, despite evidence to the contrary (7th and 8th place finishes). the first time i tried an 800 (6th grade) i got 5th and got a ribbon which i thought was pretty cool when i was 10. the rest they say is history. the cross races in 6th grade were one mile, that was quite fun. from my first mile that i ever ran on a track to my most recent 1500 (3:49=4:06-7), i've improved about 4 minutes over 13 years or about 18.46 seconds per year. not too shabby, wish i could still drop 18 seconds over the course of a year, that would put me at 3:31 next season, now that would be cool.

Rhodes-Devey

06-30-2005, 09:15 PM

i played lacrosse and hockey as a kid and had pretty good endurance, my coaches would have me out twice as long as other kids because i didnt get tired as fast. then in gym in 6th grade, the coach talked about middle school kids doing high school sports. there was no hokcey or lax during fall so i asked if there was a sport for running, turns out it was cross country. so i told him that i could do that. some girl in my gym class told me that i could never do a high school sport, that was the only real reason i tired out, to prove her wrong. so i made the freshmen XC team in 7th grade and quit lax and hockey in 8th to run track

BeanerRrun

06-30-2005, 09:16 PM

My coach was looking for runners during our freshmen mile run in P.E. and i ran around 5:40 without any training. So the coach asked me to try it out and i did. and i loved it so now i havnt stopped running so now my mile as a Soph is 4:38 :D

p_finxc

06-30-2005, 09:38 PM

i was bored of soccer so 8th grade i decided to do XC since we got a flyer about it passed around. so i figured "what the hell its something to do". I ended up being 2nd best out if 25 guys; 1st was a guy in my class who has been my teammate in every HS season. pretty good for our lousy no workout 2-a-week practices in which all we did was run our two mile xc course

Mattyrun

06-30-2005, 09:56 PM

In 4th grade we had a elementry school meet and i ran the 200 i won by like 50 meters. I played soccer basketball an baseball. Then in 5th grade i ran the 400 an won by like 50 meters. In 6th grade i joined the xc team i was ok i ran the mile in 540 in 6th grade them we went the Middle School Championship i ran the B race an won (i was liek 4 feet tall) id ive never stopped runnin after that!!!

XCspectator

06-30-2005, 10:29 PM

I got my son into running in earnest in 7th grade because there is a lot of favoritism in baseball and basketball in small and mid-size towns. Locals with connections to the coaches get picked to play. In running it is all about the clock. It is pure sport. No umps, no real rules, just run like heck!

I know it's been said before but one unique aspect of running is that the worse you are the more playing time you get!

sharp.distance.

06-30-2005, 10:33 PM

Everyone has always told me I was fast since I was a lad, I was faster than everyone and I could out-sprint anyone in the neighborhood, even though I was out of shape and did no sports. Unfortunately I've never had much natural endurance, I always did pretty poor in the school mile-runs.

My 9th grade year I was very lazy and didn't do any sports, so my mom told me I had to do XC. I didn't believe her, so I didn't run at all over the summer. The day before practice she walked into my room telling me guess what, you'll be at Cross Country practice tomorrow. I went out and ran 4 miles, and about died, just to see if I would be last on the team. Went through the season and I luckily wasn't, infact I ended up 10th on the team out of about 25. Not so bad I guess considering it was my 1st year and I hadn't run at all over the summer.

So I still considered myself a pretty bad runner, until indoor track came around. Since track is of course much more speed-oriented than XC, I was finally able to shine. In the goof-around practices I was beating some of the senior sprinter guys, so that did a lot for my confidence. The first indoor meet I won my 500m heat in 1:15, not too great, but that indoor season gave me one great thing: a new found respect for running.

So here I am now, training to try to gain some endurance for the XC season, which I've never had. It's gonna be tough, but I hope if I can get atleast some endurance, it will be able to mix with my speed to give me a successful Cross Country season :)

woo sorry for typing so much

slowmilerva07

06-30-2005, 10:36 PM

missed the bus in 6th grade, went to track meeting
then I didn't make varsity in soccer this year, so I started running all outdoor meets and not just invitationals.

runningbaboon

06-30-2005, 11:04 PM

I did cross country to get in shape for lacrosse in 7th grade and quickly became obsessed. I quit lacrosse and did track instead during the spring and have run ever since.

GBaby842

06-30-2005, 11:12 PM

i always felt i was fast as a kid and i played a couple of sports...going into high school i decided to run frosh XC to get into shape for basketball...i then realized i was pretty decent at running and had no shot at making the basketball team...the next two years i contributed alot to my team and im hoping to step it up next year in XC

Fanya

06-30-2005, 11:23 PM

After getting schooled in the gym mile in 7th grade with a 7:38, I looked back at how I had spent my recent years sitting on the couch watching TV. I realized that I was pissed at myself for being slower than the other kids, but also that it was my own fault. I started running about 10-15 minutes a day and before I knew it, I was running a mile in 5:30 a couple months later. I didn't run my freshman year due to injuries and motivation issues, but when I discovered dyestat in late '03 it resparked my interest in running... particularly when I found out that it only took a couple years of commitment to get really good.

Now I run because of the time goals I have, though when I finally reach those I'll just be running for the sake of running, I guess.

Tha Fonz

06-30-2005, 11:24 PM

cause i suck at everything else.

Plus, when it comes to running, the only balls that matter are the ones in your undergarments.

ARAGON FroBoy

06-30-2005, 11:54 PM

My mom went to the Olympic trials and my dad was invited to Nationals 3 times. It's in the blood. That and I'm good.

It's nice to see humble people on here.

Me -- it all started when I outran the cops in a heated arson chase, thats when I discovered my legs were sonicthehedgehog-worthy..

no

Gym mile like everyone else

isleepwithjello

07-01-2005, 12:04 AM

I started running mostly because my mom made me do it even though I hated it... then I was actually decent at the 400 in middle school but I still hated to run so I never practiced. Once I went to high school I knew I was going to do it because I had no other sports to do winter and spring season and my parents didn't give me a choice.

I ended up being good at it even though I hated it up until this year. :p

DCsoloRunner

07-01-2005, 12:27 AM

since kindergarden I always won the 40yard dash on feild day even though I wore army-boots and fatigues to school untill 6th grade(I was a weird little kid) so in middle school it was just the natural thing to do

nj800runner

07-01-2005, 12:49 AM

I've never lost a gym mile, includes 3rd grade up. Thats what made me run.

Milesofsmiles15

07-01-2005, 12:59 AM

i started going to the track in 5th grade with my mom when she walked, i did 5 miles on saturday and sunday
i dropped 1:30 off my gym mile

zachuk24

07-01-2005, 01:03 AM

I wanted to be like my brothers.

WoodRunner

07-01-2005, 01:11 AM

tired of the politics and other crap in "team sports". so my sister, who ran in highschool, convinced me to do xc instead. i sucked ass all freshman and most of sophomore year and really didnt like it, but for reasons i don't know i stuck with it and became decent. now its the shiznit

chtrack1669

07-01-2005, 02:14 AM

when i was in like 4th grade we did a run 50miles over spring and you get this award.....i ended up doing like 69miles(haha not really like 71 but close and i like 69 anyway soooo.......) and yeah i was like whhhhooooo this running stuff is kinda fun

daydream_believer

07-01-2005, 02:39 AM

in 6th grade when we ran the mile we had to do it in groups, i was in the second group which went off a minute after the first and i still beat everyone :D and then i stopped caring about gym. but i moved to a new state when i started high school, and my first new friend did xc, so i was talked into it. plus im uncoordinated, and the school had no swim team.

AzN at LARGE

07-01-2005, 09:01 AM

i joined in 10th grade to put on my college application. now i do it for the competition.

MontyXC1

07-01-2005, 09:21 AM

I ran it to lose wait in 9th grade, didnt expect to love it....

when 10th grade rolled around i dropped 4 minutes on my 5k to under 18 minutes, now i think about running more than i ever thought i would

CaryacadrunnerXC

07-01-2005, 10:02 AM

I don't know, one day I joined the short lived track club at our elementry school in 5th grade, then I became an xc runner in the fall of my 7th grade year, I have no idea why I started running, I just thought "hey, that would be cool to run" and I did it.

riggles

07-01-2005, 10:42 AM

In middle school I was pretty fat and didn't do any sports mostly because I didn't like the atmosphere of competitive team sports like soccer and baseball. In gym class I was lucky to run an 8:30 mile. Then my parents made me run XC 9th grade because they didn't want me to get too fat and they were both runners. I stuck with it mostly because of the guys on the team, they were very helpful, friendly and cool. In the beginning I had dreams of getting rock-hard muscles and impressing the ladies and not being "the fat kid" anymore, but now I'm just "the skinny fast kid." But by the indoor season I began to get really into it because it was something I could keep pushing myself in and keep seeing rewards. I dropped about 11 minutes off my 5k time in about 6 months to a 19:45, then dropped another two minutes in the next 4 months and have been progressing ever since just because I love to run and push myself.

isleepwithjello

07-01-2005, 11:05 AM

riggles

07-01-2005, 11:24 AM

Yeah...but I gave up on that...girls are weird. Running is my girl now. It feels good and you can do it whenever or wherever you feel like it.

krsully06

07-01-2005, 12:01 PM

My dad is a runner and I grew up with him and his friends always telling me how good I could be, how I was built to be a runner, but I totally hated running until a few days before freshman year I went on a run, went to the first practice a few days later, and have been loving it ever since. Gonna be captain this year and can't even imagine life without running.

scar

07-01-2005, 12:05 PM

i used to play soccer and when we would have to run laps, i would always be way out infront of the kids, and my brother had just graduated and was a runner, so my dad made me get out and try it

aviatorshades12

07-01-2005, 06:18 PM

Well this goes back a long long time to when I was a young boy. I wasn't the brightest boy or so says that principal guy with his pencil and chart but like my momma always says "Stupid is as stupid does." I had braces on my legs and I walked all weird. But theres was this girl, her name was Jenny and one day we were walking down the road and these mean boys on bikes started throwing rocks at me and then Jenny tells me, "Run Forest Run!" so I started running and then something magical happend.....my braces came off my legs and well I could run like the wind blows. Now I'm gonna go to college and play some "fuhball"....I dunno what I'll do after that, maybe I'll join the Army. But it's like my momma always say "life is like a box of chocolates, never know what your gonna get."

AzN at LARGE

07-01-2005, 06:26 PM

and of course you meet the shrimp loving Bubba, one of my all-time favorite characters.

BABAR

07-01-2005, 06:36 PM

I wanted to be like my brothers.

same here, i liked going to see my brother and the high school xc team run and then figured id try it.

LongRedLine4H

07-01-2005, 08:34 PM

I used to play rec soccer, but the only reason I was one of the better kids playing was because I could get the ball before everyone else and didn't get all that tired during games, even when I played the whole time. I never got better at soccer, since I lacked the coordination for footwork, ball control, etc, but when 8th grade rolled around I was walking down by the fields the school tryouts were held on (I lived four houses down from the school) I saw my old gym teacher running with a group of kids I was friends with. The gym teacher, Coach Brown, saw me and yelled "Hey Craig, do cross country!"

So I did.

Three years later, I'm finally improving.

Kryptonite

07-02-2005, 12:07 AM

For my brother

Dalau

07-02-2005, 12:21 AM

My mom went to the Olympic trials and my dad was invited to Nationals 3 times. It's in the blood. That and I'm good.
who are your parents?

BlueFlameBeanie

07-02-2005, 01:29 AM

my dad said i would be good if i wanted to be, and he said that eh'd only 'make' me run for 1 summer, then i'd join the XC team and i'd never have to run again. it was the longest summer of my life i think. and i ahted every singel run. but the i liked the team and dicided to do it again... and we might win the team title at state this fall. + my little sister is going to do it too. same story as me. lolbut she has me to run with. so how cold it be as bad? :p

RapidsRunna

07-02-2005, 10:49 AM

I had always played baseball my whole life, and in 8th grade I tried out for the JV HS baseball team. Unfortunately i was quite out of practice and I think i may have needed glasses/contacts, so when we were taking grounders i kinda missed and it nailed me in the mouth... knocking my two front teeth out. I had a friend who was a runner and he said i should come out for track, so i did. So I started running and now in my 10th grade track season i did a 9:58 3200 and a 4:34 1600 just barely missing state. I ran a half marathon a couple weeks ago.. something i never would have imagined myself doing. Now I'm moderately obsessed with running.

citius5000

07-02-2005, 05:01 PM

i just woke up one day and decided i wanted to run. i was going to start in xc my 10th grade year, chickened out. Then i was going to join in indoors, but my x-girlfriend joined and i didn't want to see her more than i had too. finally in outdoor i decided to stop being a wuss. by outdoor my junior year i was the number one distance guy on the team... :)

other rj

07-02-2005, 06:02 PM

i wanted to be fast and dodge paintballs. but sprinitng didnt work out so well and i went to my local track club jenks america tc and i was way better at distance than sprinting. so freshman year did xc and dropped 3 minutes off my 5k in the first year. and i won every mile race at the freshman meets. and now im going to be a soph.

The KO

07-02-2005, 07:58 PM

Parents wouldn't let me play football in ninth grade. And my sister got dead last at the state meet for xc. So then I decided I had to bring some glory back to our last name...er, at least not have everything think we were a slow family.

bad hammy

07-02-2005, 08:53 PM

cause i suck at everything else.

Plus, when it comes to running, the only balls that matter are the ones in your undergarments.

That's my story too. Non-existent hand/eye coordination makes the ball sports tough to excel in. I wanted a high school letter and I could reasonably put one foot in front of the other. It grew on me. Also, I like the lack of dependence on others – when racing you are pretty much on your own.

Albatross

07-02-2005, 08:57 PM

I used to play tennis and wasn't very good at it. I could still beat people, but my matches usually tended to be very long (some were over 2 hours), so I decided I needed better endurance and would do cross country. Even though I had always hated running and sucked at it before, I started to love it for some reason. I promptly quit tennis and started running year round.

UP Trail Runner

07-02-2005, 10:37 PM

I was extremely out of shape so my parents forced me to join cross country. Best thing they ever did for me.

xorunner287ox

07-03-2005, 12:26 AM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i tried soccer and volleyball and i wasn't very good at either because i have absoluletly no coordination. but from soccer i could tell that i had some speed, so i went out for spring track in 9th grade. my cousin in italy is also a really good runner, and his friend is a world-class marathoner so when i came back from a trip to italy in 9th grade i guess that made me want to try running.

wilson

07-03-2005, 01:04 AM

my brother was really good

and i was just always really fast i remember like making fun of kids older than me and just running away from them

track girls r hott too

breakthebarrier

07-03-2005, 11:48 AM

Cause my dad was a professional marathoner

flukerun

07-03-2005, 11:54 AM

I had just moved, again, it was the summer and I didn't know anybody so it was something to do. I could do it whenever I wanted to for as long as I wanted to...pretty much it just killed time for me.

p_finxc

07-03-2005, 03:30 PM

yeah i can play most sports pretty well, 'cept for football cuz i'm 5'7 and 120lbs, but i just did running as somethin to do in m.s. and ended up loving it. as said before i used to be a soccer player

AK911Carrera

07-03-2005, 04:49 PM

I ran cuz i had high cholestrol(the bad one)..
My doc told me taht running helps a little with cholestrol...
Cholestrol runs in my family...

chris

07-03-2005, 05:13 PM

My 6th grade gym teacher told me to join cross-country after I whooped the rest of the gym class in the mile.
same

xcworldchamp

07-03-2005, 06:36 PM

started out playing football, after losing about 27-28 + pounds, lost more fat than that and replaced it with muscle, got too skinny for football, my school is so small I'd have had to play varsity in 9th grade, I played jv in 8th, so I ran cc, fell in love with the sport

Wham Bam Thnk u Sam

07-03-2005, 08:03 PM

I was fat.

Then I was anorexic.

Running was the only thing that allowed me to feel comfortable in my body.

rhssprinter

07-03-2005, 08:42 PM

Everyone always told me I was fast and I'd always whoop everyone in gym sprints and in field day so I joined track in 8th grade and made the 'a' team relay. This year I joined track at my high school and at first I hated it - too much work and I wasn't the best anymore, there were a whole lot of seniors that were so much better then me. Pretty soon once I got to know the girls we all bonded and are still like a cult type haha and randomly coach made me try throwing and I was the best at discus so that was cool. I also ran some varsity races, got me letter, and was on some good relays. I also got to run in counties and conferences, the only frosh who ran in those meets so that was cool. My coach also gave me alot of chances and made me run with the older good girls so it gave me a lot of motivation for next year and I am already training. I even quit my winter sport to do track next year.

runshorty05

07-03-2005, 09:52 PM

I love how everyone else has nice long explanations.

Mine is 4 words...

runner boys are hot!

:p

mac

07-04-2005, 01:06 AM

Well here's mine:
I can't quite remember when exactly but I just started running one day and realized it was fun, just seemed natural. Either that or i was getting chased and since i never got cought i musta thought this was something to do.

Turin Turambar

07-04-2005, 04:31 PM

I was one of the fattest kids in my school. I ran the mile in 8th grade in about 8:30, and even though I knew that wasn't fast, I recognized the fact that even though I was chubbier than almost everyone in my class, I still beat the majority of them. I recognized that I had more drive than the rest of the kids, so I took that as my only talent in sports. So in the summer before 9th grade I lost about 25-30 pounds of fat, but was still very unathletic. I joined XC in 10th grade, because I was still struggling with my weight, and my best friend had told me I would lose a lot of weight very easily if I just ran XC. Now I'm running 100 miles per week as a senior, and am hoping for around a 16:30 5k.

Turin Turambar

ihavelivabetes

07-04-2005, 06:37 PM

i started running cuz i wanted to join a sports team, and i was skinny, and that was what skinny kids did.

miler

07-04-2005, 06:42 PM

got bored with soccer, hated baseball, so i just started jogging a few times a week in 6th grade

michiganXC13

07-04-2005, 06:44 PM

i dont really know, actually. my brother started running as a freshman so i guess something compelled me to start xc in 7th grade and quit soccer for fall and spring (track) but im definetly glad i did

XCellent

07-06-2005, 04:18 PM

all my friends were doing track in jr high and i didn't have a spring sport so i thought "what the heck". I really enjoyed it and so i quit soccer to do freshman xc

RunForFunLionel

07-06-2005, 04:59 PM

The reason I started running was because
#1. I was fat and no one thought I would ever amount to anything
But what really triggered that was, one time, at school intramurals, we were playing flag football, and a kid depansed me, quite embarassing. Blinded with rage I chased him down running faster than I ever had before. People said I ran fast, so I was like "what the hell" and went out for track.

WHdistancerunner

07-07-2005, 03:49 PM

I did cross country my freshman year because I had no other sports to do in the fall. I basically just wanted to get into better shape for hockey/baseball. I then realized that I was better at XC/track, and I was hooked. Plus, our XC/Track teams win, a lot. I'm a competetor and I can't stand to lose.

WHRunner06

07-07-2005, 08:43 PM

got bored with soccer, hated baseball, so i just started jogging a few times a week in 6th grade

Exactly what I did with an addition to basketball... I couldn't stop playing football though... I did XC this year (as a junior) because they sucked, and I hated the football players and coaches... and became a distance runner and haven't looked back since. :)

runningonguts

07-08-2005, 08:11 AM

My parents were unable to take me to work 5 miles away one day so I decided to run there. I ran to work in my boots, jeans and and old army jacket. I thought it was kind of fun so I did it a few more times periodically. My dad told me I should sign up for a road race, and the rest is history.

Wizardx

07-08-2005, 08:57 AM

Ran local kids 2.2 mi. road races on Saturdays with my brother in junior high solely because we were athletic, competitive, and enjoyed winning stuff. We never trained and just got up 15 min. before the race and kept winning our age groups.

I played soccer my whole life through junior high as I decided to not join the XC team in 8th grade. Then, on the very last day of junior high, the high school cross country coach visited the school, had a small discussion about it, and had signups. So, I decided to sign up - and the rest is history...

Les

07-10-2005, 05:58 PM

I was never the fastest girl in my gym class throughout elementary school, but you could say I was better than most. Seventh grade I did soccer and softball, but I hated the soccer coach so dropped that in 8th grade and did cross country instead just for the hell of it. I turned out to be naturally good at it and I loved the people, who convinced me to do track instead of softball. I became captain, fastest distance girl, and got the mvp award so I figured I had some talent. Ran all year for ninth grade and I'm going into 10th now as captain.

ap-xc

07-10-2005, 06:49 PM

the coach and captain of the team kept callin me untill i finally said yes LOL...actually, it took them to talk to me and my parents in person for like 2-3 hours LOL

ap-xc

07-10-2005, 06:51 PM

u guys are lucky to have had xc and track in middle school. in my city, u NEVER hear about it untill 9th grade so sometimes people have a small edge over u cuz theyve been trainin longer than u

luv2run4fun

07-11-2005, 09:23 PM

When I was in elementary school in 5th grade we did a 100yd dash, I came in 3rd and I was told by my gym coach to go out for track in middle school. That year in camp I ran the 400 for my team and I beat all the older girls. I played volleyball in 7th grade, did track in spring when I realized I wouldn't make soccer, did hurdles and loved it, tried xc in 8th and was the 2/3rd best girl on the team, loved it ever since and I never regret not doing volleyball, even though I do miss it sometimes, I pick running over it anyday! Did it this year as a frosh, wasn't good but peaked @ the end, hoping to do major damaged next year as a soph for a disappointing track season, it's more of I love the freedom of runnind and pushing your body beyond the limits. :D

WHSrunner328

07-13-2005, 11:02 AM

unfortunatly i did it only to get in shape for soccer and to get soem girls, but in the end i ended up being pretty good and not doing soccer, but the girls deffinatly came my way

mfree20

07-13-2005, 01:50 PM

I went out for soccer in 7th grade. I was one of two kids to get cut. I wanted to do something to save face, so I did cross country not knowing what it really was. I won my first race, and loved it. There is nothing like winning.

jeanie5

07-13-2005, 03:21 PM

i did it to stay in shape for volleyball and i ended up loving it... i still do volleyball too though.

thehammer

07-14-2005, 01:06 PM

My dad had a bad knee, and he wanted to strengthen it by running, and I ran with him. I like it, and stuck with it.

K.Mart

07-14-2005, 02:13 PM

I don't have any other physical talents to speak of, or coordination, but I figured out early on in the classroom that I could be good if I just outworked people. I killed myself trying to improve in soccer freshman year, but couldn't get the ball skills down. In sprint tests, I was 2nd to last, behind the injured girls. In the 12 min run, I beat everyone by like 200 meters. I did track in the spring, and learned that the runner people were way more fun to hang out with than the soccer girls, and did xc that fall as a sophmore. At least with running, you get out what you put in, too.

xcmiler9

07-14-2005, 09:47 PM

Buffy McMuscles

07-14-2005, 10:11 PM

After my cousin LT. Jay Lyons died in the worcester cold storage fire, i start running charity races for firefighting, and it was keeping me in good shape for swimming, then i started xc this year, as a freshman in hs and did very well and my teammate gary dodakian convinced me to do indoor track so i quit swimming to do indoor and I did, and i loved it so i ran outdoor, and i guess i havent stopped running since
Awwww... that's amazing!!!! Good job xcmiler!!!! Well, how I started running is in 7th grade, I saw this poster that said 'Cross Country tryouts!!! This date, this time, blah blah blah... ' lol and so I asked my dad what CC was and he told me it was running long distance so I decided to give it a shot for the heck of it and to stay in a lot better shape in soccer and after my first season I loved it and stuck w/ it since... I'm on 4 sports teams, 2 for running and 2 for soccer, right now and I could never see myself stop running! I love it soooo much! Don't u? lol

xcmiler9

07-14-2005, 10:23 PM

yeah running is sick

propain

07-15-2005, 12:43 PM

I've been running since I was like 5. it's a family thing.

BeachRunner11

07-15-2005, 08:02 PM

i was cut from soccer, sadly back in middle school :( ..........but now i love running :D

a duke at heart

07-15-2005, 08:06 PM

When I was little I used to go with my dad to track practices (he coached HS) and I used to run around the track and beat my time from the previous week. I collected spikes that had fallen out onto the track (and still have them to this day). I got carried on the shoulders of the throwers during the team's victory laps. With experiences like that, I knew what I wanted to do when I got to be in high school... run, and that's just what I did.

OnePoint

07-16-2005, 12:11 AM

well since im really uncoordinated and terrible at all sports...i started bike racing (a family sport for us), and then i figured in middle school id run too because its good cross training and another endurance sport so i might be ok. but actually i was a terrible runner too and then suddenly as soon as 8th grade track started it all clicked and i was a beast and only gotten beaten like once, so i figured hey..mayb id be ok at this

gyt1234

07-16-2005, 03:49 AM

I started because I got cut from the baseball team. yeah now I am obsessed

ktO1500

07-16-2005, 03:04 PM

my mom made me do it because my other 2 brothers did and they were good
and i guess i liked it and never stopped

RHSRunner88

07-16-2005, 07:21 PM

My parents forced me to do a sport in ninth grade, and since I suck at contact sports I decided to run cross country, not knowing anything about it or how hard it would be.

I don't know, after the first week of practice I enjoyed every minute of it and I wanted to see how much more I could improve. I took my 5k time down from a 30:00 minute time to 18:33, and this year (my junior year) I hope to do much better after improving so much in the two-mile (10:59).

JKarp 17

09-04-2006, 09:42 PM

because i wanted to get to know this girl my senior year, and i found out she was doing track so i did it

AzN at LARGE

09-04-2006, 09:47 PM

I had nothing better to do so I started my sophomore year. Story of my life.

caveman017

09-04-2006, 09:58 PM

My 6th grade teacher said i should when i ran the mile in 11:57. Didnt do cross (dont know why really) and started out as a sprinter in 7th grade.

first track meet PRs (all run in vans skater shoes)

100m 14.3
200m 33.1
400m 73.6 - won my heat

so then i worked on the 400 and got down to 63.. then he decided to run me in the 800 and i got 2:40..
meet before confrence i ran the mile and got 5:58.

At confrence I ran the 8, 16 and 4x4 and went 2:31, 5:35 and 62 in 7th grade...

then i ran cross country and yeah...

frontunner247

09-04-2006, 10:45 PM

i started to get in shape/faster for basketball and started in sprints. Slowley moved up in distance and only got betta so i have to stick with it.

frontunner247

09-04-2006, 10:46 PM

because i wanted to get to know this girl my senior year, and i found out she was doing track so i did it

ME to except i didnt know she did track until the 1st day:)

zixible

09-05-2006, 08:07 AM

I started because I got cut from the baseball team. yeah now I am obsessed

AMEN! exact same reason (except i was cut from our softball team - our school doesnt offer baseball, only slow pitch softball, for guys and girls alike. it's kinda ridiculous).

at some point i realized that the sense of accomplishment of finishing a track workout is 5000000 times greater than finishing a softball practice so i never went back.

freddy 459

09-05-2006, 08:44 PM

random decision..turned out to be a good one

mtownxc07

09-05-2006, 09:02 PM

joined soccer team my soph year becuase i was pretty chubby since 8th grade and was sick of it and then i joined indoor track so i would be ready for lacrosse tryouts but when spring came i went with outdoor track and was hooked. did xc that next fall and was #1 on my team. now in my senior year i am aiming for a 16:20 5k and #1 spot when 2 years ago i wouldnt be able to run a 5k in under 30 minutes. so i guess you could say that im a pretty good example of the benefits of hardwork.

run2thewall

09-05-2006, 09:22 PM

To get in shape for basketball in 6th grade, which I now no longer play and run year round.

runnerdi7

09-05-2006, 10:19 PM

there was this wicked hot girl named anna in the grade above me who ran, and she was like hey, you should run, and i was like, damn if your wearin a sports bra for practice every day, ill be there. and i was.

txboi800

09-05-2006, 10:23 PM

Joined xc in 7th grade, as a very-recently-fat kid, to get in shape for football in hs. By the time freshman year rolled around, I liked running more than football, and stuck with it. I never would have made it anyway.

PurpleHaze

09-05-2006, 10:45 PM

My gym teacher said I was fast (7:24 mile time!!!(6th grade)) and that I should join the team...

xcrunner29

09-05-2006, 11:16 PM

i started running because my parents said to get off the coach (either tho i was playing soccer and lacrosse in the 6th grade) but we had only like one practice a week so my parents said i should get more exercise (however i was pretty good at sports and had good althletic ability). i started running 3 miles a day and realized that when i was mad, it pulled all of the stress out. i felt really good about myself and started running cross country the following year 7th grade. by then i was really serious about but still was hooked on soccer and wrestling. evenutually i quit soccer and had to quit wrestling in the 8th grade before highschool because it was causing huge stress on my knee. now as a freshman in highschool and my first year of running as a sport, i look back and regret nothing whatsoever and think this choice is the best one for me. i would probley be overweight or unhappy if i didnt choose this desicion :D .

Gorbachev

09-06-2006, 12:05 AM

i started in 6th grade because this girl i liked ran cross country. It turned out i was really good at it so i never stop.

runxc89

09-06-2006, 11:10 AM

to stay in shape for soccer nd baseball

i've given up all those sports now for running

future sub-4:20 miler

09-06-2006, 10:00 PM

To get in shape for basketball freshman year. Now I don't play basketball (only for fun) and train year round.

Quanny

09-06-2006, 11:14 PM

I started running when I ran a 5:02 in my middle school gym class. I went out for cross country then track.

frontunner247

09-26-2006, 07:24 PM

i joined 2 weeks in to winter track my junior year

trackman1989

09-26-2006, 09:15 PM

well i was the slow kid on the football and basketball team in 8th grade. i quit football to concentrate on bball and then i quit bball cause i hated the coach so my friend asked me to join the team. first practice i was hanging with the leaders and the rest is history.

Arkansasrunner

09-26-2006, 09:39 PM

pmahcdlrowcx

09-26-2006, 09:57 PM

I didn't like football.

alabaster_icorn

09-27-2006, 09:41 AM

ive always played soccer and used to love it. i joined run club in grade four, because really pretty much everybody joined in my elementary school. i ended up doing okay, i got a pretty bronze medal;) when i got to grade 7, all i wanted to do in the fall was play volleyball and soccer, but my mom made me go out for cross country. I ended up doing okay and started to enjoy it, had more sucess, got an actual coach and liked it even more. Soccer went downhill, i had been playing on a really high level team, but i just hated it (pressure, ******* coaches etc.), so begin of 10th grade, i dropped down to community club soccer (which im quitting now because i can hardly make any of the games practices due to running:rolleyes: ), joined a club to run with and made running my full time sport.

Conigs

09-27-2006, 10:40 AM

I always knew about running the mile in PE and etc but I never actually started running until 4 years ago. My brother was the lucky one in the family and is built like a runner. However he went instead for rowing and became the 8th fastest high school skuller in the nation his senior year.

I'm built like a rower but decided to run XC in 7th grade. I played soccer in the spring of 6th and baseball the spring of 7th.

I ran XC again in 8th grade with maybe 10 miles a week. And didn't do anything in the spring.

I played basketball all 3 years but I've now given that one up for good.

Last year was when I sorta got serious about running and ran a 17:15 as my PR (converted 5k).
Then this summer I got pretty serious and ran between 30 and 42 miles a week.
I PR'd early this year with a 16:47 and I've upped my milage. I started to do track last year and I'm hoping XC and Track will get me to college on scholarship.

My brother can still beat me too. I don't understand it. :rolleyes:

NONstopRUNNER

09-27-2006, 01:22 PM

i wanted a water bottle

jacksparrow34313

09-27-2006, 08:26 PM

My school's team was good and my older brother was on the team and all the kids on the team kept telling me I should try it. So I did. The rest is history.

MontyXC1

09-27-2006, 08:52 PM

kids made fun of me cuz they thought i was fat

i got depressed kinda going into high school

lost 30 pounds, and here i am

prongs

09-27-2006, 09:04 PM

a girl. and a friend was like come run.

g2g4gold

09-27-2006, 09:28 PM

because XC runners are role models in my HS and people look up to all runner sin my town. Also because the cheerleaders are hot and love dating runners. And obviously for the fame.

sarcasm

TimHeavern

09-27-2006, 09:36 PM

Straight up it was a girl. Then i experienced running the 1500 and she was completely out of my mind. 5 years later here i am

KevinDavis

09-27-2006, 09:51 PM

i started running xc because i got cut from the basketball team my freshman year, and now im in love with running. i cant imagine how i would have turned out if i had made the basketball team

adberg

09-27-2006, 10:57 PM

My girlfriend ran XC and track. I was kinda fat so I went out for track my senior year. I heard that one of my team mates could run a 2:05 800 and I was like "I can do that no problem." I never broke 2:45 or 6:00. I'm really really slow.

sundayAMrun

09-27-2006, 11:15 PM

i got tired of all the fu**ing timeouts in basketball. plus i got tired of never being sore.

sparrowcoach

09-28-2006, 04:17 AM

Hmmm well lemme see, i was 4'10" and oh, about 85lbs as a freshman boy...not much else i COULD do. Although I dont think a 23:46 was really running either. Luckily i did some growing and improving.

eaglevision666

09-28-2006, 05:26 PM

because im CHILEAN!!! WOOHOO!!

cory123

09-28-2006, 06:03 PM

wasnt good at anything else, and I ran pretty well in middle school gym class

fourdegrees8924

09-28-2006, 06:04 PM

to get away from the cops

Relentless

09-28-2006, 08:24 PM

My dad was always a runner and one day in 1st grade me and my friend went to the track to run with him. My dad ran a track workout and I ended up running 3 miles without stopping. My mom wouldn't let me run a 5k road race until my 3rd grade year, where I ran 23:50. Later that year I went on a six mile run with my sister, and continued to run races through elementary school, though I didn't train. But I was mainly a soccer/basketball/baseball kid. I sucked at basketball and baseball, and quit both of those by 7th grade, but continued to do soccer. I was really only good at soccer because I had more endurance than everyone else. In 7th grade I ran track but didn't really enjoy it because the practices were pointless and we didn't do anything. I decided I was going to try out for JV soccer my 8th grade year and passed the tests required to do it, but the nurse said I was too small to play. My dad suggested I run cross country and see how I like it, and I cannot thank my dad enough for making that suggestion. I fell in love with the sport and loved every minute of xc. That winter I trained with my dad alot and had a solid track season, and now I am a freshman, and cannot imagine not running.

xcrunner07

09-29-2006, 01:36 PM

to get away from the cops

nice!

i run because i can't play any other sport

beside the fact that running is the greatest sport ever!!!!!!!!!

Conigs

09-29-2006, 02:44 PM

You mean running is the only sport ever. ;)

sfhsxc1212

09-29-2006, 04:13 PM

i guess ive always been a "runner" because of my dad. i ran the peachtree when i was nine, did fun runs and road races whenever i could, ran track in middle school, but once i got to high school i ran cross country to stay in shape for soccer, but fell in love with it. now i have quit soccer so i can focus on running

Lupe Garcia

09-30-2006, 01:12 AM

Because my jr. high p.e. teacher's son played on my soccer team so he'd watch me run all the time. He talked me into turning out for xc. Little did I know the girl I liked was a runner on the team. Also, it became addicting. I really enjoy it... when I'm healthy. Unfortunately I'm dealing with Mono so I haven't had a lot of energy.:(

coolrunna

09-30-2006, 08:16 PM

tha good feeling i cant explain:p when im runnin

JoeRunning

09-30-2006, 09:49 PM

The other sports got boring. Those are more fun to watch, running is more fun to do.

Nguyen-Bizzle

10-01-2006, 01:37 AM

i run to stay in shape and be fit. although i guess it is 'fun' it's effing painful at times.

xcflabbypatty

10-06-2006, 02:16 PM

I started running because my mom said that if I wanted another pair of shoes I needed to use them ( I was 11). She challenged me to run 1 mile every day for a week. I never got the shoes, but that's OK.
That and I was good at long distances.

MaroonCat1600

10-07-2006, 08:46 PM

Well i started to run when i didnt make the soccer team in seventh grade because i was overweight. My brother went to NIN that winter so we went to watch him. I saw Nicole Blood and Katelyn Kaltenbach race in the mile and decided to do track

speakfreak!

10-19-2006, 10:12 AM

I know I'm bringing back and old thread, but this is the whole reason I rejoined the board, and it took forever to get me in the database to be able to post.

I started running because I used to be lanky, then I got fat, then I got anorexc. By this time, I turned into a perfectionist and I wanted to do everything perfect and give it all I had. To this day, I don't play video games, or guitar, because I know it'll lead to some obsession later that I'll have to quit.

Anyway, I started running because we did a mile run in P.E. one time, which I totally bombed, running 10:00 flat. I knew we had another in a month, and somehow I thought I could win it if I trained for it. I didn't know anything about running, so I just went out and ran a mile every day for a month, and I came and ran 5:40 something. I realize that running really is the only sport you get out what you put in. (I came in second by the way, however, I know I could have won. I was scared to sprint it out, out of fear of giving my all and still losing... Yea, I had problems)

DufferZ

10-19-2006, 11:06 AM

woah 10 min to 5.40 with trainign,
oh man for me in was 5.20 to 5.00 with training, uh man:(

speakfreak!

10-19-2006, 05:35 PM

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an elite runner by any means. Hell, it didn't drop from 5:40 that much.

PurestSport

10-23-2006, 12:30 PM

brothers both did it. for years I swore I wouldn't run, then freshmen year rolled around and I said I was gonna do basketball. I realized that I didn't like anyone who played basketball (all jerks) and that I wouldn't make it to varsity (or at least not play) Now I'm on a team with a bunch of nice guys, PLUS we're the best team in the school by sophomore year. Guess my brothers were right.

steeplerunnerof09

10-23-2006, 11:48 PM

On April 19,2005 my friend was running a local 5k and I decided to run it an hour before the race. I had never ran before this kid was the 3rd fastest junior high runner in the state. So the gun shoots off and by the end of the race I was ahead of him until the last 10 meters and ran an 18:58 my first race and had never ran before. So I decided to run xc for the local high school and ran a 17:56 5k by the end of the year. And in track I ran a 4:40 mile. Now I run a 16:13 5K as a sophmore and a 4:25 mile. So if you read this post thanks man for encouraging me to run.