Who Knew?

Hi,

So apparently Cross Country running is a contact sport. For those of you who don't know, I am a running coach for the Cross Country team at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, CA. This is the same high school that I went to and the same running program that I was a part of. It is something that I commit to 6 days a week every fall and I love it. I love running, I love the kids, and I love being a part of a team.

This past weekend was the State meet in Fresno, CA. We had our Varsity boys (7 of them) lined up at the start of the race. When the gun went off there appeared to be a fall and second shot was heard signaling a restart. As the dust cleared, there was a runner on the ground. All of a sudden, I realized that it was one of OUR runners. A senior, Brent Moore, was lying on the ground in agony. He was immediately taken to the ambulance as they got ready to re-start the race. Unfortunately for our boys, an event like this immediately takes them out of the race. Now, instead of focusing on the race, they were immediately concerned for their teammate and had no idea what had happened to him. As soon as they finished the race none of the guys cared about how they did but were immediately asking what happened to Brent and how he was doing. Even though we didn't have our best race, it was pretty cool to see the genuine concern on the faces of the boys. You never want to see something like that happen, but it showed me how much of a team these guys really are.
After the race re-started I ran over to the ambulance to see what happened. It appeared that Brent had separated his shoulder. Come to find out later in the evening, Brent had broken his right clavicle. Absolutely stunning. I have never seen anything like that at a cross country race. Hard to have that happen to a senior on his last race but at least he knows that his guys have his back.
Now the season is officially over and I can start winter training on my own. I decided over the weekend to run the LA Marathon with my wife and her family. I'll keep you updated.

Conor