November is a favored month for many distance runners. During this month, runners have the opportunity to compete in races such as the All-Star meet and Nike Cross Regionals (NXR). This past weekend, I had the opportunity to race in both the All-Star and NXR meets and had two fantastic experiences.
The Indiana All-Star Meet, also called the Mideast Cross Country Meet, is a meet held in Kettering, Ohio, every year. This year, it was held on Saturday, November 15. States not only include Indiana runners, but also Ohio and Michigan. In previous years, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia, and even Pennsylvania had participated. To be able to race as an Indiana All-Star, runners had to have been a senior who competed in the State meet and placed in the top twelve (give or take). The race takes place at Indian Rifle Park, which features a steep, steep hill, and a small creek of water runners must jump across. Spoiler alert- my spikes got all wet. Unfortunately, the Indiana team did not beat out Michigan as we lost by a mere four points. We did, however, beat Ohio, earning us a second-place finish. I am unsure what they are feeding those Michigan kids, but they are wicked FAST.
Another distance runners’ favorite meet is the NXR Midwest race, which takes place on the same course as State, the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country course. This race was the Sunday after the All-Star meet, so many runners chose instead to focus on the NXR race instead of the All-Star meet. Teams and individual runners come from all over Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri. The NXR regional meets take place all over the country and consist of nine regions: Midwest, Heartland, Northwest, Southwest, South, Northeast, Southeast, California, and New York. The NXR race was a big one this year, consisting of over 3,000 runners in total. NXR Midwest is one of the most competitive races out of the nine regions. The race includes separate races for girls and boys, as well as a community race, which adults can also participate in. Though many participants take this meet very seriously, most race for the fun of it. However, according to RunnerSpace.com, the top two placing clubs in each gender of the championship division race at each regional earn automatic spots to the Nike Cross National meet in Portland, Oregon. Additionally, the top five placing individuals not on qualifying clubs advance to NXN as individual qualifiers. My favorite part of racing NXR is seeing the runners dressed in costumes. It blows my mind that some people decide to race in Halloween costumes, but it makes for good memories. One year, there were many runners dressed as bananas. This year, there were many runners dressed in united four-person caterpillar costumes.
I enjoyed NXR every year I ran, but I wanted to get others’ thoughts about the race as well. Senior cross country runner, Kaiden Hughes, has been running NXR since eighth grade, so he has a great deal of experience with this race. When asked how his experience with NXR was and why he runs it every year, he said, “I always thought it was a good experience running NXR, with it being such a big race with a lot of great competition from other states. I always chose to run NXR because it’s always fun and a good atmosphere to experience.” LaVern Gibson is a tough course with rolling hills, so I also asked if he enjoys running the state course or if he would rather run somewhere else. He responded, “I like running the state course. I think that it’s very organized and well put together. There is also a lot of room to navigate, so you don’t get boxed in immediately. That being said, it is a very challenging course, but I don’t think I would want to go to another course. It is also nice having it in Indiana, so I don’t have to travel far.”
Next my sophomore cross country teammate, Hope Rush, was asked her favorite part about NXR, she said, “I really enjoy the experience each year and being able to run against hundreds of other girls.” Both Hope and Kaiden enjoyed the competition of NXR because runners in our area do not get as much competition being from a small school. “My favorite thing about NXR is being able to run in a very big race and just getting to run in another race after cross country season,” Hope said. Rush trained through basketball for the NXR race, and it showed; she was very happy with both her time and place at NXR.
These two races were my favorite post-season races of my cross country career. It was always an amazing opportunity to race on the state course, especially if you did not qualify for the State meet. Next up, distance runners are excited to compete in their annual local Turkey Trot for one last seasonal race.
