Running is a sport that needs numerous hours of preparation just to finish

the race, let alone win it. Running is one of the most physical demanding sports in

the United States. Even though many people do not watch running on the regular

basis, like they would with baseball or football, it still is a very wide known sport.

Running’s claim to fame is the Olympics. The summer Olympics are one of the most

watched tournaments in the world and running gathers the most hype out of all the

sports they play.

All-American cross-country runner, Dustin M. Wilson, spent hours of nearly

every day of his high school career training to become the nationally ranked runner

that he is today. The longest break he has ever taken in 2 years was a 7-day break

last June. When I asked him about it he said, “It was very hard to bear. I had an

anxious feeling to run only 3 days into the break.” Major league athletes take a lot

longer and more frequent breaks. A major league baseball player takes a two-month

break every year; not even including all the breaks they get thrown in the year. This

just goes to show how running has to take control of your life almost every day of

the year just for you to be okay at the sport.

It is pretty safe to say that Dustin’s life revolves around running circles.

During the summer he runs 10-12 miles a day and 10-12 runs a week, which is

nearly 80 a week. During the fall, he slightly turns down the throttle, only running

70 miles a week. When Dustin goes out running, he wears high shorts and his

regular shoes no matter how cold the weather might be. Dustin’s hard work and

efforts do pay off. He has won many awards and has competed in or won many

races. He has won the Paul Short race, the Bryerwood race, and the Independent

State School. He also placed 13th in the Footlocker Cross-Country National

Championship. This race was in San Diego, California and is like the super bowl of

Cross-country. Dustin was ranked from 10th to 20th in the country thorough the year,

and was ranked first in the state. Dustin also won some very prestigious awards. He

won the Pennsylvania T.F.C.A. Runner of the Year, and the Gatorade PA runner of

the year. In addition, he was a 1st team all state in indoors, outdoors, and cross-

country

Running for distance is not the only thing Dustin does to train for his races.

He also has speed training including time trials. He will run a couple miles, check his

time and compare it with his past time trials, and then later on compare them with

what he runs in his meets.

Running’s most famous and best runner is Usain Bolt. Usain is a 10 time gold

medal winner and set nearly all-possible records for running. He is widely known as

the fastest runner in the world. Usain has been invited to many other sports as a pro

athlete because of his sub-4.0 forty-yard dash. He declined all of them, but it is still

an achievement to be looked at by them. Usain is currently 25 years old and is as

fast as ever, if not faster. He is 6 foot 5 inches and weighs 210 pounds.

Although Usain and Dustin play the same sport their races are extremely

different both for the reasons of the way they train, and the races they race in. Usain

is a short distance runner, so in his workouts, he doesn’t try and run for long

distances. He just runs for short burst and he works out his muscles, so they are

more for strength than for fatigue. Dustin, on the other hand, runs in much longer

races and his main workouts form his muscles to last longer.

Running is not any nation’s past time, and is not a sport that is going to make

you look “jacked,” but it is a very physically demanding sport. You need an excellent

work ethic and you can never slack off. Running is the only sport where you can

work out every day for a year and not even make an all-state team.