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.