Why Everyone Should Run Cross Country

We’ve talked about being a real runner; all you have to do is race. But now, we’re gonna talk about how to become a REAL runner. Not just someone who laces up shoes and enters a race, but a REAL, hard core, old time, runner.

It’s simple (but definitely not easy):

Run a cross-country race. 

Better yet, be a part of a team. Get out there in the crisp autumn air, or maybe the cold, rainy, autumn air. Whatever the weather (in XC it doesn’t matter). Just try a race and you’ll be hooked.

image from http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/

Cross-Country is the purest form of racing. The very first Olympics in 776 BC had one event, a race along a river. It was only about 200 meters long, but it was along a river, on the ground that the gods put there for the Ancient Greeks to use. 

Back in the day, when the church was the main social gathering place, people would have running races from one church to another (hence- steeplechase because churches have steeples) over whatever terrain was available. Over stone fences, through creeks, but rarely on roads (and the roads were basically dirt anyway unless you were somewhere where Rome had conquered and they were cobblestone).

According to English writers Montague Sherman and F.A.M. Webster cross-country took its organized form in England in the late 1800’s. They called the races “Paper-Chases” or cross-country steeplechases. Here’s how it worked:

A couple of runners called “hares” (hence the term harrier) would set out on a run and lay strips of cloth for the pack of runners, called hounds, to follow. The idea was that the first hound to catch the hare won! I got all that information from a book titled Cross-Country Running, by Marc Bloom 1978. 

image from http://www.artofmanliness.com/

So, now you know how the competitive aspect of the sport of running began, so go out and do it. Cross-country races are hard to find but we are lucky enough to have Confluence Running who not only can find you races but can provide an opportunity for you to be a part of a team. That is one part of running that most people who started running as adults never experienced.

Team pre-race huddles, post-race pictures, maybe even a uniform all make the painful  XC race worth it. I realize that some people are apprehensive about it but cross-country runners are the most supportive group out there. Get some friends (you only need five runners and extra are always welcome) and sign up for a race. If you REALLY want to have fun get a pair of spikes, but they certainly aren't required. Run over natural terrain, up and down hills, through a forest or nature preserve. It doesn't have the technical nature of trail runs. The idea isn’t to slow you down but to give you a natural challenge and a break from the same old 5K road race or the time consuming half-marathon and marathon training programs. 

I guarantee you’ll love it, “That was fun!” is a common post-race exclamation. You’ll also develop a very real respect for all those teenagers out there in the most popular high school sport in the nation. You’ll understand and appreciate what they go through every week. You’ll feel like a kid again when you run through the mud and come back in a condition where you can actually take a shower with your clothes ON! There was once a local high school race where it was so muddy they had to hose down the hallways of the school where the runners gathered after their races!

Check out www.SouthernTierCrossCountry.com for the STXC Series, form a team, and have some fun!

Thanks and thanks to Marc Bloom for a book I’ve read and re-read countless times. Oh, and thanks to my teammates for getting me through my first cross-country race in 30 years!

About the Author:

Michael Cordi has been a dedicated track and cross country coach for years, as well as an active and enthusiastic member of the running community in Binghamton, NY.

Confluence Kids!

We've got exciting news for kids and parents in the Southern Tier!  

Recently, Binghamton was listed as one of the most overweight cities in America.  We want to align with the city's initiative to promote health and fitness in its citizens.  Our goal is to make it easy for parents to encourage a love of fitness for life in their kids through fun races and group fitness activities.  We've started a page on facebook to keep you updated on all the running and endurance related events for kids in the the Broome County area.  Along with that, we've posted a new kids-only endurance events calendar right on our website including lots of events that are totally free to participate in such as fun run races and group activities, to make it easy for parents to find events.  

When kids participate in fun endurance related events, it encourages self esteem and can-do attitude.  Why not try a few fun runs with your kids?  Many of these events are completely free of charge and available to anyone in the community.  Most of them have day-of sign-ups, so you can even do it last minute, if you suddenly find you have available time!

We have started a new Confluence Kids program of kids-only group runs with some health and wellness education tied in.  This is a great opportunity for kids in the Southern Tier to not only get fit, but learn about their bodies, training, and general wellness. Not only that, but associated with the Confluence Kids events, we'll be holding a Beginner Group Run/Walk.  What better way to encourage your kids to be healthy than for you, as a parent, to work toward good health, yourself?  The Beginner Group Run/Walk will have a goal of two miles, and all abilities are welcome.  No runner left behind. We hope to see you there!

We've also started a Marathon Miles program for kids participating in Confluence Kids!  Come to any Confluence Kids event and you can participate in the Marathon Miles program by getting stamps on your Marathon Miles card.  Every time you fill up enough boxes to get to one of the pictures, just bring it in to Confluence Running and claim your prize!

Why I Run: Bridging the Gap to Fitness

Flipping through my mental rolodex to the afternoon of February 24th 2012 as I stood on a scale in my doctors office watching in horror while the nurse continue to slide the weight on the scale higher and higher. The weight kept climbing like the thermometer on a summer afternoon. Two hundred pounds, two hundred and fifty, finally the mercury stopped at three hundred and eight pounds. I was mortified!

That afternoon while sulking and depressed I made a life altering decision to lose weight. The very next day drastic change came to my diet. I began to walk six miles a day five days a week and slowly things began to change for me. My body started feeling better. The digestive issues I had been having were suddenly gone. I began to have more energy and my walking began to speed up.

Fast forward to an afternoon in late April as I returned from the local Agway where I had purchased some fertilizer for our lawn. After lifting these extremely heavy bags from my car I happened to notice that each bag weighed forty five pounds. Taking a step back, standing there in amazement it had just hit me: I, myself had lost forty five pounds. Lifting those bags of fertilizer really put things into perspective for me.

Joe becomes a runner in his first 5k, 2012

A week later several friends had begun to push me to run a 5K race. Now, I had not run since playing high school lacrosse twenty two years prior. I was resisting all I could but my curiosity would eventually get the best of me. Our family registered for the Binghamton Bridge Run 5K as we had planned to walk it. Race day finally arrived and upon our arrival the half marathoners had just begun to come in. The atmosphere was electrifying. I was so excited to be a part of what was going on but really having no clue what was going on. All I knew is that it felt good.

Now it was our turn and as we stood waiting for the gun my wife looked at me and said “You know you want to run.” I politely replied no I’m going to walk.  BANG, the gun goes off and the tightly packed crowd of runners begins to move. My wife looks at me and says again “You know you want to run” and I looked back with a huge smile and I was off. Mile one, I am feeling great as a gentle pat on my back gets my attention and WOOOSH, my thirteen year old son goes flying on by.

Now with the finish line in sight, my adrenaline pumping I noticed that most of the runners who
ran the half marathon were lined up along the finish line clapping and cheering the 5K runners as
we crossed the finish line. Wow, I thought to myself, what a sense of community.  Runners of all skill levels cheering and supporting one another. I was hooked!

My first ever 5K race was now complete, finishing in 35:19. The Binghamton Bridge Run sparked an entire new lifestyle. Today, September 2nd, 2014, I’m in training for my first ever marathon. On November 2nd 2014 I will be running the New York City Marathon.





About the Author:
Joe Geronimo is a father, husband, runner, photographer & throw in locomotive engineer for good measure.  He is also an active member of Triple Cities Runner's Club and Team Confluence.

How Do You Know If You're A Real Runner?

I’ve been running for 43 years. September 29, 1971 was my first cross-country practice at Maine-Endwell. I was in 7th grade and on my first run EVER I ran 7.6 miles UP Struble Road to Robinson Hill- down Country Club to Taft, UP Taft and down Hooper back to the High School.
I remember being so sore in bed that night wanting to quit and, in an era when parents didn’t baby their kids, my mother told me that if I quit I was a wimp. Thank God she made me continue to run because within about four days I was no longer sore (this includes running my first race on my fourth day of running) and hooked- for life. Back then, running was different - everyone was hard core, serious. The first road race I remember was a “5 mile” race around the grounds of the State Hospital. The spectators were patients watching out the windows. There were about 50 runners and everyone was “good”. Everyone was a serious runner who trained and raced hard.
The running boom hit and numbers grew. How many people remember the Sun Run in Downtown Binghamton? Over 600 in the 5K; I have to admit it felt really cool to be a young kid and finish up near the front with all those people running.

This leads up to a race I was in sometime in the early 1990’s, a friend from high school was running and told me that he was “not a REAL runner like I was”. Well that got me thinking - Just what IS a real runner? According to him, he wasn’t a real runner (and I was) because he ran a time in the mid 20’s for 5K and I was somewhere around 17:00 + or -. I was at the front of the pack and he was at the back of the pack.
OK, if I was a REAL runner then what about the guys who were running 15:00? Did THEY make ME “not a real runner”? Then, what about the guys running under 14:00? Were the 15:00 guys not real runners? I watched the Olympics and one guy won the 5000 meter run. Was he the only “real runner” in the race, in the world?
The answer is (and I speak with over 40 years of experience folks) NO!!!! 
Truly, honestly, we are ALL real runners.
Do you go out and train when your schedule allows you to? Do you run the mileage your lifestyle lets you run? Do you enter races and run your best? Trying to beat your PR?
Then you are a real runner.
I was thinking about it the other day and here’s what I think: When you run there is a time when both of your feet are off the ground at the same time. When you walk one foot is always touching the ground.

So now that we’ve solved that problem let’s move on to our perceptions.

When I was younger I could run 6:00 per mile easily, I could do workouts of 400 meter repeats at under 65 seconds and even under 60 seconds and 300’s in under 45 seconds. Now, if I even approach 7:00 on a training run I’m excited (and by approach I mean get that fast). I do 400’s in 1:20 and 300’s in 1:00.
Am I any less of a runner now than when I as 25 years old?

No way - I still love it and feel great doing it.

Maegan Krifchin at Confluence Running

Confluence Running has these “Beginner Group Runs". Experienced runners run with newer runners. Our motto is “No runner left behind”. I really enjoy these group runs. Running along at 10:00-11:00 per mile and YES!!!! One of my feet is always off the ground!
Are these people real runners? They sure are. They are out there doing a very healthy activity and becoming “better”, so to speak. In the words of Maegan Krifchin, a Pro Runner from the Syracuse area, they are becoming the best “me” they can become.
We all have our own level- 12:39 for 5K, 15:00, 17:00, 21:00, 31:00. If you’re out there running, your best, becoming a better “you”, then you are a runner. 

A REAL runner.


5K, 10K, ½ marathon, marathon, ultra- it doesn’t matter the

distance, it’s the effort, it’s YOU being YOUR 

best.

Yes, you are a runner and you should think of yourself as a runner. I’ve been a real runner for over 40 years and I respect you, so you should respect yourself.  




About the Author:

Michael Cordi has been a dedicated track and cross country coach for years, as well as an active and enthusiastic member of the running community in Binghamton, NY.

Just a 5k: Why Even After Two Marathons I'm Still Intimidated

I hear it all time time at packet pick up for races or running groups on Facebook: "I'm only running the 5k."  As if the only thing that mattered in running was the distance you're capable of enduring.  As if someone who can "only" run as far as 3.1 miles is not a "real" runner. 

I, too, was guilty of this when I started running.  Running even a 10k distance seemed completely unimaginable to me, though I knew others could do it.  I never thought I'd run a half marathon, let alone complete a full marathon distance.  I knew I was the bottom of the barrel, distance-wise.  "I'm not that kind of runner," I'd think,  "I'll never be the person that can go so very far."  It was all I could manage to pull off my 3 mile training runs a few times a week.  I remember making the decision to run a half marathon and wondering whether I'd ever really be able to make it that far.  

That far.  That's what entered my head.  Speed wasn't my goal, though I liked the idea of it.  I had a tendency to obsess over the numbers and find where I ranked among other runners after a race.  I loved hitting those PR goals.  But instead of pushing for personal speed records, I pushed for distance records.  How far is my body capable of going?  Ten miles?  Twenty miles?  Fifty miles?  I still don't know.  I have yet to find that limit and it's still very interesting to me to go the distance.  

A 5k race is a very different beast, however.  It's not the long, slow endurance of discomfort, but the short, fast endurance of as much pain as you can manage.  Contrary to the attitude of most beginner runners, who treat it as if it's just a stepping stone, the 5k is it's own entity.  It's its own race.  It's worthy of respect, in its own right.  How many Olympic 5000 meter runners say "oh, I'm only running a 5k" on race day?  My guess is not a single one in the history of the games.  The 5k is a difficult race - not quite a sprint, but still short enough to push yourself extremely hard.

Now I find myself in the position of being close to really competing against the top athletes in my area in a 5k.  I was never a runner, I started running at 30 years old after having 3 babies and years of neglecting my body.  I began running just to add some interest to my life and hopefully, finally, lose the last of the baby weight.  Those local elite athletes were placed on a pedestal that I never expected to approach, yet now, several years and thousands of miles later, I find myself nearing their pace, slowly but steadily.  The pedestal I placed them on in my head is now completely intimidating to me when I consider racing them.  I'm inexperienced in racing, anyway, having tried many different distances but no single distance frequently.   

Now, however, I've landed in a place where I'm approaching the runners I idolized.  It's exciting and terrifying all at once.  I keep thinking "how did I get here?  I'm not a 'real' runner."   I feel like I don't deserve to reap the benefits of all the work I've done. I feel like I'm not worthy. But the reality is, I am worthy, and I am ready to take that step.

This evening, I'll be running my first 5k in more than two years.  "Only" a 5k, but I find my heart racing and panic building every time I think of it.  I know I can run the distance, but the speed is a completely different question in my head, let alone the pain involved in pushing myself as hard as I possibly can for 3.1 miles.  I realize now that it wasn't a pedestal that I've put them on, but rather a stepping stone. And today, I'm taking a deep breath, swallowing my panic, and taking that terrifying step up to that stone.

About the author:

Jenna Jenks runs, writes, and raises her 3 children in Binghamton, NY. In her spare time she knits and dreams about training for triathlons.

You Might Be a Runner In Upstate NY if...

You Might be a Runner In 

Upstate NY if..

You know you're a runner in Upstate NY when..

1) You think it's normal to run in a blizzard.

2) You triple layer to go running.

3) You run in -5 degree weather.

4) You buy toe warmers to keep your feet warm in -5 degree weather.

5) You have learned from painful experience the value of a wind-blocking base layer. 

6) You own completely separate running clothes for summer and winter.

7) You can't remember the last time you ran in shorts.

8) You have an unhealthy love affair with thumb-holes. 

9) You get excited when you see temperatures of 25+ on the 10-day weather forecast.

10) You know the difference between Balaclava and Baklava.

11) You're gloves often become soaked.. but not from sweat (runny nose anyone?)

12) You break out your trail shoes when the roads get snowy/icy for some extra foot warmth and traction.

13) You know Yaktrax aren't what you use to find a lost yak.

14) You're eyelashes have frozen.

15) You'd take snow on a run any day over rain, and twice on Sundays.

16) You've have experienced a 'snow' beard (yes, even women). 

17) You know there is no silence more gratifying than that which comes when running alone through the streets in the snow, your footsteps dampened by the layer on the ground and all sane people are huddled inside, leaving the roads car-free.

Read more in Binghamton Runs

For Information on Upcoming Events : 

Binghamton Healthy Run Events - Confluence Running

Ithaca Healthy Run Events - Finger Lakes Running

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses... Go Run!

Who doesn't LOVE the holidays? Spending time with family, friends and all the food (hello pie!!). However, it's usually always right in the middle of a training block or can totally screw up your workout routine. You know what I'm talking about. Here's a few common 'excuses' and some plans of action to limit them!

---

Holiday Distractions

Excuse : With all the holiday distractions, I'm not motivated to exercise.

The Fix: Make a realistic plan and be consistent. Take time to set some concrete fitness goals for yourself during the holidays and share them with your family. Or commit to a road race or triathlon - Holiday races are a fun time for everyone and typically donate to a local charity.

---

Holiday Travel

Excuse : I can't stick to an exercise routine because of all my holiday travel. 

The Fix: Be flexible and think ahead. Find training partners in the community or connect with local running clubs. Further, neighborhood gyms often offer special deals for travelers or mix up exercising by doing fitness routines from your favorite magazines or trying something new, like yoga!

---

Holiday Meals

Excuse : I can't resist huge holiday meals.

The Fix: Cut yourself some slack, but be smart. If you're watching calories, have a plan before you indulge. Also, don't commit the common blunder of going for a long run or ride before the big feast. With a revved up appetite, you'll eat even more. Better to go to dinner with normal hunger, then burn off those carbs with a long workout the next day.  

---

Finding Time

Excuse : I can't find the time to exercise.

The Fix: Get up early and enlist group support. Of course, there will be times when the best plan gets sidelined, but just keep moving- a little is better than nothing.

---

Snacking and Packing

Excuse : With all these treats and goodies around, I'm constantly snacking.
The Fix: Control your cookie monster. While a few holiday meals won't set you back, constant snacking can be detrimental. But it does help to know a few tricks - Eat a small meal before you go to a party to avoid overindulging. Stay away from the bar--that glass of pinot could cause you to eat more. Fill three-quarters of a plate with healthy foods, saving a small space for treats.