Cross Country: Is It A Sport?

       Cross country is most definitely a sport because it requires physical activity and you compete against other teams. It might not be the most well-known sport, but just because it’s not well known to the world doesn’t mean it’s not a sport. I have several friends who are in cross country, though. Running, in general, takes muscle and practice but running races is even harder! In this informational medium length article, I have gathered evidence to prove that cross country is a sport!

      First of all, I am not in cross country or track. However, I know that you need lots of muscles to run. Some certain muscles you use are: “The quadriceps which are the muscles in the front of your thighs, the back of the leg where the hamstring is, the glutes which are located on the lower back area, the hip flexors which work when work when your thighs move toward your stomach, the abs which is a self explanatory muscle, the calves which work when your toes point down, the tibialis anterior which run down the front of the scins, and the peroneals that run down the chin” (What Muscles Does Running Build?). Running uses a lot of leg and core muscles and if you don’t have these, you are going to have troubles running.

      Another thing you need for running is training and energy. To become a better runner you need to start slow and work your way up. “The most important thing for a new runner is not experience, but patience,” says Adam Kedge. For someone who just started running, a recommended workout is to practice two to three weeks of running at least four or five days in the 20-40 minute range. That is if you are a beginner, though. More advanced runners have more advanced training, just like any other sport. The definition of a sport is, “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment” according to Google Dictionary. If I’m not mistaken, running makes the cut. Running is an activity involving physical work for your body and it’s a skill, because you can’t just decide to run without training for it. Cross country also is a team; they compete against other cross country teams while people watch for entertainment. Therefore, cross country fits the description of a sport so technically it should be called one.

      Next, I interviewed Jonathan Laudie, (a friend that is on the EMS cross country team), to see his opinions on running. Then, I asked my non-running friend Chloe Eubanks, who is a swimmer, on her opinion. First, I asked Jonathan if he thought of running as a sport. “Running is definitely a sport. A sport is something that someone can work hard on and get better at, all sports have big events based on them. That’s why running is a sport. Running requires confidence and something to drive you on, if you lack both of those, then running is more difficult. But the most important thing of all is to train.” As you have previously read, he thinks that running is a sport and I agree with him. For the second person that I interviewed, I gave Chloe a few different questions to answer. To begin, I asked her personally if she thinks running is a sport and/or does it take training. “I think that running can be hard, but not that hard at the same time. For running you don’t have to work on upper body strength, just legs. So I find that uneven for muscle in the body. Though I don’t think that you can randomly become good at it. I think that running is not that hard compared to other sports. Now I am not in running, I am the opposite of runners. I swim, and with swimming you use a lot more muscles than running. So I feel like running can be hard in different ways, but I don’t think that it is the hardest sport out there. So I personally don’t like it, but I know others do like it. So I respect them for their opinion.”

       There you have it! I consider cross country a sport. Cross country takes good muscle, time, energy, training, and conditioning, just like any sport. People say that runners don’t need upper body strength but I disagree with them. You need to have back muscle and support for a better form while running, and just having upper body strength helps overall! Of course, everyone has their own opinions about what’s a sport and what’s not! Running is a sport and just because it doesn’t require a ball doesn’t make it not a sport!