"Rabbiting" Races

Yesterday Granite Oaks Middle School hosted their annual cross country invitational for fourth through eighth graders. In order to give back to the younger cross country programs we, the RHS Cross Country team, volunteered at the event. As part of our workout we rabbited between two to four races depending on our assigned workout. Rabbiting a race means that you start ahead of the runners and lead the race so that those racing know where to go and don’t get lost. The race is a mile long, spanning the Granite Oaks campus. When we are not rabbiting we help direct runners, keep the course clear, control the finish area, and hand out medals. It’s really fun to go and help out the programs of schools that we went to and, to help promote the sport in hopes more kids will continue cross country through high school. While many of the runners complete the race by a combination of walking and sprinting, several of them are surprisingly fast for their age. It seems as though the younger generations are becoming faster and faster at such an early age, a promising sign for the RHS cross country team. Whether or not these little runners continue their cross country career, I hope that they always have a love for exercise.