School Cross Country

Finally, the trilogy is complete.

[eo]

In year 11 i did cross country to get the day off. Got into zone by default because no one showed up, got into regional by default because no one showed up and then at regional i got sympathy cheers on my way to the to the finish line because two races started while i was still running. Totally worth the day off.

[tim-osullivan]

I grew up in a very rural town that is mostly dense gum forests. They ran our cross country in the national park across the highway from our school.

The school didn't have enough staff to man the cross country properly, so they just set up a marquee at the entrance to the trail and sent a teacher in to be the checkpoint about 1km into the track. The rest was just left up to the kids to make it to the checkpoint teacher and then back.

It became increasingly clear to myself and fellow students that the winner of the race was just the person who made it out of the forest first... And thus, the moment we were out of eye shot of the teachers, the hunger games broke out. Being a public school in a rural town, everyone was a bit rough around the edges. Rocks were thrown, kids pushed into likely snake infested bushes, the fast little kids had to sprint for their lives with the larger kids hot on their tail, not trying to beat them in a foot race but legitimately attempting to incapacitate them.

Most of us were 6.
The prize for winning was a piece of paper and a $0.30 paddlepop from the tuckshop.

They took us out of class for a whole day for this event.

They cancelled the event indefinitely after that year, I wouldn't be shocked if it was still not a thing 20 years on.

Since then I have come to the realisation that kids 6-9 can easily be motivated to commit attempted murder for the promise of a cold snack and minor praise.

[BlackKyurem]

I was a very unfit kid in Primary School, I was slow, fatter than I am now and lack endurance. My House (Red) actually used me in a strategy because of this that when I would get over lapped by the fitter kids, I'd try to block everyone as much as I could except for the runners in my own House

[snorxaljasermusic]

Me and a mate walked the entire way around our school cross country course in grade 5, found a mayonnaise or tartare sauce squirty bottle around three quarters of the way through the course, just lying on the ground. Naturally, we picked it up and took it with us to the end. We lightly jogged the final stretch up a hill together so we wouldn't get in too much trouble for not trying or something, and arm in arm too so the teachers thought we were such great mates supporting each other, but little did they know the nefarious plan we had concocted in our 10- year-old minds. We crossed the line, in equal last place by at least a minute, then my mate did his best Lewis Hamilton impersonation and squirted the sauce bottle all over the waiting crowd of students and teachers who probably just wanted to get it over with by this point, just like it was a freshly fizzed bottle of champagne or some shit. What a time.

[CC-dveb]

During my year 4 cross country. I walked it, then halfway through sat in some bushes and played my DS. I decided I better finish. So I walked to the end and everyone was shocked and cheering. They thought I had won the year 6 cross country which had started an hour and a half later. I crossed the finish line and the principle came and said congratulations on such a fast time.

[blakearius]

My biggest memory of cross country is being so slow that I was stuck with the other slowest guy in the class. We agreed to cross the finish line together and instead he bolts full pump right before the finish.

[bekleedee]

My son had cross country this year. He complained for 3 days before it and about 5 weeks after it. Good times.

[QuannanHade]

I remember spite-walking the cross country because I didn't agree to be there.

I was directed to skip three quarters of the course, and still managed to keep two busloads back an extra 45 minutes while being pushed rather forcefully up the hill to the finish by the PE teacher.

I told them they'd regret making me do it.

[alexanderthegreat]

The super athletic, academic, co curricular kid that was always really nice was literally the Captain America of the cross country, going “on your left” to every single kid

[Natch]

My school was on a massive property with heaps of bush land that we had to run around for cross country but there was never any markers about where to go so it was basically “hey kids run around the bush for 2 hours in Australian summer, hope some of you make it back.” One yeah a kid got lost and no one, not even the teachers went looking for him, he just rocked up at the end of the day crying saying he got lost and left behind.

[qazwsx]

I remember being the best cross country runner in my tiny primary school and always went on to districts and got absolutely pummeled

[RobotnikPlays]

I remember having an asthma attack about 20% into one district cross country carnival, one of the teachers - instead of turning back the (obviously struggling to breathe) 10 yr old - made me complete the entire lap of the course.

I ended up in the back of an Ambulance on a nebuliser.

[bookenjoyer]

My friend back in primary school tried a technique of eating lollies before starting the race so she had more energy, she ended up coming third but threw up everywhere at the finish line

[spamviking]

I was involved in the cross country that was responsible for ending school sport events that left the school grounds for several years. As we lined up in age brackets several kids chucked their bags over the fence and as we ran out, scooped them up and just went home, others did pit stops at the fish n chip shop or hopped the fence out of sight of the teachers and hid by the bike shed til they saw the first runners come back. I was in under 19s so I saw the later stages of the shemozzle, including teachers coming to an agreement with the kids at the chip shop that if you already placed your order you could collect it but everyone else had to keep running.

[Saxdude]

"If I meditate, I'll be able to teleport too."

Jordan strikes me as the kind of kid who quoted the "I can win, I feel great, I CAN DO THIS" speech unironically.

And yes, the blood at the back of the throat feeling was why I LOATHED the beep test.

[dawntrie]

Jordies not telling us if they still sell Nutri-Grain choco bars or not was the most unsatisfying part of this video.

[commemorative]

YES FINALLY! THE PROMISED PROPHECY HAS BEEN FULFILLED

[nattykubdruncle]

I have 2 memories, one more fucked up than the other

1. I was in Year 4. I had one kid exactly like Glenn tackle me and throw punches at me because he thought I stuffed his schoolbag with grass (the field was just mowed that day). Turns out it was one of his mates. There was no teacher involvement and I got no apology for it

2. I believe I was in Year 8. I was jogging along and twisted my ankle stepping on what I believed was a large rock. Looked back and turns out I tripped on the severed head of a kitten instead. Yeah that one scarred me for a while

[natk]

I remember cross country! It was a 2.5km run on some bush track in the middle of nowhere. I was always a terrible long distance runner, so my strategy was to sprint at the start and die for the rest. I got out to a commanding lead, and I'm not exaggerating. I was probably 400m in front by about halfway, and my insides felt like they were going to rupture but my strategy was working. Not long afterwards some kid passed me, then then another. I was so fucked that I was running pigeon toed and I was desperately trying to hold my shit in - literally. Then it happened with the finish line in sight. I sharted and I could feel the poo nugget bouncing around my dacks. The more I pushed myself to the line more I could feel the nugget rolling around violently. I came 4th and shit myself.

[karinaw]

Ah the memories of kids taking shortcuts and thinking they got away with it.
I was the fast kid who ran too fast at the start then crashed and burned with an asthma attack about 100m in.