Work those legs

You remember those times when you were in secondary school and there came that time of year when you had to run who-knows-how-far just for the sake of picking up some cut-up pieces of card and perhaps, getting a point or two in the process? Sure, you do. And the tradition of putting one leg in front of the other over and over again for countless miles (it sure seems like it was countless then) still continues to this very day. Apart maybe from the route you take.

Just in case you're still wondering what I'm talking about, it's the annual school cross-country race. You know the one. You gather with the entire school body in all your running gear (what little you have of it), and at the sound of a horn or something of that sort, you shoot off (or is it lumber) through the arduous circuit that has been laid out before you and, hopefully, reach the finishing line still breathing, still living.

Well, those days are long past me now, but I get the gleeful pleasure of watching other people doing all the hard work! My school just had its cross-country race last Saturday (I know, this post is a bit late) and being the yearly affair that it is, we did that one-in-a-year thing as well: motivating students to run for the respective sports house. Most did so quite willingly, but there were also the few who didn't quite see the whole reason for it and opted for a leisurely stroll instead.

Now, if you are in my generation, then the only cross-country race that you probably know about isn't very cross-country at all. I mean how is running along roads with traffic police in tow to divert traffic cross-country? If you want cross-country, come to my school. Here, students run on sand, run along footpaths (as opposed to roads), go past streams, go up hills and go down them - this is the real cross-country race. And my students go through this every year. Actually with all that rough terrain to negotiate, I'm surprised that the first aid people on duty don't have more casualties to deal with. But I guess my students are all used to that.

So, I'm wondering: how would their more urban counterparts fare?

Did I mention I was the designated picture-taker? If you're interested, I've got a kind of photo-essay of the whole event in my more photography-centric blog here.