Running. In a lot of sports it is the main punishment dreaded by all. But to a collective group of people it is what they enjoy doing. Maybe not while running but the results are what they keep in mind.

Olivia Conlon, a sophomore and the top runner on the girls Cross Country team, enjoys the rush she feels after running, but getting to that point is not the easiest part of the sport.

“It’s definitely hard but you learn to enjoy running through the pain.” Conlon said.

One place where pain isn’t felt too much are the long bus rides the team takes all over the state. During these bus rides, girls braid each others hair and attach tempororary tattoos on each other’s faces. Because most of the season takes place during warm weather, the windows remain open blowing everything not tied down all over the bus.

And glitter. Lots of glitter, which luckily comes off with sweat.

Along with glitter, there is an air of nervousness as the runners get mentally ready for the race at the end of the bus ride.

Conlon said the two most important attributes for a runner are determination and grit.

“You have to learn that running is equivalent to pain, you have to learn how to work through that,” Conlon said. “And you need to want to get better every single race that you do.”

Head coach, Luke Miller sees many challenges for runners during a season. Sometimes overtraining can leads to worn out legs and exhaustion, but undertraining can leave runners unprepared for a race.

“The hardest thing about being a runner is finding the right amount of work to do on every given day and consistently doing that throughout a season,” Miller said.

Freshman Harshini Rakesh has found herself on the varsity team by the end of the season. Obviously, she worked hard to get there.

“The hardest thing would probably be pushing through it even when the results aren’t what you might want them to be,” she said.