It’s not the primary focus of a high school cross-country meet, but sometimes, observing runners toward the tail end of a race can be even more interesting and exciting than watching the front of the pack.
Lead runners receive the main attention and cheering, but spectators — if they are still paying attention by that time of a race — often cheer for those tail-ending harriers as much as the winners, and maybe more.
Runners at the back end often try their hardest and run their fastest in the final yards. They often significantly pick up their pace and work harder in the final stages to pass other runners so they won’t wind up in last place.
Often, their closing kicks in those final steps sometimes come out of nowhere, boosted by the momentum and incentive not to be last and labeled Mr. or Ms. Irrelevant.
That occurred on the final downhill stretch of the recent 6D North Region boys championship meet on the 2.9-mile course at Burke Lake Park in Burke, Va.
Near the two-mile mark, Marshall Statesmen runner Liam Conway had faded to a distant last. But behind loud cheering over the final yards, Conway made a strong move.
The sophomore made up huge ground in the final steps by kicking to pass other runners and avoid finishing at the back of the pack.
The tail end of the girls Concorde District championship meet, also at Burke Lake Park, was very busy, with much jockeying and passing. The times of the final 11 finishers were only 30 seconds apart, with the last three separated by just three seconds.
The competition to avoid last place also was fierce in other recent metro-area postseason meets, with the final three separated by just four seconds in one race.
Head coaches for those runners and high-school teams constantly are vocal about encouraging such competitiveness during practice sessions, then even more so during races. They can be heard using raised voices inspiring their runners to pass the one just ahead, then chase down the next.
“You cheer just as hard, if not harder, for your runners in the back of races to pass others as you do for those up front,” former Lake Braddock High coach Mike Mangan said years ago.
Yorktown High School head coach Emily Stewart was more satisfied than anything about how her girls runners all passed others in the final half mile en route to winning a region title.
Years ago at a girls meet in foul-weather conditions, the runner who placed last limped to the finish hurting, muddy and bloodied. She had fallen twice during the slippery race and briefly got lost on the course. But she didn’t give up.
Trainers monitoring the runners asked if she wanted to stop and ride in a golf cart to the finish. She refused, being determined to finish, even if she was a distant last.
By doing so, the runner received the loudest cheers of the meet.
