It's Not Going To Be Like This Again

Memories of a Tuesday long past on a bus with my cross country team.

It’s not going be like this again. 

That’s what our coach told us. We were sitting on the old bus in an empty parking lot at Holmdel Park. Holmdel was where the NJ state championships would be in only a few short days. But this wasn’t Saturday. This wasn’t race day. It was Tuesday. We had just finished our last hard workout of the year. It was already getting dark by the time we had completed our cool down and climbed onto the bus. We were ready to go back to school so we could head home to eat… and watch TV… listen to music… put off our homework… be left alone. 

It’s not going to be like this again. 

Coach Heath waited. We thought he had more to say. So, we waited too. But he had said all he needed too. He looked at each of us. We looked back. Was there more? Was that really all he had to say? We started to look around at each other. It was getting darker quickly now. The sun had dropped behind the hills. It was getting hard to see each other. 

It’s not going to be like this again. 

We started this journey five months earlier in June at a team meeting in a classroom. We were told how good we could be. We were told how hard it was going to be to become as good as we could be. We told each other that we would do our parts because we were told our parts could add up to something extraordinary. We looked at each other and made our commitments. Five months after that meeting were were together still… on an old and beat up blue bus… looking at each other and realizing we stayed true to that commitment and to each other. 

It’s not going to be like this again. 

Like a video on fast forward we saw before our eyes all those miles and meters and minutes run together. We saw all those short walks to the countless starting lines and all those long walks from the endless finish lines. We saw the highs and we felt the lows. We heard the laughs and the arguments and the yelling and the whispers we shared before, during and after our runs. We remembered the heartbreaks and breakthroughs and we saw the breakdowns and the barriers we broke this season. We sat there silently. Watching our season pass before us in our minds. The sun fully disappeared now.   

It’s not going to be like this again. 

Our coach made his way to the front of the bus. We all hoped he would wait just another moment longer until he turned the key and turned over that ignition. We suddenly weren’t ready to go. Was this it? Was all this almost over? We weren’t ready to head back. We weren’t ready for this to end. The bus was completely dark by now. None of us could see each other. But we knew were were still there… together. 

It’s not going to be like this again. 

The engine started up. The red light from the emergency door at the back of the bus was enough to cast the softest glow on everyone’s face. We drove out of the park and headed back to school so we could split up and all go our separate ways. 

It’s not going to be like this again. 

There were other teams and other races in my future. This was a finish line... not the finish line. There were more Tuesday afternoons on the trails. There were more bus rides. But they were all different Tuesdays. Different busses. Different sunsets. Different leaves littering the ground. Different teammates. A different me. 

It’s not going to be like this again. 

I think about that bus and those teammates and the words our coach spoke to us each and every year as another cross country season winds down. And I am there… back on the bus… with my teammates listening to what my coach is telling us. I still get a few butterflies even today. I still get a little nervous even as I write this. I still ask myself whether or not I can do what I need to do on the other side of that starting line. I can still see my teammates… my family I chose and the family that chose me. And I know that in a few days they will run for me and I will run for them. Because we love each other. We may not have understood that yet. But we will. Someday… looking back… we will understand just how much what we did with and for each other meant to us.

We won states a few days later. It was a great moment for all of us. But what I cherish most about that season isn’t our team winning the state championship. What I cherish most is that I never lost that Tuesday.

Cheers,
Coach Bennett

Cheers to every one of my teammates at CBA, Lincroft NJ.

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I LOVE CROSS COUNTRY!

If you do too… great! If you don’t love XC it’s just because you have not been properly introduced. Don’t worry! I know XC really well and I’ll make sure you two get properly acquainted. I’ve set up more people with Cross Country than just about anybody. And everyone I have set up still has a deep, loving, passionate and lasting relationship with XC. So, get dressed down and ready to go out to the trails because it’s time to snuggle up with Cross Country!

Okay, you need to meet… I mean go to a meet. The first date should be a XC meet. And if you can’t meet in person at a meet we can start this new love affair digitally (like so many other relationships nowadays).

Check out Runnerspace. There are a whole bunch of excellent XC meets being streamed this weekend.

Check out Dyestat. Get a hot cup of coffee or a cold soda or maybe even a tall glass of water and sit back and runnerd out!

Check out Milesplit. You can never get too much XC. Grab some snacks and get ready to read about and watch some harriers do what they do best… which is rock and roll through the mud and over the hills.

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DO YOU NEED A TEAM PEP TALK, CONGRATULATIONS MESSAGE, GOOD LUCK OR BIRTHDAY WISHES?

You can book one from me on Cameo for a friend, teammate, family member, mortal enemy or even yourself. Check out my page here and let me know what you need!

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NEW COACH BENNETT’S PODCAST

Listen on Apple Podcasts:

Or you can listen on Spotify:

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Thank you for reading. It really does mean a lot that you subscribed to the newsletter and even take the time out of your day to read the words I write. I hope that you feel it’s time well spent. Cheers to you and one more thanks to everyone that’s a paid supporter of this newsletter or thinking about becoming a paid supporter. I truly appreciate it. So, thank you again. I know, I know, that’s a whole bunch of thanks. But it’s deserved. So just accept it.

Take care of yourself and take care of each other.

Until that next starting line…

Coach Bennett