Day 7.284: Cross-country

My first recollections of cross-country running at school are fairly positive ones - I was probably seven years old and quite enjoyed running around the perimeter of our primary school. I don't remember much in the way of running at my next school, although I did, for a short time, manage to have some success with sport - playing rugby and cricket between the ages of 8 and 11.

When I started secondary school, I remember seeing cross-country running as a kind of cruel and unusual punishment meted out by the PE teachers from time to time. Funnily enough, towards the end of my school career, aged 16 or 17, I was surprised to discover that it became one of my least disfavoured sporting activities, but I did no running by choice until much later.

So it is that I witness Exile #3's growing love of running with equal parts surprise and pleasure. She's coming to the end of her cross-country season at school - we went to see her run the other day:

She is looking forward to getting back to running with me and wants to set herself the challenge of running a longer race sometime soon. Maybe she'll take a few days off first, but I hope she doesn't feel the need to take a 25 year hiatus like I did.