With a blanket of snow covering the ground in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, people swarmed Yankton Trail Park at Nike Cross Regionals Heartland on Nov. 8 and 9. Runners jogged the trails around the park, swerving through swarms of people and other groups of runners as they warmed up for the coming races. NXR is, for many runners, the lead up to one of the most important meets of the year. For others, it’s a time to have fun while racing with teammates at one of the most exciting events of the year.
The Raider Runners, an organization made up primarily of South students–mostly cross country runners– goes to NXR each fall as a club team to compete in the open races. With 10 open races, and a total of 15 races including championship races and others, there was an estimated number of runners in the thousands this year. The Raider Runners drove from South to Sioux Falls on Nov. 8, spending eight hours on the bus, and then taking half an hour to explore the falls before heading to the hotel for free time.
“We hung out, me and Aden [Braden-Alvarez] brought a karaoke machine, so we sang on that,” senior Henry Nelson said. “There was a little bit of a coffee maker incident…it’s just a joy. We don’t party, but we hang out, we talk, we do fun stuff at Sioux Falls. It’s an old waterfall, rocky area. We jump on rocks and stuff.”
Outside of the race, there was much to do around the course. NXR had brought in multiple food trucks, a sectioned off area in which runners could buy Nike shoes, spikes, and apparel at a 15% discount, a tent for race registration and selling large bags of various types of popcorn, and a merch tent. NXR merch has consistently been some of the most popular things to buy on the course, with hundreds and hundreds of runners and spectators rushing to get in line throughout the days it’s open.
“The merch line was really long this year,” senior Izzy Appleman said. “I think we stopped at the park the day before the race, and I was in the line for almost 45 minutes, basically half of the time that we were there. I didn’t get a chance to run or anything like that because I was waiting in the merch line, because it’s so popular, obviously, and everybody wanted to get all the fun stuff that they have there.”
The masses of people, long lines, and some runners lacking necessary clothing, combined with the freezing temperatures, 15 mph winds, and the snow covered ground, made for a truly challenging time on the course both during and after the races. Runners moved about in their team camps and tents, bundled up in everything they had to stay warm. During the races many runners who had rarely, if ever, raced in the snow were wearing tights, gloves, hats, facemasks, and other additional clothing under their uniforms to stay warm.
“It was freezing,” junior Trey Rassette. “It snowed the day before. During race time, it was about 20 some degrees and it felt like seven with the wind chill. So it was very, very cold. We all had to really bundle up to try and stay warm during the race. The day before, it was cold, but not as cold as race conditions. During the race the cold really didn’t bother a lot of us because we were focused on the run, but it really bothered us before and after. It was really hard to breathe for a lot of people because of how hard we ran, it hurt our chests a lot because we couldn’t really get air through our lungs.”
With so many runners at NXR, the start line was swarming with people constantly. The masses of people, specifically multiple hundreds of racers for each race, made for a very crowded start. The snow that covered the ground had been trampled by thousands upon thousands of steps, turning it into a compact sheet of snow, and in some places becoming a slush, proving horrible to run on in anything but spikes.
“It was really hard to get out fast,” freshman Gabriel Gunkel said. “I got stuck in the crowd of our team, and then we got stuck in a bunch of other teams, and then you can’t really go anywhere after you start, and you just got to try your best to not let other people get in your way in front of you, and just try to not get trapped”
Out of the start line, no matter where you were on the course there were always people around. Runners got boxed in, shoved, and pushed back, getting stuck in the masses of people as everyone raced alongside one another for the first 800 meters. The snow and the slush along the course gave way to slippery footing, proving especially difficult for runners to work with.
“It was definitely a challenge,” sophomore Lily Petersen said. “It was hard to move, because it was so cold, you just felt stiff everywhere, and it was hard to breathe. It was also a new experience, I’ve never kind of run in that weather, so it’s fun to try it because you’re pushing yourself in ways that you haven’t really done before, so I enjoyed it.”
Despite the conditions, the Raider Runners pushed through and achieved results that they were satisfied with considering the weather, footing, and number of racers. Many runners hadn’t run a cross country race in snowy conditions for a long period of time, if ever, so it was a challenge to adapt to it. With all these drawbacks, runners’ expectations for themselves prior to the race were thrown out the window, with everyone simply pushing for the best they could achieve.
“I thought I did pretty well,” Rassette said. “I didn’t get close to my time at all, but I’m fine. The conditions we had weren’t really suited for it, so it was challenging. Everyone on the team, mainly the boys, have been extremely tired the past few days and a few of us have gotten sick since. It’s been pretty tiring.”
