Glen Hazelwood has been with the sport since the very beginning of his son's career. He first submitted, "Musings from a Rookie XC Dad," in 2012. The article went viral, reaching across state boundaries, and becoming one of the most viewed articles of that year. Two years later, he followed up with, "Musings of a Now Junior XC Dad," which reiterated many of the themes of growth and aspiration that mirrored young runners. Now a seasoned veteran of the parental duties of the sport, Hazelwood salutes the senior season, as it is about to kick off.
Musings Of A Seasoned, Senior XC Dad
I almost don't want this season to start. Because once it starts, that's the beginning of it ending, and it's the last one I'll ever get. This sport has been such a huge part of my family's life for the past four years, and when my son runs his last high school race next June, the void that will be left by it not being there any longer will be equally as great. In all likelihood, he will continue running in college next year, and l will adjust and find a connection with how all that works. But it just won't be the same as this.
I suppose I should save all the morosity for a true-blue, tear-jerking goodbye article next summer, but for now, suffice it to say that I'm going to be a weepy mess when this ride ends, so I'm apprehensive about starting the process with that first gun of the season.
On the other hand...
I CANNOT WAIT FOR THAT FIRST GUN OF THE SEASON!!!
I've had enough of temperatures and humidity as high as a decent girls speed rating. I've had enough baseball "water cooler" talk. And I've had enough of scouring the internet for random meet results just to keep my inner "stat beast" satisfied until the season starts.
I am completely and thoroughly ready to be in Bowdoin Park, on a crisp autumn morning, wearing a knit cap and my Brewster Bears hoodie and watching 200 young athletes pound their way across the field and toward the gate to start their trip up the mountain.
I'm ready to text Kyle results from Section 1.
I'm ready to take ridiculous train/bus/cab/foot combinations to get to meets.
I'm SO ready to see what this kid can do in his senior year campaign.
And I suppose, whether I want to be or not, I'm ready to wrap up the "Musings" series, which our MileSplit community has been so incredibly kind to let me share with you over these past four years.
In the previous entries in this series, I broke the articles down into my observations about the things I'd learned about the sport of cross country as I went along. Four years into my education, I certainly don't profess to know everything there is to know about the sport, and I doubt I ever will. But…I know enough to know what I want to see happen this year, so I'm changing the paradigm a bit and doing my musings in the form of a "wish list" for the coming season.
It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from or what you do, there are times in life when you just go back to basic human nature…and if you're walking down a beach, and spot a shiny brass lamp washed up on the shore, basic human nature dictates that you will pick it up, look around to be sure no one is watching and then rub the lamp to see if a Genie comes out of it.
I don't write the rules, folks. I just work with 'em.
My Genie pops out of the lamp wearing a Somers Lions Club t-shirt and carrying an NXN backpack. And he just finished a "Sunday Long Run", so he's sweaty and a little dizzy, which is good because I'm able to exploit this condition and mug him for extra wishes beyond the traditional three.
- I wish that no one gets hurt this year. The way I see it, if you've got Genie wishes, you might as well go big. And I know this one is unrealistic, but even if I had only three wishes, I'd use one on it just the same. I've written about our personal experiences with injury, and we didn't escape injury free last year either, with Kevin missing a chunk of his winter season with a minor Achilles issue. But just as poignant for me was seeing Jimmy Asselmeyer and John Rice, two superb young athletes who I've had the privilege of watching compete for four years and have tremendous respect for, end their high school careers with horrific crashes. And my heart was in my throat watching the infamous "Whamsauce" incident, and pondering how incredibly badly that could've gone. It was like getting punched in the gut when I heard about or saw these things, and despite knowing deep down that in all likelihood there will be similar stories this season, I go into it hopeful that there won't be. PLEASE be careful and be safe.
- I wish that all of you athletes have a heap o' fun this year. Yes, cross country is a competitive sport. Yes, winning definitely matters, and is a lot of fun in its own right. But for every runner who wins a race, there are a whole bunch of people who don't, so don't make it all about "winning". In the film, "Chasing Mavericks", there's a scene where the main character tells his friend that he can't go to a party because he's going home to try and figure out life and what it all means, to which the friend, with an amused glance, replies "We're in high school, dude." Well you're in high school too, dudes. And you also participate in arguably the most "social" sport you could possibly have chosen. So make it about the whole experience and not just collecting medals. Absolutely take your sport seriously and give it everything you have, when it's time to do that. But afterwards, embrace and enjoy all the other aspects of it as well, and make it a huge party with all of your friends. It's like this…if you run a 30 second PR, and are upset about what place you ended up in, you are definitely doing this wrong.
- I wish that our young, freshman and middle-school "rock stars", who are talented enough to be able to compete on the varsity level, first and foremost learn to love the sport before worrying too much about their performance against older, more experienced competition. And even more so, that they don't trip too much on the inevitable comparisons with those who came before them. A skinny little 13 year old "aerobic beast" who dropped a 9:40 two-mile as an eighth grader could very possibly turn out to be a 6'2, 220lb hammer thrower by the time he's a senior, so don't worry too, too much about what you're doing performance wise now. Learn your sport. Ask your coach a million questions. Follow your older teammates lead and become a good, solid member of your team. And allow a genuine passion for cross country to develop in you. And no matter how good you are, if you find that that doesn't happen, go find a sport or club or activity that does that for you and do that instead. See "have a heap o' fun" up above for further details.
- I wish that every single parent, of every single athlete, comes out to see their children run this year. When your kid's in 4th grade, you go to his or her Winter Concert at school. You certainly don't do that for the highly entertaining and technical excellence of the music, because quite frankly, it's a train wreck and an "earsore" at that level. You go because of parental obligation, and because no matter how awful the sounds pouring down on you from the stage are, you're proud of them. That parental obligation got me to my first few meets back in 2010, when Kevin started out in Brewster's modified program and I had little interest in cross country myself. For us, it evolved into an indescribable bonding experience and something that's become a big part of our daily lives. And maybe it won't be like that for you…but do it anyway and find out. I certainly don't mean to be preachy about it. I'm so fortunate in that I have an employer who's on board with this and gives me whatever time I need to pursue it, and I totally get it that it's not always easy to find the time to do this. But there aren't that many opportunities for you to truly witness the tangible manifestation of your child's hard work, dedication and passion, and cross country is unquestionably one of those opportunities. So find the time, even if it's just once. Get to a meet. Have a hot dog and buy some swag at the concession stand. Enjoy a nice, fall day in the park with the people you love. And if you're lucky, maybe you'll have a front row seat to your child finding their exact perfect place in life at this early stage of it, like I did.
- I wish that the Loucks Games 3200m continues on its path to being one of the most prestigious high school races in the country. Ok…I get it that we're getting ready for XC right now, and Loucks is a long way off. But you just don't find a lamp with a slightly intoxicated track Genie in it every day, so I'm covering all bases. Besides, most of the kids in that race are XC kids anyway…and these are my genie wishes, so go find your own lamp! I remember watching the U.S. Olympic hockey team beat the Russians in the 1980 Winter Olympics. I was at game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when Mookie Wilson's weak grounder up the first base side dribbled through Bill Buckner's legs. And the feeling that I had watching that race last May was the equal of either of those events. It was sincerely one of the greatest sports moments I've ever experienced. I want to see athletes flocking into White Plains from all over the country to have a crack at 9:00 on the Tigers oval, just minutes from my own home.
- I wish that at some point this year, Kyle Brazeil gathers up Aidan Tooker, Kevin Hazelwood, Mike Delfay and Conor Lundy and recreates a photo he took at the 2013 New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, of four skinny-legged little 15 year old New York distance boys, who just came off the track after racing each other for the first time in the NBN Freshman Mile. Kyle, knowingly or not, managed to capture a fairly sizable chunk of New York's high school distance running future in that single shot, and it would be off-the-charts on the "Cool Meter" to see these two photos side by side. In exchange, I might be persuaded to share some pics of Mike & Kevin playing soccer together when they were like six years old. Just kidding, guys…maybe I'll let him take a picture of me all teary-eyed when he shows me the photo. That'll be a true, "full-circle" moment for me.
- I wish that I'll have a chance to meet a bunch more XC/track folks this year before it's time to say goodbye in June. I've met so many incredible people over the past four years, from athletes, to parents, to coaches and officials. I was fortunate enough to be reunited with people like Fred Singleton of White Plains and Margie McEvoy and Keith Yizar of Mamaroneck, who were a big part of my own high school years, and are still helping to mold our children into solid adults today. I got to see a lot of my cousin, New Rochelle coach Joe Intervallo, without there being a family funeral involved. And all of that is directly due to the sport of Cross Country. As of now, I will be at the Section 1 Mega-Dual, Somers Big Red, The Brewster Bear Classic, our League Championship, Manhattan Invitational, Section 1 Coaches Invitational, Northern County Championships, Section 1 State Qualifier and hopefully States, Feds and NXN-NY. By all means, come over and say hi, argue a point you disagree with me on, buy me a cup of coffee while I text results to Kyle or whatever. I intend to embrace and celebrate every single moment of what our children do this season. By all means, join me in this.
I made a few more wishes, because like I said earlier, you just don't get a track Genie handing wishes out every day. But they were mostly the personal, selfish kind that any parent who found a lamp with a track Genie it would make for their own kid, so I'll just keep those to myself. But I'm hanging onto the lamp, so if anyone wants to add any further wishes in the comment section, I'll try and coax him back out for ya. ;-)
I'm sad about bringing the 'Musings' series to a close. The original article was the first one I ever wrote for MileSplit, and I had no expectations of it leading to the dozen or so pieces I've written since then. Every one of them has been a pleasure to write, and I hope you enjoyed them, but this set was the most "close to the heart", and while you can rest assured that I'll have a lot more to say going forward, this is a tough goodbye for me.
Thank you so much for allowing me this stage.
Bring on that gun!!!
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Glen