HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: The end of the race

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By Brady Bisgard, Linn-Mar senior

Any runner will remember their coach telling them to finish strong.

The end of the race is perhaps the most important part. It is where real winners show themselves, where the good separate from the great.

As a runner, I have been working to finish every race strong. But with the end of my high school career in sight, I am learning a new meaning to the saying.

Running is a way of life  and it is one that I have comfortably lived for the last seven years. I have been on a competitive running team every year since the sixth grade when my awkward 12-year-old self joined the Linn-Mar Running Club.

Running simply is a part of my life. For some, the seasons of the year are spring, summer, fall and winter. For me, the seasons of the year are track, cross country preseason, cross country and track preseason.

So with my cross country season already in the rearview mirror, the finale of my running career is fast approaching. Knowing that the end is near gives me one of the most mixed bags of emotions possible. I think many seniors in high school could relate to me at this point. There will be no more running around the track oval, no more team dinners, no more lifting jam sessions, no more late night cross country runs.

While I will miss all of those things, college awaits and it offers one of the most exciting times in life. It is not like I will stop running next year. It is just that I will not be a member of a team. With that in mind, as a senior member of the track team, all I can focus on is enjoying what is left of my season.

And finishing strong.