HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: Being part of Linn-Mar's 'distance family'

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Brady Bisgard, Linn-Mar senior

MARION - Calling one's team a family is perhaps one of the most cliched notions in sports.

Ask most coaches, and they will talk about how tight-knit their group of athletes is, how they are just one large family. It seems like all teams can claim that bond.

With that in mind, the only word to accurately describe the Linn-Mar boys' distance track team is, well,  family.

At Linn-Mar, each group of the track team has separate practices each day, and that is good because each group has different areas they need to specialize in. For example, shot putters should not be running the two mile warm-up of the distance team, or doing the dynamic stretches of the sprinters.

One can usually watch the distance team completing seemingly endless repetitions on the track, or you may notice them running along the side of the road. As a senior on the distance team, I have learned that the grueling workouts and the long runs create an extremely tight-knit group of young men.

The distance family is an eclectic mix of Linn-Mar students. Some are freshmen, others are seniors. Some are in band, others are in baseball. Some are slow and others are some of the fastest runners in Iowa.

The one thing that we all share is the love to run, and that is what brings us together. When you have fought through the pains of a workout, pushing each other to the max, trying to beat your best friends in one last quarter mile repeat, that is when you get to know your teammates. That is what builds a team.

Like any family, the distance family goes through its highs and lows, its ups and downs. We may all be teammates, but each of us still has the burning desire to beat the others. It is one of the most perplexing things, that one moment we are racing as bitter enemies - wanting nothing more than to beat our teammates - and an hour later we are going out to Nutri Smoothie.

True teams are built with trust and confidence in each other and that is shown greatly in the Linn-Mar distance team.

This season should be one of the most successful in many years for the Linn-Mar distance track team and much of that success can be credited to the dedication and the camaraderie of the distance family. Without each other, there would be no one to push you, no one to help you get stronger and no one to hang out with on Friday nights.