Cross country - truly a wonderful life.

You begin your summer vacation by waking up daily at 5 a.m. to go on your first 10-mile run before the heat of the summer sets in, and then just as the sun begins to set, you head out for another 5-mile run.

When the season begins, you run your first three races in the heat of late summer, and then your next three never knowing if it's going to be cold, rainy, muddy, or all of the above.

All for what? A chance to run at the state meet in Peoria at the beginning of November.