By Ng Xin Xuan (Captain), Ng Rui Shi (Captain) and Pranav Shreedhar (Vice-Captain)
Hey there! Do you love going on long runs in scenic settings? Or enjoy the challenge of competing in races against other runners? If your answer to either of these questions is a solid “yes!”, you belong in Cross Country!
As the name suggests, Cross Country is all about running. But that’s not all that we do! We also participate in many different types of workouts and train at a multitude of locations.
Training takes place on Monday and Friday afternoons at 4pm, and Wednesday mornings at 7.30am. Each training usually lasts around 2 hours. During this time, we complete workouts that range from speed-focused 200m sprints to endurance-based 1km interval runs. We may also go for long runs or head to the school gym for strength training. These workouts might sound intimidating and tiring at first, but after a few weeks of training, you will be amazed by how much fitter and faster you have become! In addition to school training, we are also encouraged to go for our own easy long runs on non-training days to maintain fitness and build endurance.
Where we train varies based on the time of year, but not to worry, our training locations are always exciting and fun! On top of training at the school track and gym, we often run at Bedok Reservoir (the location of the National Cross Country Championships), especially when we are nearing competition season. During off-season periods, we go to Macritchie Reservoir and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve for longer runs with more interesting terrains – rocky trails, narrow paths, and you may even spot wildlife such as wild boars! Once in a while, we may even head over to Mount Faber for hill training, or the 40-storey HDBs in Toa Payoh for stairs training. This in itself serves as a reason to join Cross Country, as the CCA provides you with the opportunity to not only reach the pinnacle of fitness, but also explore many unique sights while you’re at it! We try to arrange trainings at external locations on Wednesday mornings so that the travel time will be less of an inconvenience for everyone.
Throughout your CCA journey, you’ll have the chance to participate in an array of competitions. From the Track and Field NSG (National School Games) in March to the Cross Country NSG taking place in May, as well as a plethora of other competitions throughout the year, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to prove you’re the best and bring pride to the school. Some of our team’s proudest achievements include finishing 1st (Girls) and 3rd (Boys) at the recent 2022 National School Games Cross Country Championships.
In Cross Country, we are more than just teammates. We are a family of passionate and dedicated runners. We may be a small CCA in a physically draining sport, but you will never find yourself lacking encouragement or feeling isolated in this CCA. Running has brought us together, giving us opportunities to bond and develop real camaraderie with each other. We encourage and support each other through exhausting workouts and share in each other’s moments of success. Our teachers-in-charge, Ms June Tan, Mr Teo Hui Koon, and our coach, Coach Fabian are also our pillars of support, giving us constant guidance and encouragement.
Many people would think us crazy for wanting to be part of a sport where we run in the hot, blistering sun around the track endlessly, but rest assured, there’s more to Cross Country than just running. Our best memories are forged whenever we hang out as a team, be it through dinner sessions after training, stretching together after a hard workout or even laughing at each other as we get soaked in the rain. We occasionally also have get-togethers to celebrate our little milestones together as a team. Our training sessions may seem tough, but we never fail to lift each other up with our humorous conversations and genuine laughter. With our fun-loving teammates and post-training hangouts, we look forward to every training session.
If you have what it takes to be a Cross Country runner, and the prospect of exciting workouts, fun training locations and a bonded team appeals to you, then join us now! Being a Cross Country runner might be painful and tiring at times, but we promise you, at the end of your two years in Cross Country, you will not regret joining us.
