I got bored on my way to nationals, so I interviewed my van, then wrote narrative nonfiction pieces on my vanmates.

Interviewee #1: Lucas “Cap” LaBuff

Class year: Freshman

Major: Computer Science

High school alma mater: Carver Center (Baltimore County)

It’s a cool October afternoon at an unassuming Baltimore County high school. A boy in a neon yellow baseball hat is running around with a bundle of flags, carefully placing them based on his memory of the course from the year before. The year is 2020, online learning is in full swing, and no organized sports are in session. Nevertheless, a gaggle of cross country runners is warming up for a time trial. The boy in the yellow hat is Lucas “Cap” LaBuff, then-senior at Carver Center for Arts and Technology and de facto coach for the team. The baseball cap isn’t an aesthetically-motivated fashion choice, but a gift from his teammates given in homage to their actual coach, who perpetually sports a neon yellow high-vis hat.

One year later, Cap is wrapping up his first cross country season with UMD Club Running. Despite tackling harder workouts and training with faster teammates, he says he feels less pressured than ever. In transitioning out of the role as a “top dog in a small junkyard,” he no longer needs to worry about carrying a team to states, winning meets, or organizing under-the-table track practice. Several seasons of uncompetitive COVID races have driven Cap to proclaim, “I like losing,” a healthy change of pace for a perpetually motivated runner.

Despite struggling with pacing in both workouts and races—he claims he never quite mastered pacing a 5k, let alone an 8k—Cap continues to tackle each week with patience. He acknowledges that this fall is a transitional season, and while he hasn’t quite PR’d in the 5k while running an 8k (his season goal), he’s happy to be learning the ropes of club cross country. While he still wears the neon yellow coach hat, Cap no longer carries the worries that come with it.

Cap (left) sprinting in the last stretch of the DC Invite.

 Interviewee #2: Zach Fegley

Class year: Freshman

Major: Physics

High school alma mater: Southern HS (Anne Arundel)

His 9^th grade cross country season, Zach Fegley competed in two 5k races that he finished slower than his elementary school PR, got a stress fracture, and was sidelined until winter. Following this unglamorous start, he decided to try his luck at a different sport, swimming, where he quickly established himself as the best backstroker on the team despite finishing nearly last at all of his swim meets. When asked about the experience, Zach says he “felt like he was drowning,” a feeling that did not compel him to return to swim team. Instead, Zach gravitated back towards running, intrigued by the perceived high caliber of the track team. Disappointingly, Zach found himself sidelined with another stress fracture before the season began.

At the start of sophomore year, not having learned his lesson, Zach came back for another season of cross country. This time, he did not get injured; in fact, he ran uninterrupted until junior year, when he started seeing sharp improvements in his times. Junior year, the interruption was not due to injury, but due to Covid. This came along with the usual setbacks—lost opportunities to beat school records, no longer training with a team, and the like. However, for Zach, this presented an opportunity to reorganize his training group. By pairing up with the most motivated runner on his team and infiltrating the neighboring high school team, he could train in a more focused, competitive environment. While there was still a feeling of loss for the races that could have been, Zach finished senior year thankful for his new training group and his continued fitness improvements.

Zach’s first season with UMD Club Running has been a continuation on these themes. The depth of the team is inspiring during workouts and key during races, where there’s always a teammate to run with regardless of pace. As a middle-distance runner, Zach is taking it easy during cross country, even chatting with competitors in the first two miles of his debut 8k. It’s a good time to relax, because come track season, Zach is chasing PRs again!

Zach (left) competing in the DC Invite.

Interviewee #3: Adam Gradess

Class year: Junior

Major: Computer Science and Studio Art

High school alma mater: Abington HS (PA)

Jumper-turned-sprinter-turned-distance-runner, programmer, artist, and competitive Rubik’s cuber, Adam Gradess does it all. Adam has a history of going to national competitions in Indiana; in 2017, he traveled to Fort Wayne, IN, for Rubik’s cube nationals. Now, for the finale of his first cross country season ever, Adam is returning to Indiana for NIRCA nationals. Despite being a club veteran, he never raced during cross country because of his sprinting background, but three years of club influence and a yearning for greener pastures have enticed him to dabble in longer distances. As a former sprinter, he does form drills and injury prevention exercises diligently, particularly focusing on hip evenness. In the future, he hopes to return to the long jump, but for now, he’s embracing the fall cross country season.

Adam is a self-proclaimed chill person, an important personality trait for keeping running fun and avoiding burnout. While he wears many hats between his majors and hobbies, Adam says this variety is key for maintaining balance. One of his favorite pastimes is visual art, particularly painting or drawing landscapes and nature scenes. Formal instruction in the subject has been instrumental in introducing new mediums like ink wash and charcoal, which would otherwise be too esoteric to try. Adam’s artistic side follows the footsteps of his mom, who has shown her work in multiple exhibits, and his dad, a wordsmith who performed standup on the side.

For his last cross country race of the year, Adam is aiming for moderate pacing and a conservative start, a strategy that resulted in an improvement from 47 to 45 min between his first and second 8k. Running in the open race, he will be racing his first 6k, meaning an automatic PR and a successful finale to his first cross country season! [Author’s update: Adam finished his race in ~32:30!]

Adam having a blast at the DC Invite.

Anne Arundel Hall in ink wash, one of Adam’s recent pieces.