Brooks Secondary School cross-country team hosts North Island high schools on Thursday, September 21, and, according to coach Graham Cocksedge, it is not about winning for the Thunderbirds squad.
“We’re just out there running,” said Cocksedge.
Sounding so nonchalant might seem strange coming from Cocksedge, who is an endurance-athlete competitor, almost to the extreme. He shattered his own record on the Sunshine Coast Trail Marathon Shuffle two years ago and placed second in the Canadian Cross Country Championships later that year.
In November 2016, Cocksedge coached the Brooks boys cross-country team to a third-place finish out of 23 teams to win bronze at the BC High School Cross Country championships.
“Last year we did well, but that isn't the goal," said Cocksedge. "I want kids out running. When individuals and teams do well, then it's exciting to watch and everybody pays more attention. It's fun, but the goal is to have more kids running.”
One of those runners is grade 12 student Malcolm Crocker, 17, who moved to Powell River three years ago with his family and started to run cross country shortly after.
“Originally, it was just something to do after school,” said Crocker, “get outside and meet people, because I was new and I didn't really know anyone.”
Crocker, who also participates in track and field, skateboards and raps under the name MC Initial, said cross country is fun.
“That is the purpose of it,” said Cocksedge. “It is fun. It's an amazing group. Doing well is a bonus.”
Grade 10 student Misty MacDonald, 15, started running cross country in elementary school and has not stopped.
“I don’t like quitting, so I kept going,” said MacDonald.
This is MacDonald's last year competing at the junior level. She said she runs for the feeling of accomplishment at the finish of a race, even though it is really painful to get there.
“It really hurts the whole time,” she said. “It's like your brain is telling you, 'You can't keep going, you're done.'”
Like most cross-country runners, MacDonald is an athlete who is drawn to solitary endurance and the pain that comes with it, according to Cocksedge.
“They like to hurt; they have fun in hurting,” he said. “They're gritty. Things don't phase them from withstanding uncomfortable situations. They are happy regardless of the challenge or the discomfort. These guys embrace it.”
Crocker said he will often just go for a run alone in the woods.
“I know some of the guys are more goal-oriented,” he said. “I'm not really that good at cross country. I just do it because it's really fun."
For the core group of runners who want to race competitively and for personal bests, Cocksedge said he changes his coaching style to show them how to improve.
“My expectations and standards go a little higher,” he said, “but if the group wants to just be out running and having fun then my perspective and mindset changes, and I approach it differently.”
