So it is college application time and for runners that means we have to decide whether or not we want a school that we can run at, or a school with a club team, or a school where we just run on our own. My friend and former teammate Andrew Gourlay offered up his experience as a runner who attends LaSalle, but does not run for their team or any organized club. Here is what he had to say:
My high school running experience was not very typical. I graduated from Upper Dublin High School in 2009. I ran cross country, indoor, and outdoor every year. The highlight of my running career was by far my 438 mile as a sophomore. After that I didnt really do anything more. I was competitive enough to run in varsity races but didnt win any awards or districts or anything like that. Some of this can be attributed to lack of effort, distractions, lack of skill, and well, peeing blood.
My junior year of cross country I peed blood after one of the runs. As many people probably would, I was freaked out. We called the doctor and he said let me know if it happens again. It soon began happening very often and so I went to the doctor. He said it was a result of not drinking enough water. He said my bladder didnt have any water in it so the walls would bang up against each other and eventually bleed. So from then on I drank water like a mad man. I would load up on water before every run.
The problem would come and go but for the most part it was gone until winter of senior year when it kept happening. This time the doctor didnt know what was wrong and told me to stop running. It was a weird feeling. I was upset that what i had done all of high school was over but relieved in a sense. I still wanted to be on the team so I threw javelin and shotput and discus. All 135 pounds of me. I was awful at discus and shotput, getting last nearly every meet. I wasnt good by any means at javelin but was able to score points at league meets and feel part of the team. By the time I had surgery and got everything wrong with me fixed my high school running career was over.
The greatest thing about running in high school had nothing to do about running. I made my best friends through running. I looked forward to running everyday because I could hang out with my friends and joke around and what not. It made my love hate relationship with running much easier. That is the biggest reason why I chose to stay on the team and throw javelin and shot put, as bad as I was at that.
Out of high school I never thought about running in college. I enjoyed running in high school but wanted to concentrate on school work and knew that college running would be a huge commitment. When I would have off practice in high school or there was a break in between seasons I was so relieved and enjoyed it so much that I wanted all of college to be like that.
I ended up going to La Salle University. Two of my friends, who ran at Upper Dublin, went as well, Pat and Paul Reilly. Pat also chose not to run in college but Paul did and has been relatively successful as a DI athlete. Good job Paul.
I was fortunate enough to be part of a mistake. La Salle thought Pat was going to run so they put him in the track dorm. Pat and I decided to be roommates before school started so I was put in there to. Soon enough my best friends were all on the track team. I have become a track groupie. Many people consider me on the team. With a school so small like La Salle everyone knows everyone. At party's (YEA COLLEGE!) people will say oh yea youre on the track team. I know all their times, all the courses, all the team drama, all the opponents, and some consider me more on the team than many of the people that actually are. I even go to the track formal every year. I lucked out.
All of this is what makes me still run. Feelings of regret in high school of not trying hard enough and thinking what could have been make me wanna run now. Also, living with and basically being on the team here at LaSalle I feel obligated to run. I run with the team very often, when they arent working out or running to long. Seeing them running and hearing them talk about it make me wanna run even more. And of course, there is always the goal of staying in shape and not putting on the freshmen fifteen. ex: Ian McGrath.
Running at La Salle is difficult. Its in the city and the neighborhoods arent to great. So much so that my one friend got jumped while he was running. However, being the idiot I am I often run through the neighborhoods with my Ipod on, by myself. Probably not the smartest idea but what are ya gonna do. Around here if I am going for a long enough run I can run to Valley Green, the opposite side of where we would go in high school. However, most of my runs are at night and consist of me doing loops upon loops around campus and on the track. It gets annoying but its doable.
I have not done any races or competitions since high school. I would have liked to but i suffered my first ever legit injury in April when i sprained my ankle trying to be jordan on the basketball court. 6-7 months later and my ankle is still bothering me and will probably be for life. Although I just run "for fun" running now means a lot to me and this injury was devastating. I remember looking down at my ankle and thinking, when can i run again.
A few weeks ago i started running again and it was exhilarating. Running for the first time in 6 months was the most amazing feeling. Despite being out of running shape I was flying up hills and running as fast as I could. I felt it bad the next day but ran that day and the next day doing the same thing. As of now Ive slowed down and am trying to get back into shape. However, the ankle is still nagging and it sucks.
Running has become a big part of my life and I am thankful. I have made best friends that I will have for life from high school and now in college. If I can give any high school runners on advice on whether to run in college it would be this. Do whatever you want. Dont listen to anyone. if you wanna run in college, no matter your skill, do it. But if you dont, dont feel pressured to. Ill tell ya, not running in college is pretty great to. Long live etrain.
Gourlay
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