It was about 15 minutes into the race. Romello was one of the first to approach the finish line. He mustered up all of his remaining energy for the finishing sprint. The winter rain was like thousands of freezing needles smashing against his skin. His facial expression was the same as an infantry soldier fighting for his life on the front-line. Indeed, he was an infantry soldier, fighting for his glory on the race track.
I took this photo of my friend, Romello, back when I was in high school. It was a Saturday cross-country meet. I became the unofficial team photographer back then because I was the worst at the sport, but the best at taking photos of it.
Cross-country can be considered one of the most grueling running sports in the world. There are no smooth tracks to run on, and runners often injure themselves because of the uneven grounds and sharp turns. I remember there was a track where runners would fly out of a sharp turn because they couldn’t stop after a steep slope, breaking their ankles and legs and be forced to sit out for the rest of the season.
But there is a reason why runners like Romello love the sport. For one, the challenges of rough terrains make running a little more exciting than just a paved circular track. Every track is an adventure that leads to new obstacles that we must conquer. Every mud pit we jump over, every creepy forest trail we sprint under, every slope we climb, all lead to a sense of thrill that no other running sport can top. We are the warriors of the running sport. To Romello, the freezing rain was just another obstacle for him to conquer.
