"I realized how much I missed the sport"

Here's my "I almost didn't run cross country" story, (It's quite long and complicated so I tried to make it as concise as possible). So in middle school I almost signed up for cross country, but never did due to my drama and gymnastics commitment. My older brother was running XC in high school at the time, so when I was a freshman my mom made me join with him. I was juggling gymnastics and XC, and when XC let up I moved to track because I developed an interest in running. Sophomore year I gave up running to focus on gymnastics, and I can say that was a bad decision. I stopped running-no more "runner's high," no more of the great friends I made every day. My brother was a junior at the time and when I went to the XC banquet for him after the season ended, I realized just how bad I actually missed the sport. This year, my junior year, I gave up gymnastics (the sport I dedicated my life to) and ran XC again, and I can say I've enjoyed every bit of it and am super excited for this upcoming season where I will be a team leader and can hang around some of my now closest friends every day doing the thing I love- running.

- @madisonaw2017 ( Madison Wells )