As one of the sprinters/runners on my school’s cross country team, I have gone through multiple situations where I’ve had to go run a meet in the rain. In just a couple of easy steps, I’m going to explain how you can get prepared for a rainy-day meet.

Step One:

For the first step, you want to make sure that you have your proper equipment to just plainly run. You’ll need to gather your regular uniform, running shoes, and a dry pair of socks. Also, if you have long hair, you’ll want to make sure you tie it up so that it doesn’t get in your face as you are running.

Step Two:

For the second step, you want to make sure you stretch well. Whether you think it is or not, stretching is a very critical thing when it comes to running. Stretching can help strengthen your ability to run faster for a longer period of time. If you don’t stretch, then you’d probably only be able to sprint for a little bit of time. But if you do stretch, you’ll eventually start going faster with your sprints, and they can last longer the more you practice stretching before meets. Plus, stretching reduces your chance of injury.

Step Three:

For step three, you’ll want to do a little practice run before the meet. For probably no longer than a mile, you can do a practice run before you head back to your team’s tent. With your practice run, you don’t have to go very far or fast, so you could just do a brisk jog if you so choose to. This practice run is just so you can get a bit of a feel of how you’ll need to run in the actual meet. If your feet are dry, then that means you are carrying less water, which means you are a bit lighter. The lighter you are, the faster/easier you’ll be able to run.

Step Four:

After finishing step three, which was your practice run, you’ll need to head back to your team’s tent again. Once your entire team is back at the team tent, you all as a team should go through another round of stretching. You can go through as many stretches as you want, but it is recommended that you go through the same stretch routine you did before your practice run. So that you can do a bit better in your actual meet’s running, it is recommended you stretch again after your practice run before going out to the starting line.

Step Five:

For step five, head to the starting line! Here at step five is where you’ll head to the starting line and get ready to run. If you are running on Varsity, then you will go through some running practices. A few minutes before the first group to run goes, the Varsity members will meet at the starting line for some running practices. Some of the running practices I’ve done as a past Varsity member were high knees, butt kicks, and Marios. The coach will stand at a certain point between the starting line and the field before it. When assigned a running practice, the Varsity members will go down to the coach and then back to the starting line in that practice. And once done with that one, they will move on to another.

Step Six:

For step six, you will need to know how to properly start off the race. Once the announcer announces that the race is about to begin, the Varsity members will head to their team’s spot on the starting line. And there is one of two sounds that a runner must listen for. To start the race, either a gun shot will be fired, or an air horn will be blown. Once hearing one of these sounds, the runners head off. But, before lifting your feet from the ground to make your first stride, you want to make sure that they are positioned properly and that you will not stumble with your steps.

Step Seven:

~BANG!~ There goes the gun shot! Once it’s heard, you head off from the starting line and begin your meet. At the start, I would suggest you sprint as fast as you can because the longer you run, the more tired you get. The more sprinting you get in, the farther you’ll get within the time limit. Also while running, you’ll want to keep your strides long so that you’ll go faster. And yes, that does mean you are a bit faster if you are one of the taller people on your team. While running, you’ll want to try your best to stay on the inner parts of the track so that you have to go a shorter distance. Also while trying to stay on the inner parts of the track, you’ll want to avoid any puddles you come across, and that includes any spots of mud.

Step 8:

Cheers roar as the runners begin to come across the finish line. Once you finish your race, you’ll collect your medal (if you earn one) and then head back to your team’s tent. Once back at your team’s tent, it is suggested that you and your other team members stretch once more before you go to change. All this does is helps stretch out your muscles so that you are not left feeling sore for the rest of the day.

Step 9:

For step nine, after finishing your after-meet stretching, all you will basically do is go and re-dress into some dry clothing. After getting changed, you normally will just get to leave the meet whenever you want. But as for me, I will usually stay to watch the Junior Varsity members run since I have a friend who runs on the JV team.

Step 10:

Time to go home! After optionally staying to watch the other members run and doing whatever else, it is time to go home. You take your things with you so that you can wash your uniform and have it ready for the next meet.

These were my ten easy to follow steps on how to prepare for and run in a rainy-day meet. What other questions do you have, if any? Are you a member of our school’s Cross Country team? Or if by possible chance, do you like normal and plain running?