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Tag Archives: cross country

This Ain’t Golf – A Movie Review

30 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by pscapp in Uncategorized

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cross country, McFarland, movie, Running

Finally saw ” McFarland” which is based on a true story about a cross country coach, a high school and it’s cross country team.

Briefly, the story is about a football coach who after being fired as a football coach comes up with a scheme to start a cross country team at McFarland High School in an attempt to save his job.  He knows nothing about cross country and the students at McFarland don’t either.

McFarland is a poor town who’s resident’s are mostly Hispanic and work in agriculture meaning they work in the fields picking crops.

In one scene the Coach explains to his runners that in Cross Country the lowest score wins, like golf he says.  Golf is something that is not on his runner’s radar.

The running sequences in the movie are not realistic.  But that’s not the point of         ” McFarland.”

I realized a few days after watching the movie that the real story is how these high school students and their coach against all odds managed to win the California State XC Championship.

That’s what the movie is really about.

In the scene depicting the start of the championship race one of the McFarland runners leans over to a preppy looking kid while they are both on the starting line.  He asks if the kid plays golf and the kid replies ” Yeah.”

The McFarland runner says ” Well, this ain’t golf” and the gun goes off to start the race.

In reality it took the McFarland HS team eight years to win it’s first championship and it has since won the state title in it’s division 24 times.  Hey, it’s a movie but 24 championships is a pretty real number.

The story of how running can transform a person is real.  The story of what running can do, what running is and what running means is very real.

Look past the movie and see the story.  I’m glad that I finally did because this ain’t golf.

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Sometime During the Fall of 1970

30 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by pscapp in Uncategorized

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1970, cross country, Running, Southern Connecticut

Southern Connecticut State College, C.W Post University and Patterson State College compete in a tri-meet at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY.

In myImage Onitsuka Tiger racing flats sporting the fashionable no sock look.  We trained in Adidas Romas.  I ran for Southern Connecticut.  We are closest to the camera and I am the closest of us all. Alas, there were no women’s teams back then.  I do love to run.  How lucky can one guy be?

A Great Book

19 Monday May 2014

Posted by pscapp in Uncategorized

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books, cross country, Running

” Running With The Buffaloes” is the story of the 1998 University of Colorado Men’s Cross Country Team.  The book was published in 2003 and the author is Chris Lear.  

If you are a runner, you love running, or have ever run cross country you gotta read this book.  I’ve read it a couple of times and even though I know how things turn out I still feel the emotional highs and lows along with the UC runners and find myself rooting for them in their meets.

This book makes running personal in a way that few running books have for me.  

 

 

 

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