*By Andrew Palmer*
I qualified for the Nike Cross Country Nationals two weeks ago, the only true national championship in all of high school sports. Two teams and five individuals qualify for this event from each of eight regional meets around the country, and I got through because of my third place finish in the Southeast regional in Cary, North Carolina on Nov 28. The preparation for nationals began right after the regional race, as I, along with the other winners were immediately herded into the “qualifiers tent” to fill out loads of paperwork asking for our flight preferences, and shoe and warm up gear size among other things. Nike then flew usout to Oregon the following Wednesday.
Thursday:
We arrived at the down-town Portland Embassy Suites on Thursday morning and checked into the hotel. Our rooms were provided by Nike, and the moment I walked into the room, the first thing that I noticed was a back pack filled with Nike gear of the sizes I marked down in Cary. Once I checked into my hotel room I met up with the other southeast qualifiers and we rode to the Nike World Headquarters, which is located about ten minutes from the hotel. There, we were fitted into shoes and spikes that were specifically designed for the NXN qualifiers, and were then able to explore the Nike Campus and go for a run if we wanted to. In addition, we were introduced to many of the Nike sponsored Olympians that were on hand for the event.
Friday
Friday was the most low-key day of the event, as most people were preparing for the race the next day. We were allowed to go to the Portland Meadows horse track, which is where the race was held, and go for a run on the course. After this, we went back to the Nike Headquarters to relax and eat before heading back to the hotel to prepare for the race.
Saturday
On the bus ride to the race course, the mood of the whole event changed. People went from being the most excited they had been all season, possibly their whole lives, to the most nervous. Going into the race I planned to treat it as just a normal race, but that was impossible. You are introduced one by one to the starting line, and the atmosphere that Nike created made it impossible to approach it as such.
The race did not go as well as I would have planned, but I went out hard and gave myself a shot to place in the top ten, so I don’t have any regrets. I finished thirtieth overall.
After the race, I went to the Nike campus again and spent a lot of time talking with the Olympians. One of the coolest parts of the weekend was how close I was with the professionals and how accessible they made themselves throughout the weekend.