AISG’s Cross Country Teams Compete Against UISG and NCPAA in 5k Races!

AISG’s varsity cross country teams participated in two races against neighboring international schools in Guangzhou during the month of September, both hosted by AISG. The teams’ first race was against the Utahloy International School of Guangzhou (UISG), and for their second race they competed with NCPAA.

UISG’s cross country team consisted of three runners for their varsity boys’ team, and unfortunately, they did not have any girls competing during this particular race. However, NCPAA’s cross country team had two girls and their boys’ team brought even more runners than UISG for AISG’s boys’ team to compete with.

Cross country is one of the less visible sports at AISG, as it is difficult to accurately capture the distance and terrain the school’s runners take on every day for practice and for races as well through photographs. In addition, there are rarely any videos taken of runners in the midst of a race if any at all, which has developed a bit of mystery surrounding what kinds of tracks are run and to what distance.

Runners from international schools who are a part of APAC are required to run a five-kilometer race, which means that five-kilometers is the smallest distance run by AISG’s cross country teams during practice. Each practice consists of at least a 5k run, with multiple practices a week requiring members the team to run past that with distances of six, seven, and eight kilometers sometimes.

Practices and races hosted by AISG are held primarily at a tree-covered mountain across the bridge above the tennis courts near the Science Park campus, as there is a path for runners that winds around the mountain with tall hills and many turns. The cross-country teams often share the space with other people who are leisurely walking on the path or going on runs of their own.

Although frequent practices each week on the challenging, hilly 5k racing course provide AISG’s runners with the reassurance of knowing how to budget their energy and pace, as well as to work on improving their consistency and speed on the same track each time, races against rival international schools still spark nerves and place pressure on runners to achieve their personal best timing.

“I feel really nervous and pretty stressed before every race we have because you never know for sure if you’re going to reach your personal best, and that’s the definitive way to see if you’re doing well,” said Auston Y., a sophomore at AISG.

“After I finish a race, I feel incredibly relieved no matter if I improved or reached my personal best,” said Erica L., a junior at AISG and the captain of the girls’ varsity cross country team. “There’s so much anticipation and nervousness built up for each race that when you’re done there’s a huge weight lifted off your shoulders.”

Although there is an added amount of pressure and energy instilled in members of the varsity cross country teams when it is time to compete against other schools, the fiercest competition each and every runner faces is themselves and the end goal of achieving their fastest time with every race.