By DAVID WOOD, for The Democrat
Wheezing and stumbling past the wooden arch, runners covered head to toe in mud were nearly indistinguishable apart from their multicolored jerseys.
The grueling 3.11-mile race left them soaked, dirty and exhausted.
With roughly 62 schools in attendance, hundreds of runners stomped the grassy trail to a bog in pursuit of victory at the 17th annual Eagle Classic on Saturday.
However, some of them still found the fun in it.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“I train in a lot of different conditions; I’ve trained in mud, on hills, slop, storms, and rain, so I thought it was pretty fun,” senior Marino Dolph said.
Finishing third among 124 in the boy’s varsity race with a time of 18:30.8, Dolph’s can-do attitude toward the weather paid off.
A near constant downpour turned the grassy Eagle Park loop into a muddy waterlogged mess.
The athletes were forced to fight through ankle-deep puddles, slick turns and the occasional lost shoe.
“Sometimes throughout the year this course gets really bad. … The conditions weren’t preferable for most people, so you have to do what you’re able to,” Dolph said.
“The more times you run, the easier it is to recognize how you have to.”
Fellow teammate Jackson McPheeters finished seventh, just 23 seconds behind Dolph with a time of 18:53.
Leading up to race the two seniors adopted the mindset that it would be muddy and that position would matter more than overall time.
“Before the race even started we walked the course to find where there was ground to stay on and where it was too muddy. I tried to use that to my advantage during the race,” McPheeters said.
The varsity boys cross-country team fielded seven total runners, placing fourth among 16 teams with an average time of 20:28.
With only three competing members, the varsity girls were unable to qualify for team placement themselves. However, the trio put up respectable individual performances nonetheless.
Sophomore Eme Koester finished 73 of 134 runners with a time of 21:54.1 in the girls elite race.
Separate from the varsity runners, the elite race only includes teams ranked within the top in the state. However, runners may be opted in if they’ve achieved a finishing time under 19:30 within the last two years.
“My coaches thought I could run under that, and I thought so too. Last year I ran a 19:26 and this year my training has been going well,” Koester said.
Due to course conditions, only four runners beat the perquisite 19:30 finishing time during this year’s race.
“This is kind of new. I’ve never run in this bad of condition,” she said.
“On the back stretch it was so bad it felt like you were running in a kiddie pool the whole time.”
Teammates Anna Fleetwood and Maris Wyman competed in the separate varsity senior race. Fleetwood finished sixth of 103 and Wyman in 22nd.
“I thought I did pretty good, despite the weather conditions and the course being like this. I feel like I could have done better if the conditions were different,” Fleetwood said.
Both she and Wyman agreed that the muddy conditions made conserving energy difficult. Since they had to worry about foot placement, the suction of the mud made every stride that much more strenuous and taxing.
While not ideal, Wyman said the weather wasn’t unexpected and actually made the race fun.
“I thought it was really fun. The weather was really bad, but I sort of expected it since it’s been saying it’s going to rain all week. … I feel like I did the best I could have done in these conditions,” she said.
