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Jonathan Mattingly Instructor Sara Alvarez English 101-36 5 Dec. 2014 On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! Introduction Running is a popular hobby everywhere you go. It serves as a great source of exercise and many people use it as a way to relieve stress and escape from the world. It is extremely simple and was one of the events at the initial Olympics. Within the running community, there are more specific communities of runners. I will focus this ethnography on the cross-country community, specifically at the high school level in the state of Kentucky. This community has many unique qualities which greatly differ from other sports and even the rest of the running community. In this ethnography I will argue that Cross Country is a great community because it promotes positive health benefits, friendly competition, and introduces runners to a whole new social community. Mattingly 1

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Jonathan Mattingly

Instructor Sara Alvarez

English 101-36

5 Dec. 2014

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Introduction

Running is a popular hobby everywhere you go. It serves as a great source of

exercise and many people use it as a way to relieve stress and escape from the world. It is

extremely simple and was one of the events at the initial Olympics. Within the running

community, there are more specific communities of runners. I will focus this ethnography

on the cross-country community, specifically at the high school level in the state of

Kentucky. This community has many unique qualities which greatly differ from other

sports and even the rest of the running community. In this ethnography I will argue that

Cross Country is a great community because it promotes positive health benefits, friendly

competition, and introduces runners to a whole new social community.

Community Overview

On any given afternoon, in the heart of Louisville’s South end, you will find the

DeSales Cross Country team practicing hard. Running countless miles through the

neighborhoods and parks surrounding the school and training hard for the state meet in

early November. DeSales is just one of many High School Cross Country teams in the

state of Kentucky. Last year, almost 300 teams raced at their regional meets with less

than 150 qualifying for the state meet. Cross country represents one of the largest sports

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communities in the state due to its availability to almost everyone regardless of disability,

socioeconomic status, and location.

Very few communities rival the Kentucky High School Cross Country

community’s openness. If you attend a high school in Kentucky, then you can run cross

country. You do not even have to have

any teammates. Both teams and

individuals can compete in Cross

Country. Last years state cross country

meet saw over thirty athletes compete

individually. The cross country

community includes everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, language, and religion.

However, cross country mostly consists of white athletes. Males and females evenly

divide this sport, as most schools have both a male and female team. The males and

females compete separate from each other in almost identically sized raced. Cross

country does not consider the athlete’s religions either. Religious affiliation has no

impact on a student athlete’s eligibility or skill in cross country. In Kentucky, almost half

of the population does not affiliate with a religion at all (Religion in Kentucky). No

evidence exists to say that this statistic would not hold up among cross country runners.

Relative to other high school sports, cross country is very cheap. Runners only require a

pair of running shoes and the entry fee for meets. It does not require any protective gear

and the insurance is much cheaper than contact sports like football or soccer. This makes

the sport available to all student athletes interested. The accepting attitude this

community has toward people with disabilities serves as yet another reminder of the

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openness of this community. Runners with mental and physical disabilities can run and

special accommodations are even made on occasion. For example, in New Jersey, a blind

runner was able to run in a meet with the help of a guide. “Tethered to her aunt, Jillian

ran Wednesday’s 1.5-mile course in just over 15 minutes, a finish landing her toward the

end of the pack. But she said she was proud of her performance considering she had a

cold and missed Monday’s meet because of the ban” (Spoto). After initially deciding not

to run due to her blindness, she decided to run and it made her extremely proud. This

athlete could not have competed in any other sport, but she did run cross country and it

meant the world to her. Stories like this one are very common within the community.

This sport accepts anyone who gives an honest effort.

If you meet the age requirements, you can join this community in no time. If you

are a student in a Kentucky High School, then you can enter this community very easily.

If your school already has a cross country team, then you only need to join it. High

school cross country in Kentucky is a no-cut sport, meaning that if you try out then you

are on the team. Even if your school does not have a cross country team, this community

still accepts individuals. You just need to speak to your athletic director and make the

team official. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association places every school in a

region regardless of if they have a team. This means that you just have to show up on the

day of the regional meet and you can compete. This community is much more difficult to

join if you do not meet the age requirements. If you do not run for a team and want to be

in this community, then you basically have to be a coach. Most schools only have one

cross-country coach and do not have many assistants, meaning that very few coaching

jobs exist. In addition to the lack of cross-country coaching jobs, most schools want their

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coaches to teach too. This means you have to have a teaching degree and knowledge of

the sport, making this job even more difficult to obtain. I have access as both an insider

and an outsider to this community right now. Last year, I ran cross-country so I had full

insider access. This year, I do not run cross-country and I do not serve as a paid coach,

making me an outsider. However, my brother runs cross-country and I still attend meets

frequently. I still have close acquaintances to the community because I was in it less than

a year ago. I also fit some of the identity markers of this community, being a white male

with a high school education. I will work to increase my access to the community

considering my lack of full insider access. I will attend meets all around the state to

observe runners of different skill and background.

In addition, I will also become an assistant coach at my alma mater, DeSales High

School. This will give me inside information about the community that only coaches

could get access to. Becoming an assistant coach will also give me a great chance to set

up my interviews. I can interview a DeSales runner, coach, and the athletic director. I will

also make good use of the website “KYTrackXC.” This is the official website the

Kentucky High School Athletic Association uses to track all statistics and information

relating to cross country in the state. They will post any news and updates relating to the

community that I need to follow. As I gain my inside access to the community, I will

follow the guidelines taken from Genzuk’s “A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research.” The

most important guideline that I will follow is the first of his Methodological Principles,

Naturalism. When observing the community, I plan to stay out of the way and get a real

and fair look. As Genzuk puts it, “The aim of social research is to capture the character of

naturally occurring human behavior, and that this can only be achieved by first-hand

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contact with it” (Genzuk 3). I hope to get a clean and unbiased look at the Kentucky High

School Cross Country community by staying away from people I know as much as

possible and just observing. This will be my best option for getting a natural observation

of my community.

Members of the community address each other in a very informal manner. They

address each other on a first name basis and do not try to impress one another. Most

teams refer to the coach as to “Coach ---“ and this relationship mirrors the relationship

between runners in regard to language. Runners on the same team have a very close and

intimate relationship, so they do not feel the need to speak academically. The coach-to-

runner relationship is also very informal. Each coach has a different relationship with

each runner making it difficult to explain this relationship. Most of these relationships are

very informal, like the runner-to-runner relationship. Each coach-to-runner relationship

varies greatly, but the majority of these relationships represent an informal relationship.

Cross-country meets almost become large social events. They bring together dozens of

teams, their supporters, and families of the runners. Much like the Louisville Dirt Bowl,

the meets are about more than just the sport. Marty Storch spoke about the Louisville Dirt

Bowl, “It’s about bringing families out” (Lintner). Both of these sporting events touch at

what sports really exist for, bringing communities together and giving people a break

from reality. Both of these events accomplish this goal and make a positive difference in

the community.

Cross-country has two types of leaders, coaches and team captains. The schools

choose the coaches after considering many candidates and usually the athletic director

makes the final decision. The coaches receive small payment, but most have a second job

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in addition to coaching. Many coaches teach at the school where they coach, which

greatly improves their chances of being hired. Head coaches can also choose assistant

coaches if they would like. Typically, assistant coaches do not get paid and just

volunteer. The coaches also get to choose their team captains. This is not an official

position and not every team has a team captain. Teams can have as many captains as they

see fit. The captains, usually seniors on the team, often double as some of the best

runners. Leadership within this community differs greatly from one program to the next.

No set hierarchy exists which remains constant from one team to the next and each team

can use any system they like.

This community is very unique and covers a very large number of people. The

300 teams that make up this community consist of at least 1,500 runners. The sheer size

of the community makes it unique, but it has many other unique aspects as well. Within

the larger running community, cross-country is the only one that involves team

competition. Cross-country is also very cheap compared to other high school sports.

Many other differences will be addressed later in the ethnography.

Runner, Coach, AD: Hierarchy of Cross Country

The High School Cross Country community in Kentucky follows a general

hierarchy. The runners report to the coaches, who report to the Athletic Department. I

have decided to interview members of the community at each of these positions. I

reached out to the school where I ran last year, DeSales High School. I chose DeSales

because I still have very strong relationships with the members of the program there and

because I can easily set up interviews and take field notes there. The first informant I

interviewed currently runs for DeSales, Josh. Next I interviewed long-time head coach of

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DeSales Cross Country, Paul Wise. Finally, I interviewed DeSales Athletic Director Sam

Gilbert. Choosing these three members has allowed me to get a good look at what goes

on at each level of the community.

First I interviewed Josh. He currently runs for DeSales and is also my brother.

Josh is a white male and stands about 5’7”. This is Josh’s first year in high school and he

comes from a middle-class family. Setting up the interview with Josh only required that I

text him one afternoon.

“I need to interview you for my English class tonight,” I texted him.

“K,” he responded.

The first interview had an extremely informal tone. That evening after dinner I

reminded Josh that we needed to do the interview. We both stayed at the table and I

grabbed my phone to record and my laptop to read the questions. The house remained

completely silent and we sat at opposite ends of the table. The interview may have even

become a little too informal. Since I have such a close relationship to Josh, sometimes he

does not know when to take something seriously. He laughed when I would ask serious

questions and gave very short answers. This close relationship also made the interview

easier in some ways. For example, I did not need to set up rapport. I have known Josh

literally his whole life so he trusted me and knew I would not waste his time.

“Do you approach certain races with different strategies?” I asked.

“Yes,” he answered.

“Can you provide examples of what these strategies are?” I responded, hoping for

a much longer response.

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“If it’s just a normal race then we are not going to care as much. If it’s a regional

race you are going to prepare yourself better and try to score better,” he replied.

It quickly became obvious that my brother would not talk much. He did not want

to elaborate on his points and gave short, non-detailed answers. If I could do this

interview again, I would have interviewed a different runner. I would have chosen a

senior. It would have allowed the informant to give me more informed answers and he

would have acted more mature when taking part in the interviews. I also would have

chosen someone who I was not so close to. This would have led to a much more

professional interview that would have provided more useful information. The interview

did have its advantages too. I was able to speak to a runner who was new to the

community. He does not know much about the community and has a lot to learn, giving

me an unbiased and fresh perspective. (Personal Interview, 19 Oct. 2014)

The next person that I interviewed was Coach Gilbert. In order to set this

interview up I had to go through a little more trouble. I attended the DeSales Invitational

on October 18. The invitational is the annual Cross Country meet, put on by the DeSales

Cross Country program. I approached Coach Gilbert, Athletic Director at DeSales, and

asked for his help.

“What’s up Coach Gilbert?” I began. We then went on to small talk about life,

college, and DeSales for a little while. Then I cut to the point.

“Could I interview you for my English class one day this week?”

“Sure thing. I try to help you guys out whenever I can,” he said.

Then we continued talking and set up the interview for the approaching Tuesday.

On Tuesday, when I went to DeSales for the interview I had a much different experience

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than I had expected. I had not gone to DeSales since graduating. I had to sign in with the

front office as a visitor. Mrs. Morgan, the secretary, signed me in and pointed me in

Coach Gilbert’s direction.

When I got to Coach Gilbert’s office, we got straight to business. Coach Gilbert

fit many of the identity markers of this community. He is also a white male with and

American background, and works closely with all sports, including cross-country.

However, he does not fit all of the identity markers. He does not attend a high school and

has never actually run cross-country before. This slightly altered the way I would

approach this interview.

I sat down in his office chair and we started the interview almost immediately.

This interview felt much more formal than my previous one, but still avoided becoming

too serious. We communicated in a relaxed way, while still making sure to take it

seriously. Due to the fact that I had taken Coach Gilbert’s class before and I played sports

while at DeSales I already knew Coach Gilbert pretty well which meant I did not have to

build rapport.

“How long have you been an Athletic Director,” I asked.

“Four years.”

Then I asked some general questions about his job as an athletic director to help

transition into the interview. Once the interview had gone on for a while I switched the

questions to better inform me about the Cross Country program at DeSales.

“Can you tell me about the kinds of work you do on behalf of the Cross Country

Team as an Athletic Director?”

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What I have been trying to do a lot this year is get more kids to run Cross

Country. In the past I don’t think that kids were super motivated to do it

because, to be honest with you, as an outsider looking in it didn’t look that

fun to do. When you have someone who is not really motivating these

guys to run, or do anything like that with them, from a 15 to 18 year olds

perspective they see a guy sitting out there in his chair-watching people

run. It doesn’t motivate them to run so what I have been trying to do is get

kids to practice, to be around our new coach. I would love to see our Cross

Country program gets its feet back underneath itself but I also want to see

it get competitive like it used to be. (Personal Interview, 21 Oct. 2014)

I also had interests in the financial aspect of Cross Country. This information

would come from an athletic director, so I asked.

“What are the costs of having a Cross Country team?”

“We bought 10 or 12 new uniforms this year and it was just a couple hundred

bucks. From an expense standpoint Cross Country is very cheap to run,” he responded.

This supported the claims about how cheap Cross Country is that I made in the

Overview (Mattingly).

This interview went extremely well and gave me some insight into the community

that I had not had before, even when I acted as an insider to this community (Personal

Interview, 21 Oct. 2014).

The final person I interviewed was Coach Wise. I set this interview up very

similarly to Coach Gilbert’s. I also set this interview up at the DeSales Invitational. I

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approached Coach Wise, long-time head coach of the DeSales Cross Country team, and

asked him for a favor.

I asked him if he would be available for an interview one day that week. He

agreed and we set the interview up for Thursday of that week.

Because I had ran for Coach Wise for four years I had already built strong rapport

with him. He knew me pretty well and seemed very eager to help me however he could. I

was the fastest runner on his Cross Country teams my Junior and Senior seasons so he

had a very positive relationship with me. When I arrived at DeSales on Thursday

afternoon I once again had to sign into the front office as a guest. I told Mrs. Morgan that

I had an interview with Coach Wise.

“Ok. He’s waiting for you in the Cafeteria.”

I quickly walked to the Cafeteria and saw him waiting there and talking to one of

the janitors. Coach Wise, a white male in his forties, quickly wrapped up his conversation

and we began the interview.

“How long have you been a Cross Country coach?” I started.

“Since 1987,” he responded. He had coached for 27 years, a long time to spend

doing anything. He had obviously acquired experience in the field and could provide a lot

of useful insight into the community. Over the last 27 years he had surely seen and

experienced a lot.

“How much time do you put into a typical week during the season?” I continued.

“During the season when we have meets, it’s probably 40-50 hours a week. If it’s

August or July when we are doing pre-season training it is probably 25 hours a week,” he

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answered. He had put a lot of time into the sport. Coach Wise made it clear that the sport

and community serve important roles in his life.

The interview continued for about another ten minutes. I learned about some of

the training strategies that they implement and what Coach Wise looks for in a successful

team. “You got to have dedication, you got to have the will to win, and there’s a little bit

of luck involved,” Coach Wise said. He hinted that everything is not always in your

control and that sometimes things just have to fall into place. In Cross Country, as well as

other things, you just have to control the things that you can control and not worry about

the rest. This theme appears frequently in Cross Country. You can only run your race to

the best of your ability, and everything else will happen regardless of what you do

(Personal Interview, 23 Oct. 2014).

This community has various levels. Through my interview with members at each

of these levels and I got very different answers. I found it interesting to see how these

levels of the community work together and complement each other to make the

community work. If you take out one aspect of the community and all of it falls apart.

But Why Do You Run???

“Why in the world would anyone ever want to wake up and run 8-12 miles?”

“Don’t you get bored when you run that long?” “I just don’t understand how that is fun to

you.”

Cross-country runners experience questions like these so often that they get

exhausted trying to answer them all. Runners have many reasons for doing what they do

and most of these reasons differ from one runner to the next. Some examples of these

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reasons include: promoting positive health benefits, friendly competition, and introducing

runners to a whole new social community.

Of the countless benefits that go with running long distances, good health is

possibly the most desired. People automatically associate running with being in shape.

When people want to lose weight or get into shape, they often start running along with

dieting. “A 40 year-old man who had already competed in one marathon, wrote: ‘I was

245 pounds at the beginning, drank on weekends. Blood pressure: 136/99 - didn’t want to

go to the doctor. So started running - two years, three months later, 190-95 pounds: blood

pressure 120/70.’” (Altheide and Pfuhl, Jr. 6). This is just one of the many examples of

people benefitting from running, both physically and mentally. According to Altheide

and Pfuhl, Jr., 57% of people saw a change in their physical health and 46% of people

saw a change in their psychological health. In “Running for Life, Health, and Pleasure”,

Friedman and Knight argue another psychological benefit of running, the power of

control. It makes the person more aware of the potential control of our bodies. This can

be learned in many different ways, with running being one of the most effective. Running

has always been considered one of the most effective ways of exercising. Combined with

a healthy diet, it can help almost anyone lose weight and begin a healthier lifestyle.

Another fantastic aspect of the distance running community is the great

competition it invokes, shown through marathons, road races, and even the Olympics.

Many runners only run for leisure or for pleasure. According to Altheide and Pfuhl, Jr.,

13% of runners consider themselves to be “competitive runners.” This means that they

run not only for themselves and the benefits it brings them, but also so that they can try to

be faster each time they run a set distance. This competitive mindset is the driving goal

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behind High School Cross Country. Runners try to finish as high as they can both as an

individual and as a team. Being able to compete as an individual is not possible in every

sport, as in basketball or football. In the sports that do let you compete as an individual,

like tennis or wrestling, you cannot compete as a team. Cross Country, Golf, and Track

and Field are the only sports sponsored by the Kentucky High School Athletic

Association that have both an individual state champion and a team state champion. This

makes the scoring system in cross-country very unique. Because team and individuals

compete both together and separately, the requirements for a successful team are also

quite different. As Coach Paul Wise puts it, “You got to have dedication, you got to have

the will to win, and there’s a little bit of luck involved “ (Personal Interview, 23 Oct.

2014). In Cross Country, teamwork is not very important. You compete as an individual,

and these individual performances determine how well your team does. It is much

different than any other sport where individual performances can only do so much. This

does not mean that there is no structure to the teams, however. There are still coaches and

captains to help improve each individual runner. Coach Gilbert accurately spoke on the

importance of senior leadership when he said:

I think one big thing is senior leadership. I think you see it in ebbs and

flows across all sports. When we have a good senior class, we are

successful in all sports they are involved in. when you have a senior class

where they are leaders for the wrong reasons, they may not be successful.

(Personal Interview, 21 Oct. 2014)

The postseason is also structured very uniquely. Your performance in the regular

season has no impact on your postseason position or “seeding”. Every team is invited to

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their regional meet and from there anyone can qualify for the state meet either as a team

or as an individual. This also changes the way runners approach the regular season. As

Josh Mattingly put it, “If it’s just a normal race then we are not going to care as much. If

it’s a regional race you are going to prepare yourself better and try to score better”

(Personal Interview, 19 Oct. 2014). This can take away from the competitiveness of

regular season race because it doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

The final major benefit of joining the distance running community that I will

discuss is all of the social opportunities that it opens open for you. This can be seen at all

levels of running, from road races to the Olympics. Admittedly, running can be a very

solitaire activity. Many times your friends and families are not out there running the long

miles with you. However, running can open you up to new relationships and can still

strengthen your current ones. Altheide and Pfuhl, Jr. noted that “a number of the

husbands, wives, and children we studied have taken to running together” (8). This

community is felt even stronger at the cross-country level of the community. “Members

of the community address each other in a very informal manner. Runners on the same

team have a very close and intimate relationship, so they do not feel the need to speak

academically” (Mattingly 4). The members of an individual team grow together and learn

to compete for one another. Even though cross-country can be an individual sport,

individual runners are not very common. Many times while taking field notes, I have seen

whole teams huddled together under a tent. It is very clear that the teams are close friends

and do not just view each other as teammates. The social aspect of this community gets a

little bit tricky when it gets to the Olympic level. Athletes tend to stay with the athletes

from their respective countries for the most part. This is most likely due to the fact that

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their job is running so they cannot afford any distractions. Each level of running

approaches the social aspect of running very differently, but all still embrace the

community to some extent. It would be very difficult to be a solitaire runner in such an

open and welcoming community. This is just another thing that makes this community so

unique.

I still firmly believe that distance running is an excellent hobby to get involved

with as it can promote positive health benefits, friendly competition, and introduces

runners to a whole new social community. This can be derived from my scholarly and

varied research. It can lower your base heart rate and blood pressure as well as improving

you mental condition. The competition that goes with running is also unrivaled. Being

able to compete as a team or as an individual completely changes the way that people

approach the sport. People like that you have that option because it gives more people the

chance to be competitive. The running community also provides a very distinct social

aspect. A strong sense of community exists at road races and marathons, but this does not

compare to the community that occurs at a cross-country meet. Cross-country runners

depend on each other for the team’s success and this makes runners hold each other

accountable. No one relies on you or pushes you in road races because it is completely

individual. The runners on cross country teams truly want each other to do well, both for

the good of the team and the individual. As a whole, this community is unrivaled by that

of any other sport. It offers everything that any other sport has and more.

Cultural Artifacts: What Do You Need to Run?

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There are many important artifacts to this community. Most important are the

uniform, team tents, and KYTrackXC. These artifacts are very unique to the community

and the community would not be the same without these artifacts.

Image 2

The first cultural artifact to this community is the uniform. The uniform consists

of three parts: the jersey, shorts, and shoes. The jersey and shorts are consistent

throughout the entire team. If a team member does

not have the matching jersey and shorts that his

team is wearing, then he cannot compete. Most

teams wear sleeveless jerseys, but some wear

jerseys with sleeves. The shorts are usually very

short and are well above the knees. This is not

required however and it ultimately comes down to personal preference. The third

required part of the uniform is the shoes. Shoes do not have to match from team member

to team member. The only requirement is that you start a race with two shoes and that

you finish a race with at least two shoes. People have different preferences regarding

shoes. Many runners wear shoes that are very light and narrow, and almost all of have

holes in the bottom of the shoe wear one can screw in a “spike”. These spikes are used to

Image 3

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get better traction and to avoid slipping while racing. The uniform is important to the

sport for many different reasons. It is used so that runners and coaches can tell who is on

what team and spectators can tell where their team stands. The officials do not use it

because scores are counted by individual runner. After all of the individual runners are all

scored, the runners are assigned to their respective teams and the team scores are

calculated. The uniform also provides a sense of pride. Runners feel proud to represent

their school’s colors and spectators like to cheer on their team, not necessarily the

individual runners. There are additional parts of the uniform, which are optional. Almost

every runner wears socks even though they are not required or regulated. Gloves can also

be worn and are often worn during races in the cold. Watches can also be worn, but are

not required. This uniform is very easy to recognize and looks nothing like the uniforms

used in other sports.

The next cultural artifact is the team tent. At every race, there is an area

designated for teams to set up there tents. This is an area for runners, coaches, and

spectators to hang out before and after races without getting in the way of the runners.

These tents are not your traditional camping tents. They usually do not have walls and are

designed to be easy set up and tear down. The tents serve several purposes. The most

obvious one being that it

protects runners from the

weather. It keeps the runners dry

during the rain and protects them

from the sun during the heat. More importantly than this, the tents act as a way of

marking territory. Teams claim Image 4

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a spot within this area and make it theirs. Runners do not cross into other teams areas and

people leave their belongings in their tent area. This way of marking territory is generally

respected and is very rarely compromised. The idea of having team tents is another way

of showing team pride. Team names and flags are commonly put on team tents. Some

teams will spend a lot of

money on their tents so that

they look nice and are

respectable. Finally, team

tents are also used as a way

of showing how big you are.

Teams with lots of runners

tend to have bigger and

flashier tents. This is because they have more money to spend and they also need to

supply for more tents. Some of the bigger teams will three or four huge tents set up.

Within these tents they will set up tables of fruits and protein bars for their runners. This

is much different from the tents of small school. Many of the smaller schools have just

one small tent. It is far less showy than the big teams and you can often tell how invested

a school is to their cross-country program.

The final cultural artifact I would like to discuss is KYTrackXC. KYTrackXC is a

website used specifically for the Cross Country and Track communities in the state of

Kentucky. This website keeps track of all races that happen in the state and also offers

online rankings and allows you to run a “virtual meet”. This is very unique to the

community. Cross Country is special in the sense that it is easy to tell who is better

Image 5

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because there is only one statistic to measure, speed. This is unlike basketball or football

where you have to keep track of several different statistics and then determine who is

better. The only thing you have to worry about is who is faster which makes it easy to tell

who is faster. This website is used by many runners and almost all coaches. It is very

useful to tell where you stack up against your competition. No other sport has a website

quite like KYTrackXC and this is one of the artifacts that truly separate cross-country

from all other sports.

Conclusion

The Kentucky High School Cross Country community is one without comparison.

The members of this community care very much about their sport and put all that they

can into making sure they are the best. There are many benefits to being a member in this

community. One of the most unique benefits of this community is the relationships that

you can form. Many people run but do not fit into this category. Being on a team helps to

form relationships with others and add a whole new social aspect to the community.

I learned a lot about this community in doing my ethnography. It just goes to

show that you can always learn more, even if you think you are very familiar with

something. I was able to learn about the community as both an insider and an outsider

and it was interesting to see how these points of views contrasted. Many things went well

in conducting research and there are things that I would do differently. As a whole, I

would consider this ethnography to be a huge success.

Works Cited

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Altheide and Pfuhl, Jr.. “Self-Accomplishment Through Running.” Symbolic Interaction

Fall 1980: 127-144. JSTOR. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.

Image 2: crossc1. Photograph. Blogspot. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.

Image 3: Fleet Feet Chicago. Zoom Waffle XC 10. 2012. Fleetfeetchicago. Web. 23 Nov.

2014.

Friedman and Knight. “Running for Life, Health, and Pleasure.” The American Journal of

Nursing Apr. 1978: 602-607. JSTOR. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.

Genzuk, Michael. “A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research.” Center for Multilingual,

Multicultural Research University of South Carolina, Fall 2003. Web. 28 Sept.

2014.

Gilbert, Sam. Personal Interview. 21 Oct. 2014.

Image 5: KYTrackXC. KYTrackXC Logo. Ky.milesplit.com. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

Lintner, Jonathan. “ESPN Story features Louisville’s Dirt Bowl.” Courier-Journal, 23

July 2014, Web, 28 Sept. 2014.

Mattingly, Jonathan. “On You Mark, Get Set, Go.: Initial Overview and Assumptions.”

29 Sept. 2014.

Mattingly, Josh. Personal Interview. 19 Oct. 2014.

Image 1: Palatine Cross Country. Palatine’s 2011 state championship team. 2011.

Wordpress. Web. 23 Nov.2014.

“Religion in Kentucky.” Best Places. Sperling’s Best Place, 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

Spoto, MaryAnn. “Blind Middletown Cross-Country Runner allowed to compete after

being banned.” nj.com. 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

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Image 4: Willis, Herb. FHSAA State Cross Country Meet. 2009. Blogspot. Web. 23 Nov.

2014.

Wise, Paul. Personal Interview. 23 Oct. 2014.

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