When you think of inspiring running teams, you might imagine one of Nike’s famous training groups or Boulder CO’s Tinman Elite, hauling down the road in matching tracksuits, about to perform some heroics on the track, then be immortalized on social media.
There are those kind of teams, and then there are the scrappy local programs, where young runners quietly teach each other the ropes and toe the line on race day, even though they might not have the matching shoes. Teams like this don’t make the cover of Runner’s World, but they should.
Boston Public Schools City Wide Cross Country got started in 2015 when then assistant coach of South Boston, Hatim Jean-Louis, approached the BPS athletic director and lobbied to resurrect the program. This brought the sport back to the inner city, where for years, no school could support a team.
From his interviews in Boston’s newspapers and his posts on the team’s instagram (you should follow, btw), you see immediately that Hatim prioritizes process driven, deliberate athlete development. His team is racially and religiously diverse, but alike in spirit. His credo and the team motto, “Dreams Are Tangible Goals,” shows up everywhere.
There were growing pains. The boys team finished last in their first State Championship. But, BPSXC, just starting its 6th season in the midst of COVID-19, has lowered their Championship average 5k time from 19:47 that first year to a blistering 17:17 and is now a legitimate force in Eastern Massachusetts. In the fall of last year, they added a girls team to their program, and it’s only growing from here.
This past week, the Recover Athletics squad went to watch them race, do some cheering, and generally soak in the glory of a socially distanced, but familiar Franklin Park cross country battle. Masked up. Spiked up. It was great – a bit of much needed, normal-ish running inspiration.
Ordinarily, this startline is packed to the gills. It was eery to see the runners spaced out, with masks on until the gun, but there was no shortage of fire as it sounded.
BPSXC alum, Douglas Alvarado (left), showed up to pace his former teammates to some PRs. He’s currently vying for a walk-on spot on his University’s NCAA D1 XC team.
Normally an athlete would have someone to run from and someone to chase on the finishing straight at Franklin Park, but this year, the final stretch is wide open. Just you and the searing pain of the 5k’s last few seconds.
Post race analysis with the team’s biggest fan, 3:56 Miler James Randon of Saucony’s Freedom Track Club. His thoughts: they’ve run well.
The BPSXC team does not have an athletic trainer, physical therapist, or team health professional to support their training.
This year, we’ve set up their athletes with free access to the full Recover Athletics platform to help them stay healthy through the demands of a socially distanced season. BPSXC represents the best part of the sport of running: grit in the face of adversity. Our goal is to help them stay healthy, so they can stay gritty.
If you coach a running team or know a group that could use some additional resources as they run through adversity like a brick wall, please reach out to us team@recoverathletics.com
