Above: From left to right, Braelyn Bovi, Quin Healy, Jaycee Glensteiner, Laila Klunder, Julia Reiertz and Hannah Kate Larson take part in warm-ups at Junior Cardinal cross country practice earlier this week. Photo provided.
FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Jr. Cardinals cross country program is in its second year partnering with Fairmont Community Education and Recreation to promote and introduce the sport to fourth through sixth graders by adding games and fun to the one-mile run.
This year, 26 runners participated, and interest in the program is growing.
The program was created by Crystal and Neal Hanson to give young kids an opportunity to pursue the sport they’ve loved their whole lives, with Neal Hanson still holding Fairmont High School’s one-mile and two-mile records 25 years after graduating.
“We really wanted to find a way to introduce younger kids to cross country. There’s nothing like it in our area,” Crystal Hanson said. “Cross country is a big part of our lives and all three of our kids are in the high school program. We wanted to find a way to change that and give kids that opportunity and be able to introduce them to cross country.”
Our partnership with CER has been critical to the success of this program. They have been responsible for enrollment and promotion of the program.
“I couldn’t have done it without them. They’re amazing.
“It’s a great partnership to have with them,” Crystal Hanson said.
The idea for the program came from two of the Hansons’ friends who run a similar program.
“Two really close friends of ours in the Twin Cities run programs like this,” Crystal Hanson said, “so we were able to learn from them about how to structure a program and what works well. So we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.”
Cross country is often not available to students until they reach Grade 7, which impacts participation in the sport itself. This program aims to change that and ease the mental resistance to participating by incorporating games into running to make it fun for kids.
“You don’t always want to be the best runner,” Crystal Hanson says. “No matter your ability level, we want you to be the best version of yourself and fight that inner voice that tells you not to. We encourage kids to change that negative self-talk that creeps in, because the mind stops them long before their body does. If they can change their self-talk from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can,’ they’ll put themselves in the best position to succeed. Seeing that might be what I love most about this sport.”
The Hansons hope the program will act as a sort of pipeline to high school programs, and because cross country isn’t often offered early on like many other sports, they hope it will help grow the sport even more and get more athletes involved who might otherwise have been overlooked.
“Ultimately, we hope to get kids more interested in the sport and have more of them consider joining their high school cross country team when they reach seventh grade,” Crystal Hanson said. “Even if they don’t join, we hope they learn something positive from our program that will make them stronger and better prepared for other sports.”
“At the end of the day, we want to see our kids live an active lifestyle and continue to challenge themselves. That’s the only way we grow and get better. There are a lot of life lessons you can take from long distance running and not taking the easy way out.”
Their first race is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at the Fairmont High School practice field before the high school cross country meet.
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