I'm a former senior runner from Pickens High School in South Carolina. I'm sure you have never heard of the school and probably don't even know where the city is located but that's okay. I wasn't a standout runner but I did pretty well. I lettered my first year and had plenty of improvements over my senior year. My only regret was that I didn't start running when I was a freshman. I had waited until my senior year to run and missed on one of the best sports I have ever known, a sport that truly pits an athlete against another.
Below is my story.
Entry: 1
Sept. 25, 2005
I wake up at 2100 at night. I have to say it in military time because that's the only language the military knows. I walk outside and it's blazing hot. Then I realize I'm still in Baghdad.
My name is Allen Norwood but in the army I'm known as SPC Norwood. Don't get bummed out yet though because my friends can call me Norwood. I remember my senior year back in 2003. I enjoyed every minute of it. That year was the first year I went out for cross country. I made the team and realized I was joining something bigger than myself. It was the first sport where your teammates were your family out on the road and you truly motivated each other and supported each other when it was needed. It was the only sport where you had to be truly conditioned all over as an athlete to compete and do well. It was a sport where it truly came down who worked harder during practice to see who would win on the field.
I was no great runner by any means but I improved a lot that year. I learned to push my body where it couldn't go and learned that I was made out of more than I thought. I even lettered my first year. I was very proud of that. I had a great coach who always pushed me to do my best and I had great teammates who always pushed me and motivated me during the hard times.
Due to my lack of being one of the greats I of course did not get any scholarships at time of graduation. I did however come to love running. I mean I would run in the morning, at night, at sometimes in the afternoon, and sometimes even in the middle of the night. I ran places just for fun. I've never enjoyed or benefited from something so much. So graduation came close and I had no idea what I was going to do. I had three years of JROTC and really wanted to right the wrongs of Sept. 11 so I joined the Army. I applied myself and got myself a real nice job. I ended up working in Military Intelligence.
I know what you're going to say and I've heard all the jokes about it being an oxymoron but trust me it's really cool. So I went in the military in Aug. 19, 2003. Pretty soon I was getting to exercise my ability to run everyday. Even if I didn't want to. We would go running at the crack of dawn like every morning. To make it worse they make you run in groups. Still though, I worked on my pace and breathing and found myself improving.
Fast-forward and in Jan. 2005 I got deployed to Iraq. Here it's not a lot of fun but I enjoy what I do and I'm seeing amazing things. I like it a lot and the military is life is pretty good. Out here I try to run as much as I can. I go out and run when it's like above 100 degrees outside. A lot of people tell me I'm crazy but I tell them the old phrase of "no pain, no gain". We have a really big lake next to where I'm stationed at and it makes for a really good run when you run around it. It's almost a perfect 5k run. We also have this huge hill to run around and up and down on. So if you think about it I have got every thing a X-country runner would need. Well I don't have any trails or anything but if you close your eyes you can dream. Lol. Just don't keep your eyes closed for too long because you're in Iraq and you always got to be aware of your surroundings around here.
I am still developing my running out here but am also going to the gym as well. I miss the old days but I look towards the future as well. We have 5k runs out here and I'm trying to build myself up for one soon. My ultimate goal is to go back to the states and run a half-marathon. If I'm crazy maybe even a whole marathon. I work 12 hours a day though so training in my off time is pretty tough. Just like jello though I always have room for running. A lame joke, I know. I do try though. Well that is pretty much all for this week. Oh just if you were wondering I only have about 3.5 months left so my training time for the marathon is almost over.
Do they have a ½ of ½ of a marathon? Well it doesn't matter I'll just keep on running in the marathon until I pass out. Well I got to get back to work and thanks for taking time out of the day to read this.
E-mail john@scrunners.com if you would like to send a letter to SPC Norwood.