The Shawano Community High School cross-country course is 3.1 miles.
For about a dozen runners in the Shawano Run Club, the goal is to run the course more than 64 times this summer, getting into the elite 200-mile club.
“It’s about getting miles underneath them so, when the (high school) season starts, they are in shape,” said Robert Buss, Shawano Run Club president.
The group was organized by Buss and a few parents of cross-country runners to help their kids, and anyone else who wants to run, stay in shape during the summer months.
“It gets them in shape, and everyone else has something like this going on,” Buss said. “We just try to help all the kids.”
Buss, whose son Alex was a state-qualifying cross-country runner for SCHS before graduating in 2012, keeps track of how many times the runner completes the course during the nightly running sessions. The runners who get to 200 miles get a T-shirt and party at the end of the summer.
Teagan Monfils, a member of the group and a SCHS cross-country runner who made it to state two seasons ago as a freshman, says the work is definitely helping.
“It improves a lot of people’s times for the season,” she said. “When we’re running like eight miles a night, and then only run three for a race, it’s easy peasy. That’s pretty nice.”
More than just the workouts, the group also brings the runners together, creating a team atmosphere long before the team holds its first practice.
“Everyone can go run 5Ks, 10Ks. This, there’s no watch,” Buss said. “We like to see people in groups, but there’s no time. It’s about togetherness, the bonding that they get right now.”
“I don’t know about anyone else, but when I’m at home and I have to go for a run, I’m like, ‘Ugh, I don’t want to go,’” Monfils said. “When you have other people there running beside you, you want to go, and you want to talk to people while you run. It’s a lot more fun.”
The summer runs usually have around 12 to 15 runners each day, and include runners from the middle school, high school and even some alumni.
“It’s open to any age group,” Buss said. “We’re getting a couple of kids from the middle school that will be running this fall. Everybody is welcome. It doesn’t matter who they are, how old they are. Just come and run.”
The group will continue running daily at the high school course until the midnight run, a longtime tradition for SCHS cross-country, the night of Aug. 17. The cross-country season officially begins Aug. 18.
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