La Mirada High School

So why are you a runner? It’s a rather odd and lonely way to get your athletic kicks. There is more glamour and glory being a star quarterback or your school’s version of Michael Jordan. Yet each autumn a handful of new "would-be" runners join cross country teams. What motivates these rookies to begin? Whatever gave them the idea running competitively was possible? Can you remember your first run? I can.

My first run on the College Park Cross Country team, as a freshman in September of 1974, was to the Fire House and back. The temperature was in the 90’s, many runners were ahead of me and a couple were behind me. I had to walk several times on the return trip. It was difficult and somewhat discouraging.

Joining the team had not been my idea: my eighth grade basketball coach (Mr. Baker, at Pleasant Hill Intermediate) liked my hustle despite my lack of basketball skills. He noted I could easily outrun his entire PE class. He recommended I go out for high school cross country, the following year, to build my endurance to help my chances of making the College Park Freshman basketball team. However, first I had to survive a cross country season. Fortunately on that hot first day of school, several veteran Falcon runners encouraged me and lifted my spirits while running along the canal trails. That camaraderie brought me back the next day; ready to go again. But that was not the first time I ran.

As a seventh grader living in Eugene, I gave running once a week a try. There was a neighborhood girl - little 4’0" Lilly Ledbetter, 12 years old - who ran five miles every day. I figured that if a girl younger than I could run daily then I could run once in a while. My usual jog was about 3-4 miles, huffing and puffing all the way, but each time it became easier. I was discovering I could build-up my strength and become better. Lilly was eventually ranked in Oregon State Cross Country running. I could never run a 3200m fast enough to make the school’s top ten list. But Lilly got me into the running habit.

A 40 year old mother of four got me started, though. As a sixth grader in Portland (we moved a lot) I met a middle-aged woman from Oklahoma who was visiting her in-laws: our neighbors. She ran five miles a day on a local track. BORING! But this was long before running became fashionable (even in Oregon), so running on a track was considered appropriate. My three closest friends and I thought that if a mom could run so could we, and I was curious as to how far I could go without stopping. One morning we followed her three blocks to the high school and tried to keep up with her. I made the full 20 laps - the best of all my friends. The next day I did four miles, then I didn’t run again for months. The seed was planted, however. I knew I could do it.

I’m a runner because I tried it, got better, became a Falcon runner, a Falcon coach and a runner for life. All it took was a little curiosity, stubbornness and ambition. The best part is that I’m now middle aged, running every day and running better than I have in years. I don’t need a court, field or pool. I keep going without a team, opponent or referee. Runners just need their shoes and the open road.

So the next time you find yourself running with a new partner, or even someone you run with often, ask them if they remember why they ever started running and what that first run was like. What you hear may surprise you and make the miles pass quickly.

–Steve Nesheim graduated from College Park High School in 1978. After attending the University of Oregon and Cal State Hayward, he returned to coach Falcon Cross Country and Track & Field from 1983 to 1996, winning eight league titles. He now resides near Mt. Shasta where he continues to coach high school athletes.