Building a Love of Running through Cross Country

Joe Budzelek

Joe Budzelek

I am a person of routine. Like an old family dog, I like regularity in my daily schedule. After the first few weeks of the new school year, I start to connect and align with the daily, weekly, even hourly rhythms that drive an average school day. For the last four years, 3pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays have become a cherished, regular timeslot when I know that a burst of energy and fun will be injected into my school day: it’s the time to coach.

This fall, 3 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays means that it’s time to coach cross-country. It’s my third year coaching the Upper School cross-country team and I’ve enjoyed it more and more as the years pass. The team has grown from eight students in my first year to twenty-seven students this year, which is our biggest team ever.

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I love coaching cross-country because it is fully inclusive: we are the only team that invites boys and girls from all grades across the Upper School. Our weekly Thursday meets are full community experiences. For those of you who’ve never been to a cross-country meet, imagine over one-hundred student-athletes and a few hundred onlookers cheering for all runners, regardless of the school name in the front of their jersey. It’s a Thursday afternoon tradition that I feel honored and proud to be a part of.

“Unlike basketball or baseball, the other sports that I coach at Whitby, there are no clear winners or losers in cross-country. Sure, there’s always one student who crosses the finish line first, but team points are never tabulated.”

Instead, cross-country is more of a practice of internal competition, drive and grit, and it helps students practice life lessons that are important for whatever life brings. After each practice and race, I will always ask my runners: did you give a very good effort? Or: Is there anything you could have done to improve your performance?

These questions are not solely esoteric to the world of running, but are real-life questions that apply to almost everything we do. 

Coaching cross-country does not just build a love for running, but it also fosters students’ drive, focus, reflection and compassion for each other. Our season is just getting started, but I am excited for what it will bring.

Joe Budzelek

Joe Budzelek

Joe Budzelek is an Upper School Math teacher and coach at Whitby. His love for numbers can be first attributed thanks to obsessively watching 1980s game shows and home shopping networks. Whether it's in the classroom or on the sidelines, Joe cherishes the opportunity to motivate and nurture the social and emotional growth of his students. From asking students to create probability games to learning how to budget a family meal, Joe loves finding ways to make math relatable, palpable and fun.