by Andrea Tehan Carnes

While most of our students were off enjoying a hot leisurely summer all across the globe, nine ambitious students decided to try something new and sign up to train for and run a 15-mile trail race in the nearby town of Northfield, Mass. I got the idea in my head to do this race with our girls a little over a year ago while volunteering at the same race at the registration table, when a rival cross-country team checked in their students to do the race. I thought to myself, "If THEY can do it, so can we!" A little recruiting -- and, surprisingly, not a lot of persuading -- later, we had nine girls ready to go. We only needed eight to fill a team, but as this wasn't the first time I had captained a relay team, I knew there would inevitably be a few people dropping out for unforeseen reasons. It was good to have a backup plan.