As the cross country season begins, the Redwood team has been doing what they can during COVID-19 to prepare themselves for competition. After their season was delayed till winter, the cross country runners are preparing to compete. The team recently returned to practice after coming off a two-week rest period, participating in time trials to set base times for the season.  After a couple of weeks of preseason, the Giants are looking forward to the start of their regular season. 

While it may be hard for other sports to train during COVID-19, cross country athletes have had the luxury of the green Marin trails. Even with strict COVID-19 restrictions, they  are still able to run outside safely without the risk of being infected by the virus. Although track is senior John O’Neal’s primary sport, for cross country, his favorite trail to run on is the five-mile loop around Phoenix Lake in San Anselmo. As hot weather can make outdoor sports like cross country harder, junior Hailey Connery loves to run in the shaded Baltimore Canyon, a trail just a few minutes away from Redwood. Junior Helena Janku enjoys running on the scenic Miwok Trail in Tennessee Valley, which extends to Muir Beach. Though running cross country is challenging regardless of location, O’Neal, Janku, and Connery find that living in Marin County has definitely made their sport more intriguing.