Are Regional and National Races Worth It?

We faced the impending question about how serious we were going to get with running when our daughter wanted to make a trip across the United States and run with a local club in the USATF Jr. Olympic Cross Country National Championship. It was the beginning of December and our Christmas expenses seemed tough enough to handle. A parent in the group said, "It's just a race, is this really worth it?" It's a question all parents ask themselves and eventually have to answer.

We decided to try out the experience and in the process learned some valuable lessons. The first lesson was that, YES, it is worth it. Here are the top 3 reasons why it is worth sending your child and burdening the family with some additional expenses.

1) Running at a larger than normal event with the best of the best is a great confidence boost to your child's self-esteem. Once they run in these events they feel as if they are no longer an average runner. That boost in confidence is worth every penny.

2) More than likely they will discover they are better than they thought they were and that momentum will help them in their running season. If your child realizes they are not as good as they thought they were then that is a positive too since it will help them adjust their expectations to a more realistic level. From there they can start to build themselves up again as they reach more obtainable goals.

3) Your child will realize they are not wierd. They love to run and probably eat heathier than their friends and work out more than their friends which can bring the unwanted spotlight on them. Friends can get jealous and start making little remarks. When your child attends these events they meet others who have similar goals and ambitions which creates a nice comodery you often times can't find at home.

By the way, the club team our daughter ran on ended up winning the National Championship for Sophomores and Juniors. This drawing was done by the girls on the airplane ride home. Even though they go to different high schools they still keep in touch with each other and occasionally do long runs together.