I get inspired every time I go to a cross country meet.
Today (November 22, 2025) my brother Brian Eder, co-founder of #RunBlogRun, and I attended the #NXRS Southwest meeting. 3,500 boys and girls, plus their families, enjoy the only fast and smooth course most of these kids have run this year. Lily Alder won the girls championship race in 16:36.1 and Jackson Spencer won the boys championship race in 14:31.1. But that was ONLY part of the story.
I went up and talked to parents, athletes before and after most of the races. The feeling was all about fun and seeing what they could do. #NXR Southwest is an example of kids racing in nine #NXR events as they hope to be one of the top two boys & girls teams or top five unattached boys & girls races and advance to #NXN on December 6, 2025.
Some nice touches here. #NIKESwooshTC was here in full force, with nine athletes speaking to #RunBlogRun, cheering on athletes and handing out awards. #EricStrand, #ParkerWolfe, #DrewBosley, #MaggieCondon, #EliseSteiner, #YusufBizimani, #LiamMurphy, #AbdiNur, #WoodyKincaid and #MoAhmed hanging out with the team.
#SwooshTC made the kids happy. I saw a young woman thank the athletes after the race, saying that their enthusiasm and hand slapping inspired her.
I was taken back to AAU Cross Country (Crystal Springs, Belmont, CA) in 1974 at Crystal Springs where my friends #BobLucas, #JimFitzhenry and #NickPelinga (#BellarminePrep in San Jose, CA) and I hid under our fences to me. We met Frank Shorter, then 1972 Olympic champion and 3-time Fukuoka winner. We were saddened that Frank, our hero, had not won his fifth Cross Country title. Frank was so good to us and I finally told him, fifty years later, how much he meant to me to do this. The following week, Frank Shorter won his fourth #FukuokaMarathon, then the annual World Marathon Championships.
My dad, Stan Eder, and my sisters, MaryLou, Mary Beth, and Kathy, and my brother, Brian, all went with us in the Ford Country Squire, jamming the highway from San Jose, CA to Belmont, CA. Dad took his only day off from work (he was the original manager of the Ford Milpitas, California plant)
After watching dozens of videos, dozens of interviews, and enjoying the races, I was reminded how important cross country is to a high school runner. It changed my life. How much will meeting #EricStrand or #WoodyKincaid inspire another generation? I think intersectionality is very important.
#CrosscountryChangesLives
#NIKECrossNationals
#NXRS Southwest,
