by Larry Eder
I am inspired every time I go to a cross-country meet.
Today, (November 22, 2025), my brother Brian Eder, co-founder of #RunBlogRun and I visited the #NXRSouthwest meet! 3,500 boys and girls, plus their families, are enjoying the only fast and flat course most of these kids have run this year! Lilly Alder won the girls’ championships 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 spoke with parents, athletes in many of the races, prior to and after their races! The feeling was all about fun and seeing what they can do! #NXR Southwest is an example of the kids who are running in the nine #NXR events as they hope to be one of top two boys’ teams and top two girls’ teams or the top five unattached boys and girls in the races, and move on to the #NXN, to be held on December 6, 2025.
Some nice touches here: #NIKESwooshTC was here in full force, with nine athletes speaking to #RunBlogRun, cheering on the athletes, and giving out the awards. #EthanStrand, #ParkerWolfe, #DrewBosley, #MaggieCondon, #EliseSteiner, #YusufBizimani, #LiamMurphy, #AbdiNur, #WoodyKincaid, and #MoAhmed, hanging out with the team.
#SwooshTC cheered on the kids. I saw a young woman thank the athletes after the race, saying that their encouragement and hand slapping inspired her.
I was taken back to the A.A.U. Cross Country (Crystal Springs, Belmont, CA) in 1974 at Crystal Springs, where my buddies, #BobLucas, #JimFitzhenry, and #NickPelinga (#BellarminePrep in San Jose, CA) and I snuck under the fences to meet our heroes! We met Frank Shorter, then, 1972 Olympic champion and 3-time Fukuoka winner. We were sad that Frank, our hero, had not won his fifth Cross-Country title. Frank was so cool with us, and I finally told him, fifty years later, how much he meant to me to do that! The next week, Frank Shorter went on to win his fourth #FukuokaMarathon, then, the yearly world championships of marathoning!
My father, Stan Eder, and my sisters, MaryLou, MaryBeth and Kathy, and my brother, Brian, all went with us, in the Ford Country Squire, jamming up the highway from San Jose, CA to Belmont, CA. Dad took his only day off from work (he was the premanager at the Ford Milpitas, CA plant)
After several dozen videos, a dozen interviews and enjoying the races, I was reminded of just how important cross-country is to the average high school runner. It changed my life. How much will meeting #EthanStrand, or #WoodyKincaid inspire another generation? I think cross-country is so important.
#CrosscountryChangesLives
#NIKECrossNationals
#NXRSouthwest,
