Two-time NXN qualifier Rafaella Gibbons of Park XC Club (Winter Park) gives us an inside look at her trip to Portland for the2015 Nike Cross Nationals.
Wednesday, December 2
I arrived at the hotel late and feeling super tired, but as soon as I walked into the hotel I saw the huge banners with our region and names on it hanging all around the hotel. This got me super excited and reminded me that these next few days are going to be amazing! Almost all of my teammates were there and it was great to finally see some of them and meet my new teammates. After we all got settled in we finally had dinner and enjoyed the rest of our time at the lounge.
Thursday, December 3
This day was one of my favorite days! We woke up, had breakfast and then went straight to the Nike Headquarters. This was the day we got our awesome gear! The gear was just as amazing as last year and I was so happy to finally see our uniforms. After we received our gear we ran down to the track and added a couple more miles around the headquarters. While we were running we saw the Bowerman Track Club training and it was so cool to see all these famous runners in person! After our run we got our jackets customized with our last names on it. Later that night after lunch back at the hotel we then went back to the headquarters for dinner and the opening ceremony! The opening ceremony just welcomed us and had Alexa Efraimson and Chris Derrick speak about their past experiences at NXN.
Friday, December 4
Today we had the opportunity to run and view the course. The course wasn't that muddy definitely not compared to how muddy it was last year! We also got to check out the Athlete's village where we all get our own locker and inside it has snacks, water, rollers, and many more helpful things to help prepare us for tomorrow. Like yesterday we came back to the Headquarters later that day but this time it was an elite athlete Q&A with athletes from both Bowerman Track Club and Oregon Track Club. It was interesting to hear what they had to say about their experiences in running and some great advice! For the rest of the night we all just tried to relax and not think too much about the race.
Saturday, December 5
I woke up nervous but excited to race the biggest race of my season! We caught the first bus to the course so we would get there with a lot of time to relax. We got there with about two hours till we had to be on the line. Sadly it was raining and obviously very cold especially for me during the warmup. They introduced us about thirty minutes before the start of the race and it was fun to experience them announcing our names and accomplishments! We made it to the line about ten minutes before the race, I did my stride outs and I felt pretty good but I was still really cold.
The race itself was really difficult for me. I didn't feel good from the start but I still tried my best and ran faster than last year, I'm just really disappointed with my place being 40th! After the race we had closing ceremonies where they gave awards to the All Americans and the first, second, and third winning teams. Later that night they had a fun dance back at the hotel. The whole experience was just as amazing as last year and even though I didn't run as well as I wanted to, I was so blessed to actually be there!
