An atypical meet by Hackett Cross Country

Hacketts cross country team hosted an atypical meet called the Irish Fox and Hound at Kalamazoo Valley Community College last Saturday, September 23rd.

The Fox and Hound is not a typical race where the winner is the runner with the fastest time, but instead the winner is the runner who beat their personal record by the most time. This meet is all about beating yourself. Instead of everyone starting at the same time, everyone starts based on their PRs, so everyone is expected to finish at the same time. Therefore, the first to cross the line, most likely didn't have the best time, but cut the most time off their personal record.

Runner Bethany Carpenter says that “running isn't my favorite thing, but the Fox and Hound is a different experience because there is more motivation” and spectator Theresa Keyte says “the Fox and Hound is fun to watch because the results are always unexpected.”

This race is one of the most entertaining races of the year. The boys and girls all run together, and since anyone, with any time can win, spectators are all cheering on their teammates, family, and/or friends at the same time watching them pass the fastest runners on the team. You see 20 people running within 100 feet of each other all sprinting to the end trying to earn a medal.

This year, the winner of the Fox award (the first to finish) was Gavin McLane from BC Pennfield with a time of 22:03, beating his previous PR by 1 minute and 7 seconds. The winner of the Hound award (passing the most people) was Hacketts Marek Butkiewicz, passing 20 runners with a time of 17:00. Both the girls and boys team from Hackett took home 1st place trophies having their varsity runners scoring the highest places.