state x-country

x-country and i were really introduced about 19 years ago.
i'd been acquainted with track and had a few meet and greets with the art of marathon, but x-country was a new type of running.
long, but not gruelingly so- a new type of self torture that i wouldn't fully understand until middle school.

i first stepped onto that state cross country course at sugarhouse park to watch my sister sarah run.
she mutilated all competition.
mutilation never looked so graceful and has never been so eloquently done.
she (and she'll hate me for saying this because she's annoyingly humble) is a running legend.
ever single time she ran at sugarhouse she won.
one of few x-country athlete's ever to win state 4 years in a row.
an introduction like that to a sport is nothing less than epic.

she started a running dynasty- ellett became synonymous with running.
sometimes i hated her a bit for being so exceptional... my love was for other sports you see, but when an elder sibling succeeds like she does there's a bit of an expectation placed on the 5 to follow.
my sister nancy was also an incredible runner.
she, like myself, fancied the other sports and while she was great at running she was an all around athlete that succeeded at everything.
one would suspect a sibling rivalry would ensue when two sisters attend high school together.
sarah and nancy found balance in sporting success by each being good in different areas.
while sarah was a legend when it came to running nancy is the family legend when it comes to state team titles won- she was on 8 championship teams an unrivaled amount in the ellett household.
after 6 years of watching my elder sisters tackle the monster that is sugarhouse i got my solo debut.
it was not epic in every way.
what i learned was
1st running is rough.
2nd success in running was earned by torturing myself every day.
3rd any great runner has my life long respect.
i kept coming back to sugarhouse; tried my hand time and time again at the beast it is.
3 years i placed top ten- no victories, but running taught me many a lesson.
then came the younger siblings-
first my brother porter
who has one arm mind you- the fact he attempted and succeeded is miraculous in and of itself.
he competed at state 3 out of 4 years and the only reason he took a break was to have his paralyzed arm amputated.
epic.
second was maggie.
she competed her senior year- she has always been wise in life choices. she didn't like running long distance, so she didn't do it.
the scholar of the crew.
i admire maggie for never feeling pressured into doing things just because we elder siblings did it.
and then there was the caboose, hannah.

today i got to watch her.
the last time i had been to sugarhouse was when i ran it my senior year- moving and having babies and the like kept me from the epic race.
winning isn't always the way we go out on top- occasionally our ability to overcome an unwanted situation and find a different kind of success is an even more exceptional accomplishment than being number one.
even though she couldn't breathe or function normally hannah finished spectacularly.
the reason she wasn't well- she wouldn't deny her sick niece aunt hannah time.
a legendary finish that i'll never forget.

an unselfish display, which had i been in her situation i would have avoided everyone like the plague selfishly; which is one of many reasons why hannah is our family finisher.
it was one hell of an end.
thank you sugarhouse (and parents mostly) for 19 years, 20 races, and a reason for 6 siblings to bond like few ever will.
farewell ellett x-country.