Signify the end of our last fun run, they signal the end of this season, and they mark the end of four years of LHS XC. But they don’t mark the end of the love I’ve found here at Lynbrook as a Cross Country Boy.

These past four years have been truly amazing, every single one of them. It has been an honor to share the field of battle with so many other runners throughout the years and this Saturday might be the last time I can put my hands in with 6 other guys and yell “Woh Bundy” at the top of my lungs.  Whether it’s the last or second to last is up to us. If we want it, truly want it, we have to work hard this week and then we have to all have the race of our lives on Saturday. This is our opportunity, it’s our chance to show what we’re made of, this is our dream.

Vince Lombardi once said; “The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his field of endeavor”

Cross Country is our field of endeavor and whether we run like men or we run like boys on Saturday is up to us. All I have to say to you guys is leave it all out there, for one race, push your body to its limits and when it seems like it’s about to give in, let your heart take over. Remember the feeling of losing Hawaii by one point, remember the disappointment, remember the pain; and if we can channel that into one race where everything clicks, then someday we’ll remember the glory.

This is our calling, our fate is in our legs and our dream is in sight.

Let’s do it for ourselves, let’s do it for Hank and Jake, but most of all let’s do it because we love it.

It hit me today.

This is it.

Today was my last Surf N’ Turf as a part of the LHS XC team, this whole season has been a string of lasts but I’ve been trying to not think about that much. Today while on Prospect, running the red light on Blaney, it all came crashing down. Four years have flown by as quickly as they came and now I’ll only be reliving Cross Country through memories of shared laughs, long runs, and visions of those perfect fall days where a run can cure everything. These four years have been truly amazing, every single one of them. They had their highs and their lows, but that’s life, we all fall down and it’s the ones that are able to get back up that stay up.

Who knows where I’ll be at this time next year, all I know is that wherever I am, I’ll be there because of Lynbrook Cross Country; the life lessons I’ve learned, the races I’ve ran, and the people I’ve met, these are the things that have made me who I am today. Answering the Senior Questionnaire is by far the hardest thing I’ve had to do; I mean how am I supposed to answer “How have I changed Lynbrook?”, I haven’t changed Lynbrook, it’s still the same, there are plenty of smart kids that only care about grades, and there is a fair share of kids that don’t care about grades at all. But those kids have nothing to do with me, I didn’t come to Lynbrook to change it; I came to Lynbrook to change myself. Thanks to Hank, Jake, and all the other amazing coaches that I have had the honor to call my coach during my four years at Lynbrook have led to me being the person I am today. They haven’t only made me a better runner, they have made me a better person.

It’s Jake’s advice on life and love that give me some reassurance the future will be a fraction as good as right now is, it’s his stories that give me laughs for today, and hope for tomorrow.

It’s Hank’s life lessons that tell me how I should act today and tomorrow, it’s his lava lamp that has shone me the way to happiness, it’s his words that ring through my ears as I push up the hardest hills.

Lynbrook Cross Country has completely changed my life and made me the person I want to be.

As morbid as it may sound; what Jake told me on the way back from Mt.Sac this weekend may be one of the soundest pieces of advice that I have ever received, and it wasn’t even intended to be advice. Jake told me that when he passes on he doesn’t care what is done to his body, “Where do you want your ashes spread?” “In the trash can” he replies with a grin. At first I pondered why he wouldn’t care about his body after death, but then it became apparent to me; that’s what it is after death. Your life has passed on and wherever your soul is; it definitely has left your body. Our mind, body, and soul are all things that we posses for a lifetime and it’s our job to keep them as sound as possible. Lynbrook Cross Country has done that for me. It has strengthened my mind by teaching me to never give up, no matter how challenging the endeavor, how steep the hill; there is always a peak, and when you reach it everything will be worth the pain. It has strengthened my body in obvious manners, but it’s the hard work that Hank and Jake have always preached that keeps it growing. And finally it has changed my soul as I no longer look for a place to fit in, I am who I am. I have found a family that will last me a lifetime and a love that will carry me through the toughest of days.

“The greatest thing in life is not in never having fallen, but in rising up again.”

I have fallen many times but thanks to LHS XC, I’ve always had a reason to get up and conquer the hill, no matter how steep it may be.

“It’s nice to be great, but it’s far greater to be nice.”

In two weeks we’ll know if we have what it takes to be great, but even if we don’t come out on top; we’ll be able to go home knowing that we are great people thanks to Hank, Jake, and all the amazing people that have had the pleasure of going through LHS XC.

Our last ‘Woh Bundy’ is approaching us, let’s make it the loudest one ever.

This is for my LHS XC Boys.

This is our season, this is our opportunity. This is our chance to show the world we belong at the top. This is our chance to show everyone what Lynbrook XC has done for us. It’s our time to show Hank and Jake and that their hard work has results. But most of all – this is our chance to show to ourselves that we deserve it.

This may seem small and insignificant now; just a race, just another two weeks of training, just a delay. But one day, when we look back on that race, it’ll either be the race that could’ve been, or the race.

2.95 miles of pain, why would we put ourselves through that? Why would we purposely sign up to feel pain for 16 minutes? Something keeps us coming back, and that something is love. It’s love for the run; for the lows, and the highs. For the guts, and the glory. It’s love that allows us to endure the pain.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Let’s get going you guys.

was amazing.

But it didn’t start out that way. From the moment I set off from Lynbrook, I felt average. Nothing was clicking and I just felt like I just needed to get the run over with. At first my shoes were too tight, then they were too loose, then I had too many things on my mind. The whole way to the top of Hunter’s I was wishing I was somewhere else, but as soon as I finished my sprint to the top, things started to change. After taking a breath at the top and re-tying my shoes for one final time, I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. When I opened them I saw everything in a new perspective.

I turned around and faced the rest of the park, I noticed all the trails that wind majestically. I noticed all the peaks that seem so daunting when I’m looking up at them, I noticed all the places I’ve found love in before. I came to realize what I love so much about where I live right now, it makes me want to stay here forever. These hills, this sky, and this town, I love everything about it. It has made me who I am today, the parks that I grew up with, the hills I’ve fallen in love with, and all the little reminders in between that make this town what it is.

Lum couldn’t have said it better; “nothing gold is forever”, well this is Gold right now. Everything is shiny and beautiful, and I know this isn’t fool’s good. This is the real deal, everything around me is real, not gold plated. Golden to the heart. Eventually I’ll have to leave this place behind, but I know that I’ll find my way back here, too many amazing things have taken place in the place I call home, and no matter where I’ll be living next year, home will always be in Saratoga.

Cross Country is slowly winding down and just as much as I don’t want each day to end because it means the end is a day nearer, I can’t wait for the next one to come because I know that every single day holds something amazing and beautiful. I’m going to miss it all; meeting out by the shed, working hard on our hard days, going easy on our easy days, doing strides, and every single little joke in between the runs.

Life is short, but that makes it beautiful. You have a choice to how you decorate your life; if you only do things that make others happy, not the things that make you truly happy, your life will just be coated with gold, but pure rust underneath. But if you take it day by day, and spend every single day doing the things you love and with the people you truly love, your life will be just like 24 carat gold; beautiful and authentic.

This is my last season, my last season being able to suit up with six other LHS XC boys. Our season might end November 14th. But if we all pull together for one race, if we all just give it our all and leave nothing out there, then maybe, just maybe, our season will end November 29th.

Woh Bundy.

Don’t do justice to this feeling.

And this time I’m serious – there is no hidden meaning here.

Life is just perfect.

Everything about it.

I just want to be back in Hawaii, there’s no other way to explain it. I want to wake up in room 866 with my team.

I miss having nothing to worry about, I miss living for the moment, I miss it all.

Life here sucks, I have to admit it. Having to wake up every morning at 7 just to sit at school for 5 hours, learning nothing useful. To be honest I’ve learned so much more from Hawaii and XC than I have from school. Maybe knowing calculus will get you to college, but it’s the life lessons that allow you live beyond that. It’s more than numbers and letters, it’s about learning how to laugh, love, and live.

We shared plenty of laughs; too many to count even, every little thing was fun. We came together as more than a team, we became a family, and we learned how to love each other and accept our differences. And finally we learned how to live, we learned how to be independent; independent from our parents and teachers, we learned how to live together, and boy did we live during those four days.

It hits me every once in a while, I look outside and then I look inside, I look around me and find scattered remnants of the trip, and then I look inside me, and all I find is love; love for cross country, love for the family, and love for Hawaii.

I’ve been slowly realizing it, we don’t have much time left. In 5 weeks CCS will be over and XC might be over for the LHS XC boys. But that’s our choice, if we choose to be average, it’ll be over. But if we choose to be great, we’ll have one more trip, one more chance to suit up, one more chance to cross the finish line, and this time it will be the real finish line; the end of the road, the last race.

We can do it, we know we can. Remember how we felt in Hawaii; remember the high from the fun, and remember the low from losing the race.

One race is all it takes, one race where we go all out, where we hold nothing back, where we forget the pain and run for the love it.

Woh Bundy.

Lum, I’m sorry I didn’t reply to your texts two nights ago but I was preoccupied with sleeping at 2 am, so I’ll respond to them here. I’m sad to hear what happened but I’m glad that you turned to running for help. It puts a huge smile on my face knowing that when you need a pick me up, you go out and pound some miles, and then tell me about it right after; because that’s exactly what I would do. You’ve always inspired me to work harder, to never be satisfied, and even if you’re down there enjoying that nice San Diego weather, your teachings rest me and I’ve been trying to spread them out to the whole team. Even if you fell out of Varisty last season, you were still the glue that kept us together, you believed in us when we were failing, and you were always there for the team; whether it was chasing us around a course and cheering us on, or putting in the miles with us, or lining up on the starting line, putting your hand in the center, and yelling “Vikes on 3!”. Life goes on up here and I wish you were here to experience this last season for us. Your advice of keeping the family going is really starting to make sense to me, even though it seems the last of the XC family are graduating this year, there are plenty of underclassmen that we know will uphold our silly traditions, will always work their hardest, and will always strive to make Lynbrook proud. I never got to ask you if you enjoyed your senior year in XC as much as possible, but now after those 5 texts, I know that you have.

There are a few things in life that stick with you, and it fills my heart to know that running has stuck with you.

Just know that even if you’re 600 miles away, you’ll always find some love in running and home will always be here for you. You’ll always be the big scary sophomore to me, and we’ll always be your team.

I don’t really know how to start this post or how to write it for that matter. I never thought I could write down what Hawaii was like in words, and since Varun has currently stolen my Julia/Lum method of remembering trips, my fingers will have to take a stroll down the keyboard and see what we can come up with.

I always said that I don’t want to draw comparisons between Hawaii ‘06 and Hawaii ‘09 and the amazing thing about it is that I still don’t have to. They were two completely different experiences, and both equally amazing. Going as a Freshmen was amazing because I slowly grew into the team and being the only Freshmen there made me feel special, it was an amazing trip, getting to know everyone, doing things I had never dreamed of doing before, the day I got back from that trip was the saddest and happiest day of my life all together. Seeing everyone around school, droopy-eyed, and yet smiling at them knowing that what we shared will live on in our memories for the rest of our lives.

This year was no different, I could list out every amazing thing that happened in Hawaii, but no one would understand it besides those lucky 14. I went from the immature Freshmen in ‘06 who had the rest of the team to look after me, to the immature Senior that had to share the responsibility of looking after everyone else.

Every little thing we did seemed trivial at the time, but now it’s those things I miss the most. I miss waking up to ringing cell phones, strange smells, and my three best friends. I miss being able to go to a breakfast place and say, “table for fourteen please”, I miss not having a second of down time because we had infinite liberty in what we could do. The simplest way to put it is I miss Hawaii more than anything in the world. The laughs we shared over those four days will forever bring smiles on our faces as we look back on them.

The sad thing is realizing that this is it, it’s finally started to hit me, this is the last season that I’ll be a part of LHS XC, my last season of meeting out by the shed, fun runs, 3,2,1 Bingo, Hank & Jake, and everything in between runs. Even if after this season I’ll never be able to wear this uniform again and lace up my running shoes for Lynbrook, LHS XC will forever live on in my heart as the thing that turned my life around, my first true love in life. I’ll still be an LHS XC Boy, no matter what. Time is a cruel thing, it takes things away from us when we want to live in a moment forever, I wish I could live in Hawaii forever, I wish I could live in LHS XC forever, I wish I could live my life forever.

One day I will no longer open my eyes in the morning to the sunshine, but until that day comes I’ll be spending my days on the trail of life, it has it’s ups and downs, it has some killer hills, some relaxing downhills, and some breathtaking views, but if I live it to the fullest, when I’m about to sprint the last hundred meters I’ll look back on it, and I’ll know that I did everything I wanted to do, and when I cross that chalky finish line, I’ll lay down on the grass with a smile on my face and my running shoes on my feet.

I know I haven’t really addressed Hawaii to the fullest in this post, I still can’t put it down in words, it just lives in my mind, bringing me a bit of joy everyday and a lot of nostalgia. Maybe someday I’ll be able to really write down what Hawaii meant to me, but for now all I’m certain about is that it was the best four days of my life, that I love this one girl with all my heart, and that the combination of those two make me the luckiest guy in the world.

Joe Newton once said; “Run free today”, run free from your mind, run free from your troubles, run free from the pain. Running free is the greatest feeling in the world, it’s about letting go of everything in your life and just letting your legs carry you away to a better place, it’s about blocking everything else out, moving to the center of the road, and taking life one stride at a time.

We have half a season left, sure we could accept making states as impossible right now and make it a lot easier for us, but we would be letting the family down, the sport down, and ourselves down.

“Be average, be good, or be great”

When it’s our turn to step on that starting line, to double knot our shoes one last time, to put our hands in one last time, we’ll have to make a decision as a team. If we choose to be average that’s all we’ll ever be, if we choose to be good we’ll end up disappointed, but if we choose to be great we’ll forever be remembered as the greatest team to ever meet out by that shed.

Let’s make the right choice.

Has taken it’s toll on my legs, but man was it worth it.

Two races, felt great in both. I really hope this will last throughout the season (knocks on wood) I’m bound to have a few bad races and I’ll accept them as they come, forget them, and move on, but for now I feel good. I’m ready for Hawaii, I’m ready to take the team on this 8 week long journey to CCS.

You guys have been running great, Varun, Kuo, and DiBiase especially.

Varun, you ran your first ever XC race in the heat, with an injured achilles and you ran an amazing time. Hopefully you recover fully by the time we leave for the Aloha State but this first and last season for you is looking to be a promising one. Just keep focused and remember what our goal is, states.

Kuo, you have the talent, and you put in the work most of the time, if you just put in that little extra bit during practice you have an amazing Sophomore year ahead of you. You need to run in the front with us and we’re going to need you if we want to win Hawaii and if we want to make states.

DiBiase, from being the guy that almost got a medal at Firebird Invite freshmen year, to making Hawaii your senior year, and as 5th man, that’s an amazing improvement. You need to stay focused though, the season is long and you being on varsity isn’t only for Hawaii, I expect you to run on varsity year long and if we share that car ride to Fresno, you better be “DJing” it.

Amrit, you need to be mentally prepared for these races, you have the talent, you put in all the work, but you need to get yourself ready for the race. I made the same mistake last year, I just wanted the races to be over, I didn’t focus and give 110% every single race. That’s what you need to do, you need to push through the pain, block everyone else out, and just run the best race of your life. Hawaii awaits us and I have a feeling this will be your break out race.

Everyone else on the team has also been running great, I’m proud of every single one of you guys. Running isn’t an easy thing to do, nor is it an easy thing to love; but when it all falls into place, it’s amazing.

5 4 days left until Hawaii, the wait is killing me.

The road to States is a long one, but if we take some time to look at the beauty around us, we’ll be there in no time.

Woh Bundy.