It began with a dismayed laugh. 

As the bus containing the Friends School varsity Cross Country team trundled to the start of their course, conversation quieted. Chatter ceased. Eyes turned slowly outwards, to the gently rolling hills of the Agricultural Centre, down the fields and meadows – until suddenly they could look no further. 

It blotted out the horizon. It towered above the surrounding farmland, an upthrust jut of earth baking in the strong morning light. 

Small red flags marked out the course on a nearby field. None were visible on the exposed side of the hill; it was too far away for that. But everyone knew, somehow, that they would soon be summiting its bald face.

This was the course at the 41st Annual Richard Barnhart Memorial Invitational on September 14, 2024. Ten Friends School runners embarked on this challenging 5-kilometer race, vying against 27 other high school teams, most of them a whole conference level above the Friends team. Coaches Jen Smith and Mike Paulson said they were excited for the team, cautioning runners to pace themselves. 

“Just get it done,” Coach Smith urged as her runners toed the line. There were nerves in the air. Over 230 competitors would tackle the event. Each knew that some on the start line wouldn’t reach the end. 

Ten minutes into the race, the challenge was dead ahead. Senior Sachin Rao remembers questioning, in that moment, whether he could manage the task.

Fellow senior Sam Principe says he couldn’t even think. He was filled with a sense of inexorable dread.

Both runners passed many others who had already given up, walking slowly up the hill to save their energy. 

When the race concluded a few minutes later, Coaches Smith and Paulson said they were happy with the team’s results.

Ten out of Friends’ 10 competitors finished the race successfully – through struggle, doubt, and in a couple of cases, vomiting.

The coaches called it an overall win, regardless of Friends’ placement.

“Great effort. Tough course,” said Paulson.

The cross country athletes who went to run that day came home tired, but satisfied with a job well done.