"Genius Loci" of a meaningful place
When I first learned about the idea of a “genius loci,� or the spirit of a place, my mind automatically scrolled through vacations that I had taken and special times spent with friends. Obviously all of these were very special to me, but then I began to think about competition, specifically in my prep cross country career. The competitive nature that each athlete holds in cross country, or any sport for that matter, brings something special to the places you perform at. I could say this for a lot of the races that I have ever run, but the Oshkosh North sectional meet is special. I only ran this meet three years, but it remains hands down the event that I will never forget.
My sophomore year we went into the very competitive meet not thinking we had too much of a chance to move on to state. Everyone believed however that there still was a slight possibility. The race absolutely flew by and nobody knew what just happened until they saw their times. Every last one of the people on our team had run their best times ever. Not only that, but we made it to state as a team.
There’s something about the energy that everyone has from the second that gun goes off, to the time they cross the finish line that could not compare to anything else I have experienced. My fastest three times ever came on that course. Now there is no way that you can tell me that is not a coincidence. With everyone’s emotions running full throttle the place heightens all of your senses and abilities and almost carries you through the race.
