The 2024 Cross Country Day

By Ellie McGuire and Dani Htut; Photos by the 2024-2025 Publications Team

Introduction

Hokkaido International School, also known as H.I.S., is a school that loves to give its students a chance to embrace the beauty of the outdoors. One of the events held to promote fitness is the annual cross-country running competition attended by all grades. With distances from 1k to 3k, all our Huskies gave it their all, and every one of them made it past the finish line.

The Start (0 Kilometers)

On Friday, September 20th, H.I.S. students came to school wearing their Huskies' T-shirts and the new team color bands. The first runners of the day were the middle school students who departed for Makomanai Park at 8:40 am. Unfortunately, during the middle of the girls' race, it started to downpour. Runners and publications crew were soaked, alike. But, even with the rain and wind pushing against them, all the runners pushed past it and made it over the finish line. The rain continued to pour halfway through the MS boys' race, clearing up in time for the drive back to the school.

The Halfway Mark (1.5 Kilometers)

As the middle school students arrived back at the school, the high schoolers started to warm up in preparation for the running to come. Starting with the seniors and going down by grade, the students started to pile into the buses for the short drive to Makomanai Park. Once they had arrived, the students were split into three groups: the girl runners, the boy runners, and the cheerleaders. As each finisher came close to the finish line, the rest of the students who hadn't taken P.E. were cheering them on and congratulating them for accomplishing the run. Even though some students were injured or not in their top condition, they all pushed through showing the resilience of the Huskies of H.I.S.

After all the high school students were done running, a short break came, where everyone caught their breath before the final event of the high school cross-country day: the fun run — open to students and parents. Since the event was running a little behind schedule, the two-kilometer course was shrunk down to one kilometer. Although it was shorter than usual, all participating members had fun walking, running, and talking with their friends. Once everyone had cleaned up and made sure that no trash was left behind, the students boarded the bus and arrived back at H.I.S. just in time for lunch.

The Finish (3 Kilometers: GOAL!)

The last event of the day was the three races of MP1, MP2, and MP3 students. The students were full of energy. The moment the bus pulled up, students started to run around and play tag with each other. Once everyone had settled down, the first race was announced. The first runners were the MP1 students who would be running a one-kilometer track around Makomanai stadium. Next were the MP2 runners, followed by MP3 — both would follow the HIS-original 2km course. This year, thankfully, no students were led off track, so everyone completed the race fairly and happily. After the community fun run was over, all the members of staff, parents, and students worked together to pick up any remaining trash they might have left to keep the park clean. The MP students got onto the bus and made it back to H.I.S. just in time for the end of the school day.