Wednesday, October 28, 2009
John Broholm is a fan of running — cross country running, to be specific. While Broholm, a professor in the school of journalism, doesn’t run eight miles a day, he still follows the KU cross country team and travels to most of its meets. While running is something that almost every other sport involves, Broholm says he sees running for the sport that it is.
“There’s a challenge to it, for sure, but there’s also a purity to it,” Broholm said. “You’re only doing one thing and it’s really the most basic sport there is.”
Up next for the Jayhawks
Big 12 Championship
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Date: Saturday, Oct. 31
Time: 10 a.m.
NCAA Midwest Regional Championships
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Date: Saturday, Nov. 14
Time: TBA
Broholm travels throughout the country to watch the runners push themselves for 25 minutes over hills and through terrain. With so few home meets, Broholm has to get on the road if he wants to be there to yell for the team, which is primarily what he does as a cross country fan. When he gets to a race, Broholm also does his fair share of moving and running as he walks the 5K course to plan out his route for watching the runners go by. It’s all part of the excitement of being a true cross country fan.
The start of the race is probably the most exciting part for Broholm. As a mass of 20 teams with seven or eight runners each takes off down the starting straightaway of the race, Broholm said he is amazed by the geometry and massive movement of the runners coming at him. And then he’s off, chasing the mass of runners as he cuts across the course to catch them as they go by again.
“The beginning of the race is just beautiful,” Broholm said. “It’s something that fans of other sports probably wouldn’t appreciate, but that’s OK.”
Broholm got into cross country when he was in high school. After realizing his potential for other sports such as baseball was waning, Broholm took up cross country as a sophomore and track as a junior. Broholm found camaraderie with his teammates as they snuck onto golf courses and weaved through neighborhoods to run for practice. Although he didn’t try to run in college, Broholm never completely turned his back on cross country.
Broholm got into the sport again at Kansas when he was out walking his dog in the mornings. Every day he passed joggers and other dog walkers but one runner always impressed him. It turned out that this runner was Julia Saul, the only female All-American cross country runner in KU history. Watching her run every day reminded Broholm “what a gas” cross country was.
“When it looks like they’re not doing much but a lot is coming out, you know they’re really good,” Broholm said.
Broholm started travelling to meets and soon found that same sense of camaraderie he had back in high school when he ran cross country. The parents and supporters that he saw at each meet all seemed to know each other; they would cheer for each other’s kids and other school’s teams because they realized how hard each athlete was working. Broholm remembers spending entire meets with random families just talking about cross country and watching the runners go by.
This season Broholm has only made it out to two meets but plans to head for Columbia, Mo., this weekend to watch Kansas compete in the Big 12 Championship. During the years, Broholm has watched runners and learned who they are and he can tell when someone is having a big race. Broholm has followed senior runner Lauren Bonds her whole career at Kansas. She won the Bob Timmons Classic last year, one of the meets hosted by Kansas. Broholm also has his eye on sophomore runner Donny Wasinger, who made his debut at Kansas last year, leading the team in four races.
“Everybody always thinks that this could be their year but it all comes down to the end of the season,” Broholm said.
With only three meets left this season, including this Saturday’s, Broholm will have a few more chances to travel and watch Kansas compete.
“Just having people out there cheering for you really makes a difference,” Broholm said. He intends to be there yelling and running alongside for seasons to come.
— Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
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