I interviewed Zoe Purkiss, a girl in seventh grade from McCullough Jr. High. I asked Zoe about her cross-country journey and when she started to love this sport. She also told me about the different races and her overall practice experience.

Zoe has been running since she was about seven years old. She has progressively gotten faster and loved running more and more. At the age of nine, she joined a pretty popular running group in the Woodlands called ‘Team Green’ (TGR). She ran with TGR twice a week and loved it. After Zoe ran with TGR she knew she wanted to continue running through Jr. High and try to join their Cross Country Team.

I went on to interview Zoe and asked her questions about Cross Country. She told me that she had to train throughout the whole summer to make sure she made the team. I next asked her if she believes that running is more physical or mental. She says mental and goes on to say, “I think it’s more mental because when your body gets tired you just have to think and push through because you can’t just you know just quit in the middle of a race.” She then goes on to tell me about how her speed changes throughout her races. “I like to sprint in the start and sprint in the end but in the middle of the race, I usually try to just pace myself. The last thing I asked Zoe was if she still currently has practices because it is off-season right now. She says there are and, “We used to have practice after school, but now we’re out of season we only have practice during real class periods. So now I only go to Cross Country practice every other day.”

In conclusion, Zoe Purkiss has found a sport she likes and is willing to spend her time on. Zoe is committed and can’t wait to see where this path takes her. She loves running and wants to do it for the rest of her life.