The beauty of the morning and the radiance of noon are good, but it would be a very silly person who drew the curtains and turned on the light in order to shut out the tranquility of the evening. W. Somerset Maugham

     
       I skimmed the book, "Run Strong, Stay Hungry" by Jonathan Beverly.  A quote of his I really enjoyed, because it is so whimsically written, follows below.  I imagine it applies to all runners, not just those in cross-country:

     Cross-country is the Statue of Liberty of sport, proclaiming to the world of athletes, "Give me your skinny, your weak, your huddled outcasts yearning to be cool."  The sport gives these misfit toys an island where they find that by applying dogged persistence, they can improve and eventually contribute--even succeed.

     I love this...running being the Statue of Liberty of sport and all of us weak, huddled, outcast runners being misfit toys given an island.  Whimsy at its best.