DGS junior Qasim Simba dashes to the finish line

Panting, sweating, and feeling his heart beating against his chest, DGS junior Qasim Simba just completed his 800-meter run at the DGS track meet. Simba ran as a distance runner for 4 years up until freshman year of high school. 

Simba has been running for years and credits his dad for getting him into it in the first place. Once he started running he couldn’t stop. 

“I’ve been running for forever, ever since sixth grade cause my dad kind of went through this phase… he wanted to be more healthy so then he got me into running with him and I kind of got obsessed with it. I’d run every single day and I actually did really well for the freshman mile track time… My favorite thing about running is probably just letting everything go. It’s kind of just your own time.” Simba said.

Track is a very competitive sport that requires lots of training and effort. Just like any other sport, track has practice often, but unlike the other sports, Track holds practice almost every day, not including the running outside of practice.

“One reason why I quit was I felt like I was exhausted after running every single day- we had Sundays off, but for the most part I felt every day I had to run and the days I didn’t run I kind of just felt  super guilty and I just didn’t like that feeling and just wanted to get away from it,” Simba said. 

Boys’ head track coach, Sean Senf can relate to the same feeling Simba described. Once he is running he loses track of time as if he is in his own space.

“If there are a couple of days where I’m really busy and I can’t run… I feel dirty in a sense. You know that sense where you didn’t take a shower… it just feels like something is off… Maybe it’s an illness, but I think it’s a good thing.” Senf said.

Simba joined cross country and track all due to his mother pushing him to get involved more, but once he was up and running, he realized how much commitment the sports required. Track holds practices almost every day according to Senf. 

“So track practice happens almost every day. Pretty much every day if you are a good runner or good athlete, you are focused on your sport. I would say seven days a week with a mental rest day. .. We will have practice Monday through Friday after school and usually have a meet or a practice on Saturdays as well. ” Senf said. 

Senf ran track in high school and in college. He then decided that instead of running at the meets, he should stand on the sidelines teaching and cheering the track members on. Simba mentioned how unlike everyone thinks, track isn’t an individual sport. 

“I kind of felt if I didn’t do my running  I would be letting the team down kind of thing…although it’s more an individual kind of thing you are always trying to beat your own PR [personal record]… if one person doesn’t do it you are kind of letting everyone down. “ Simba said.

Senf also explains how, from a coach’s point of view, track isn’t an individual process as everyone thought. 

“I think people think of track as a very individual sport and in a sense… You are competing against you, competing against a clock. What people don’t see is all the teamwork and building behind that,” Senf said.

Although Simba quit track and field he still tries his best to go for a run now and then. Coach Senf, on the other hand, runs very often unless it’s track season. 

“Oh yeah. I run in my free time, but I think it’s a little harder during the track season because there is a lot more going on and there is a lot of meets…” Senf said. 

Simba might not be running any longer, but he will never outrun the amazing memories he has captured.