Judy Pendergast: Inside Great Edinburgh Run

The Team USA Junior Women (Amy Davis, Carleen Jeffers, Katie Rainsberger, Judy Pendergast, Maryjeanne Gilbert, Devin Clark) at the Great Edinburgh race course. Pendergast reported on her experience before the squad defends their title in Saturday's 4K race at the Great Edinburgh Xcountry event.

Day two has been great! After a twelve hour sleep (yes, I was very tired), I ate some breakfast with the rest of the junior girls. About an hour later we went to the course and took some team pictures!



Then, everyone did their pre-race workouts, while we tried to figure out the course! They switched it up so now we are running a 1K loop and then two 1.5K loops! Should still be fun, difficult, and a great experience! We are all definitely going to get soaked by the creeks we have to cross and drenched in mud, but that's what it's all about! This course reminds me of the root of what cross country is: muddy, hilly, and extremely tiring. Although it can be hard to get excited about that, I'm really pumped to get out there and race my best for my last high school cross country race!

The rest of the day was filled with eating lunch and walking around to the shops. A couple of the junior girls and I went and bought some souvenirs, including some awesome fudge, coffee mugs, and some Celtic rings! Scotland has so many interesting stores!! Now, we are getting ready for our team meeting to get our bibs, and then some dinner! Hopefully tonight will be filled with some relaxation and concentration for tomorrow!

See more pictures from Judy Pendergast...