As the bus rumbled up and down Pinkley Road in Knox County, junior Evie Reidman stared out the window in nervous anticipation. She had heard of this meet, which took place at the Kokosing Reservoir near Fredericktown, Ohio. She had heard of the steep inclines, and precipitous declines that the course presented to its runners. “And then,” whispered team captain Elizabeth Phillipo from the seat behind her, “there are the rattlesnakes.” Shuddering, Evie continued gazing out the window, hoping against hope that the bus would suffer from a flat tire, or that some other setback would deter the Panthers from arriving.
But arrive they would, with time to spare, and the Panthers immediately set up a small team camp that would have to house all of the Panthers, Middle School and High School, in case of rain. Coach Mike Van Winkle arrived shortly after and gathered the athletes together for a pre-race meeting and to distribute the bibs for the race. “Everything you’ve heard is true,” said Van Winkle, adopting his usual serious tone. “The hills and drop offs, the brutal nature of the course, the rattlesnakes.” Evie Reidman gasped, and held a towel to her face, masking her tears. “But now as ever,” continued Van Winkle, “we are prepared. We ran the dunes. We built the bunkers. We feasted on the military sausages. When the annihilation comes, we will be ready. This course has nothing on us.” In the distance, thunder rumbled.
“But isn’t this dam a key target of Russian nuclear missiles?” Freshman Andrew Doll asked. “Of course,” said Van Winkle. “If Kokosing falls, there goes Fredericktown, and with it, the rest of the heartland. It would be tragic, but we would survive.” Beside him, Coach Emily Van Winkle stood, nodding. She and Vivienne were dressed in old military fatigues. “The tent set up is satisfactory,” Coach Emily said, “but you failed to consider the nuclear fallout.” The athletes looked around and quickly understood their mistake. “We should have angled the tent at 45 degrees to the Northwest,” said freshman, Wes Goellner. “Exactly,” responded Emily. “But there’s no time now to fix it. We’ll just have to hope that the Kremlin’s firing codes haven’t yet been entered.” By now, Evie Reidman was weeping fully, into the towel that she gripped with white knuckles.
Soon, it was time for the high school boys to race. They lined up at the start, and POW! The gun sounded, and they were off. Across the top of the dam, the runners advanced, narrowed down to nearly a single file line. Then, they disappeared into the woods that surround Kokosing Reservoir. From his perch, set high above the course, Coach Van Winkle observed their progress. “Take notes, JP,” he called down to assistant coach Jeff Powell, who stood below the tree occupied by Van Winkle. “Gingerich looks strong,” Van Winkle said. “He’s running a 5:15 pace.” “That’s great,” said JP. “He can go faster,” Van Winkle retorted. “He has to go faster.” JP scribbled down the note, and then pulled out his diary. In this, he quickly scrawled the following message:
“The Van Winkles continue to push their post-industrial narratives onto the athletes. They are driving them to the breaking point. Coach Emily seems particularly focused today, as if expecting something significant to occur. Vivienne is alert, and seems to echo the bullet points of her parents’ manifesto in her developing speech patterns. The sky is overcast. An attack from the sky is likely, and we wouldn’t see it coming. Strangely, the other teams appear to be oblivious.”
In the meantime, the boys wound their way through the course, and passed close to the team camp, which elicited cheering from the other Fairbanks’ athletes. “Do it for Rogan,” yelled Hannah Niehaus. Senior Bryce Nisly must have heard her, for at that moment, he gritted his teeth, and began sprinting. The boys looped back, and headed towards the finish. Full results below:
27th—Zeke Gingerich—17:24
91st—Bryce Nisly—18:54
97th—Andrew Doll—19:03
110th—Brady Adams—19:16
112th—Daniel Thomas—19:16
118th—Wes Goellner—19:24
143rd—JJ Miehls—19:59
147th—Nicholas Johnson—20:06
151st—Elton Bailey—20:11
While the boys were running, the girls were busy prepping. For what, exactly? That depends. You see, Coach Emily Van Winkle spent her time in between races teaching young Vivienne how to catch crickets. “You see, Vivi,” she said, kneeling down and cupping her hands, “they jump right in!” At that moment, Coach Emily tossed the cricket into her own mouth and began methodically chewing the bug. “What’s that called, Vivi?” “Protein!” Vivienne answered excitedly. “Exactly,” said Emily. “And why must we practice?” “‘Pocalypse,” shouted Vivi mirthfully. “Good girl!” Coach Emily said as she patted the child on the head, and scooped up a few more crickets.
Coach JP had seen enough, and he retreated to the start line of the girls’ race, where the runners were going through some last second preparations. Soon, the judge raised the gun, and POW! They were off. It would prove to be as much as a challenge as the girls had envisioned, with one of the lead runners collapsing on the grass, just meters from the finish. But the Panthers ran tough, and all of them finished the race in tact. Full results below:
25th—Ava Lahmers—20:52
30th—Mara Vicari—21:15
32nd—Sadie Miller—21:20
64th—Mollie Thrush—22:42
78th—Hannah Niehaus—23:25
88th—Hadley Premuda—23:37
99th—Elizabeth Phillippo—23:58
103rd—Evie Reidman—24:02
163rd—Prairie Bailey—26:27
169th—Corinna Seabourn—27:04
181st—Lanay Sommers—28:05
The day for the high schoolers was over, and they gathered back at team camp, where they exchanged stories from the trail. Senior Nicholas Johnson proudly showed off the rattlesnake bite on his right calf as medics attended to him. Evie Reidman eyed him carefully. “It came out of nowhere,” Johnson slurred, as the sedatives began to take hold. “I did it for the Panthers,” Johnson finished. “And?” Coach Van Winkle asked. “And…for Rogan.” Johnson said, and then slapped himself on the head for being so foolish, before succumbing to the snake’s venom, and falling unconscious. “That’s right,” said Van Winkle. “Now, the season is a little more than half over, and we still have much to do. The simulation is working, just as expected. Remember, that everything you see and feel is just being rendered before your eyes. Look past it all. See into the code.” The Panthers are taking the weekend off for Homecoming, but next Tuesday, they will run at the Darby Dash, hosted by Hilliard Darby High School.