In August of 2021, the Lower Woodland cross country trail was shut down due to the growth of homeless encampments in the area. Previously, Lower Woodland was the home of the Metro League Cross Country Tournament.
For safety purposes, the cross country team now runs at Magnuson Park. Senior cross country runner Audrey Henriques shared her thoughts on the safety of the two courses saying, “[Magnuson] is very open and very visible, unlike Lower Woodland, which is most of the course is in the woods and no one around… so in that respect [Magnuson] could be safer.”
Henriques brings forward an important point about the safety of teenage runners. “Sometimes in the races […] we are pretty spread out, so one of us could be relatively alone.” All runners on the team are between the ages of 14 and 18. With crime on the rise, Roosevelt decided it was best to move their runners away from potentially dangerous situations.
Homeless encampments found at Lower Woodland, Roosevelt’s previous home course for cross country.
Another senior runner, Bella Mansfield, brings attention to the perspective of people affected by homelessness. “I’m glad we are running at Magnuson,” she starts, “If we were to run at Lower Woodland, the homeless population would be moved out from it.”
Mansfield points out that to continue running at Lower Woodland, the school could pursue legal action to remove the homeless population in Lower Woodland. Mansfield questions if it would be morally right to displace people for the advantage of cross country runners.
With all of this considered, there are still members of the team with concerns over the Magnuson course. Magnuson is a much flatter course, leaving many of the team members worried that it may not prepare them for running hills the way that Lower Woodland had with its steep terrain. Henriques brings up the State Competition, where the best high school teams in the state compete. “Running on Lower Woodland was good training for us, especially if we are going to state.”
Junior cross country runner Quincy Purcell speaks on both courses, stating, “Magnuson is a great course but Lower Woodland is a great challenge that gets you prepared for other courses.” Both runners note that Lower Woodland is a more challenging course that will prepare the Roosevelt runners for any type of course they may face on the road. Without the extra hills in their training, they may struggle to keep up with runners from surrounding schools.
In the end, the Roosevelt cross country team doesn’t seem that broken up about the move. Senior cross country runner Olivia Leland, states, “I mean this in the best way possible, but I don’t really care.” Though this change has brought up concerns about difficulty, it has settled the concern of safety.
