At 6 a.m., the men and women of the Auburn cross-country team are putting on their running shoes for a hard day of practice with coach Mark Carroll. They are preparing themselves for the upcoming season.
According to runner Stephanie Barnes, a graduate student in health promotion, Carroll is inspirational and makes the team want to get better.
One of Carroll's assets to the team is his experience, said runner Charles Mitchell, a junior in history.
Carroll led the men's team to third place in the SEC championships last year and the women's team to seventh.
In the NCAA south regional, the men's team ranked third and the women's team ranked sixth. In the NCAA championships, the men's team ranked 25th.
However, "races aren't run on paper," Mitchell said.
The Auburn team wasn't expected to go to nationals last year by officials, but they did better than anticipated, Mitchell said.
"Coach wants to bring team together," said Ben Cheruiyot, 23. "Cross-country needs teamwork. The team is like a family from across the world, including Kenya and England. The men's and women's teams practice together and spend free time together."
Every Sunday morning, the team runs between 13 and 18 miles.
"Cross-country is like a full-time job," Mitchell said. "You always have to go out and push yourself because everyone else in the country is doing the same thing."
The team practices six days a week, and they usually leave the track to run challenging routes in Auburn to build strength and endurance.
"I run 70 to 80 miles a week long-distance, but not a lot for a long-distance runner," Cheruiyot said.
Cross-country runners can run between 60 and 120 miles a week.
"Running is one of the most competitive sports there is," Mitchell said. "When you watch guys running, you can see how much they put into it. They can't conceal the pain, but you can see determination and will."
Mitchell said he believes you have to have desperation to be a good runner.
However, the team is facing some challenges this season.
The cross-country team lost five runners to graduation and finds itself in a rebuilding phase.
Despite this, however, Mitchell isn't worried about the disadvantage.
"Good teams lost their good guys too," he said.
Barnes said one of the challenges she has had to face this season is the heat and humidity.
"Hydration is an issue, so the trainers make sure we are drinking a lot," she said.
The runners must sleep for eight hours a night, eat three times a day and make sure to drink plenty of water to stay healthy.
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