Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross-Country Team

by Chris Lear

"'The right stuff' on this level," he says, "is some combination of these four qualities: talent, durability, determination, and courage.

lack of talent can be made up for by an overabundance of courage.

Rules. I have only one rule: that you be a young man or young woman of character. You follow that rule, and I'll take care of the rest.

The passion of the runner is to force forgetfulness on that pain and embrace the benefits that will without fail make you a better person.

As a distance runner, you know you're going to get your bell rung. Distance runners are experts at pain, discomfort, and fear. You're not coming away feeling good. It's a matter of how much pain you can deal with on those days. It's not a strategy. It's just a callusing of the mind and body to deal with discomfort. Any serious runner bounces back. That's the nature of their game. Taking pain."