As the Division III Cross Country tournament is about to start next week, it may come to some people’s attention that most of the runners participating in Regionals on November 11 (yup, those dedicated runners will have to miss half of the bell game) have grown facial hair the likes of which have never been seen on a cross country team since Steve Prefontaine. What prompted these rulers of the road to grow such monstrosities on their faces? The following is the history and the future of the Wabash Cross Country mustache race.
At the end of the summer, and the beginning of the cross country season, Assistant Coach Roger Busch challenged the team not only to race well on their feet but also race facial hair. “When an athlete can attach something tangible to what their training, it serves as a reminder of their commitment to improvement. You can look in the mirror in the morning and be reminded of what you have to do to improve,” Coach Busch said.
This constant reminder has served the cross country team well, as many of them have stayed at Wabash during the summer to continue running. For Example, Junior Geoff Lambert is several days from running a full year. His mustache is definitely in the running for the thickest and longest. On the 8-10 Sunday Night radio show on 91.3, Lambert competed against D-Wayne, a Crawfordsville neighbor of a Wabash student. A survey showed that 98% of people would pay more to ride the mustache of “Sasquatch” a.k.a. Lambert than D-Wayne’s.
The people still in the running for the Regional meet and the mustache race are Senior Dustin Beck, Senior Dennis Frazee, Junior Geoff Lambert, Junior Matt Maher, Sophomore Hugh Jackson, and Freshmen Micah Milliman. In addition, Coach Roger Busch has also participated in the mustache race, just like he participates in some practices. Sophomore Sam Compton-Craig, who placed eighth at Conference on October 28 and will also be gong to Regionals, was asked during the mustache growing season why he did not grow his mustache. “It looks trashy.”
“We wanted to do something different this year. Why not be a little eccentric while we are running races. Runners are odd, eccentric, and goofy people anyway,” concluded Coach Busch. Coach Busch and the Wabash Cross Country team have the Regional competition on November 11th and nationals on November 18th. Judging of the mustaches will be after nationals. Contestants will be critiqued on style, length, and fullness. For more information, one can consult Dustin Beck’s October 17th blog entry on the Wabash Cross Country website.