#*slaps running au* this bitch can fit SO much found family and ship dynamics in it

[scattered-winter]

buddie as running partners...buddie as RUNNING PARTNERS...!!! (does that make the 118/firefam an entire cross country team? coach!bobby? athletic trainer!maddie? idk, idk how cross country teams work.) nonetheless...say more.... <3333

here's a lil overview real quick so y'all can pick up what I put down: cross country teams are all different, and can even be formed by a community group instead of a traditional "school that competes in the individual districts," but the basic layout is coach/trainer, assistant coaches if necessary, and the athletes who actually compete. some teams have a team captain appointed from the ranks of athletes, and the captain's specific duties/responsibilities varies from team to team but essentially they're like.....the assistant assistant coach. they watch out for the team and are the unofficial leader if the coach isn't around. teams compete at meets (races) against other teams; the amount of teams at meets really just depends on what the race is for/who organized it. smaller meets can have 2-5 teams, but the big regional meets can have hundreds. in official competitions like regionals, scores are done for both individual runners and overall teams. if an individual runner finishes in the top 10 or 15 runners, he'll place as an individual, but if the overall team score beats other team scores, then the whole TEAM will also place. the scoring system is based on what place a runner gets. 1st place gets one point, 2nd gets 2 points, 3rd gets 3 points, and so on, all the way down the line to the very last runner who comes in. to get team results, the whole team's scores are added up, and the team with the lowest combined score wins. the more runners that finish higher up in the race, the lower the overall score.

I think ideally bobby would be their coach, and the whole 118 would be a cross-country team. I like the idea of maddie joining their team after running (ha) from doug and I also like the idea of hen being the team captain :] interim captain hen my BELOVED!!!!!!!!!!!

I think for spice <3 the 126 as a separate team that they compete with. they have dual meets a LOT (which is a cross country race with only two teams. there's no pressure to compete for times or positions at the bigger, more important races, and they're sooooooo fun. every time I've done a dual meet we always hung out with the other team afterward at a lake or restaurant and it was sooo <333) so the 126 and 118 are still Competing in the sense that they're gunning for the same positions in the regional/national races, but it's a very friendly competition because the teams are very close. no hard feelings if one team wins over the other, because they're all good friends and they're super supportive of the other team because it's a great accomplishment for them. judd is the coach <3 not owen <3

and onto BUDDIE <3 the thing about a running partner is like. they're your constant. sure, you've got the team, but your running partner is like your other half. someone with a similar pace as you. you train with them, you compete with them, and it gets to the point where you don't even need to use words because you know each other better than anyone else. racing isn't just a physically exhausting sport, because there's a HUGE mental factor in it as well. there's lots of strategies and techniques, and every aspect of the course is broken down into how it can make you faster, even the surfaces you run on (grass, concrete, pavement, etc. each one has different benefits and disadvantages), or how you run around a corner. each tiny aspect can shave seconds off your time, and that can be the difference between first and second place. and as a running partner, buck and eddie both know what the other person prefers. they know the precise way the other will run a hill, or jump a log, or take a sharp turn. during training they laugh and joke and have a great time but during races they're a force. there's certain maneuvers two running partners can do around a turn or up a hill to be mutually beneficial, and they do them without even thinking or communicating that they're about to do it. they just know.

and there's also just !! the intimacy of it !!! after running with the same people for so long, you get to the point where if your teammates were lost in a cluster of running people all wearing the same t shirt, you'd be able to pick them out from the crowd just by the very specific and unique way they hold themselves while they're running, even if they're all the way across the course. each person has their own unique "style," and the entire team can pick each other out from a group of 50 other runners just by looking. another aspect is after the race is over !! collapsing at the finish line isn't just common, it's almost expected. and more often than not you'll see teammates who just finished a race together holding each other up or kneeling to untie each other's shoes to get the timing chip.

the 118 team is comprised of hen, chim, buck, eddie, and maddie. the order in which they finish changes up every race, but generally, in order from fastest to slowest, it's chim, buck+eddie, maddie, and hen. bobby and athena are the coaches, so they don't actually compete unless it's for a "coach's race" that some meets have after the actual races are finished, just for fun. when they do race, athena usually finishes ahead of bobby.

the 126 team is comprised of tk, marjan, mateo, paul, nancy, and tim. generally, it goes tk, marjan+paul (running partners), mateo, and nancy+tim (also running partners). judd is the coach, and carlos cheers his boyfriend on from the sidelines :]

my last and final thought is that <3 they have pasta parties before big meets <3 basically the whole team meets up at someone's house and they all eat pasta and bread <33 carbloading AND teambuilding at the same time :]