54 Rambles: Boys and Girls Cross Country Run on Saturday at Spring Creek Park in Tomball

9/30/2024

Cross Country is a sport of numbers. The number of competitors, distance, and time account for most of the math involved in each race. Five runners score for the team, and runners 6 and 7 can push other teams’ scores higher; if there is a tie, the team's sixth runner will break the stalemate. 5000 meters is the length of most high school races. Middle school races are 3200 meters long. Each runner also wears a bib with their race number and sensor which calculates individual times instantaneously at the finish line. On Saturday, October 5, 800 runners will converge at Spring Creek Park in Tomball for the 54th edition of the St. John’s Ramble. St. John's will have approximately 90 runners participating (girls and boys middle school and high school). 8 races will take place starting at 8:00 a.m. The day before the starting gun goes off in race #1, more numbers will come into play.

On Friday, 5 people will spend around 5 hours setting up the layout at Spring Creek Park: 1000 pink flags will be placed in the ground to mark the course, 200 white plastic poles and 24 roles of ribbon are connected to keep non-runners out of key spots on the course, 7 carpet rolls are placed over roadways, 2 scaffolds are constructed at the finish line with timing systems and timing mats, and 6 LED screens will be put up to show the results. These 5 people will also load the truck and drive 35 miles north of Houston and back to campus.

When the races begin, there are about 30 volunteer parents on the course directing runners who are following 1 lead biker. The races start with 1 starter firing 1 starting gun, using a minimum of 8 blanks and a handful of extras for false starts. Coaches, athletic directors, trainers, security, and EMS personnel, and sports communications staff are on-site for support.

“I did not run at Ramble last year because of injury, so I am highly motivated to get back on this course I love and run my best,” said co-captain Lyle Raymond ’25. “One thing that I love about the course is how shaded much of it is. Especially when it is coupled with cool weather, it helps me run a faster time than many of my other races.”

“It’s our home course that we know,” added co-captain Jay Woodhouse ’25.

When the last race is over medals and special awards will be handed out. This year’s plaques for the top girl and boy varsity runners will be named for former Head Girls Coach Rachel Fabre and Thane Starke ’22, both of who will be in attendance.

This is the 6th year the event has taken place at Spring Creek Park. Previous venues were T.C. Jester Park and Buffalo Bayou Park. Head Boys Coach Richie Mercado '79 has been running this meet since 1989 (skipping one year in the late 1990s due to a hurricane). Mercado loves it when a large number of fans show up to cheer on the Mavericks and encourages them to stay a while longer to pick up a few of those 1000 pink flags.

“I think the most special part about the Ramble is how it brings so much of the SJS community together,” said co-captain Jack Bowling ’25. “I always bump into teachers and friends who are there to support the team, and it’s a really special environment.”

Come out and be counted as a fan at the 54th Ramble.

Final results on Athletic Live.

Sam Chambers- Athletic News

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54 Rambles: Boys and Girls Cross Country Run on Saturday at Spring Creek Park in Tomball

St. John's School