Unlike many other runners , Mark Piller, a three-year veteran of the Bison cross country team, has not always held an interest in the sport of running. In fact, in high school he did not like it at all, and it was not until he was in the Army in Germany that his interest was stimulated. On his own, he began running and soon he was hooked. "It was a way I found to relax in between my day's activities. It was welcome to find something that would break me away from my desk and give me a little bit of exercise. " Soon after Piller came to Harding he was running with the cross country team. Cross country "takes a year-round practice," Piller stated. "A true longdistance runner is very dedicated to his work and he can't perform all that well in cross country unless he is going at it all year round ." During the summer months the .workouts are lighter, but many miles , around eight a day, are still put in . When cross country season comes through, the pace is quickened, and the runners are going about fifteen miles each day, with two workouts daily instead of just one. "We do continue running all throughout the year, but it's just the intensity that there is involved and when it comes to cross country we just really get more intense in OUT running ." What does Mark Piller enjoy most about cross country? He likes the challenges and the competition he feels when standing with as many as a hundred runners. "Because we have a smaller team, we get closer to one another and we work with one another much better. It's over hill and dale and on the grass. You're right there with nature. " 150. Cross Country season rouiKIup 1978 AIC NAIA DISTRICT 17 CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS Harding College 30 Arkansas Tech University 72 Central Arkansas University 73 Ouachita Baptist University 81 Univ. of Arkansas-Monticello 100 Henderson State University 169 Hendrix College 178 College of the Ozarks 218 Arkansas College 253
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