Weekend Warriors

On Saturday December 12, the US Cross Country Club Nationals took place in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Traditionally one of the most hotly contested races in the country, it’s one event where amateurs, Olympians and pros go head to head.

Words and photos by Andrew Boyd Hutchinson

Dave Kyle is mid-stride. He’s well into the rhythm now, sweat forming on his brow, breathing in time with his steps. His pace feels quicker this morning, more so than usual: “Running keeps my soul at ease,” he reminds himself. He’s arrived.

While Kyle will cross the finish line at the 17th running of the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships, that is not the mission of his run this day. Dave Kyle runs to work each morning, where he teaches humanities at the Town School for Boys in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. His commute begins early: three quarters of mile to the BART station in Oakland; some time on-board dedicated to answering emails and previewing the day’s events; a three mile jaunt from the Civic Center station to work. From there it’s into a fresh change of clothes (he keeps 11 sets in total: five in an Ikea dresser for the school-week, and the previous week’s set at a local wash-and-fold, with one set to wear on the “change-over” day). On Tuesdays, the day his track club, West Valley, trains at nearby Kezar Stadium, he might amass 15–20 miles of running in total.

Kyle dresses moderately for his commute to work: “Keys, wallet, phone, mini iPad with case, osprey backpack, beanie, and vest. Not much more is needed,” he claims. Kyle embodies the persona of the gentleman amateur — a runner for whom the sport is an attraction, but not a profession — a tradition that has existed in cross-country for more than 200 years.

His ritual had humble beginnings. “I grew up in Topsfield, Massachusetts, and started running cross-country my junior year in high school. Having a scrawny and gristly build lent itself well — but it was a great sport where work ethic yielded immediate results. The more work you put into it the better you did. I liked that.” It was later, living in Somerville and working in South Station in Boston, that Kyle was able to begin a three-day cycle of alternating his subway commute to and from work with morning and evening runs. Running had stuck with him: an NCAA DIII athlete at Trinity College, Kyle ran cross-country, indoor and outdoor track through undergrad — then connected with the Greater Boston Track Club and Boston Athletic Association once he returned. A career decision brought him to San Francisco; marriage and the arrival of a family prompted his move to Oakland. It was there he resumed his running ways to and from work: “Running, BART, weekly laundry and the occasional breakfast pastry saves me $40 a month over driving.”