Cara Donohue Second in NIRCA XC Championships

Kind of lost in the shadow of the high school and college championships were the NIRCA XC Championships held November 15-17 in Hershey, PA.  The National Intercollegiate Running Club Association is an umbrella group for collegiate running clubs.   "The grassroots organization promotes networking and friendly competition amongst collegiate running, cross country, and track clubs," is its description on their website HERE. "NIRCA coordinates many events, including a fall cross country season, Cross Country Championship Series, Road and Track Nationals, and all-club conferences. NIRCA is more than just running.

"The mission of NIRCA is to promote club running for students at the collegiate level. By serving as the governing body for running clubs, we provide competition, support, and networking opportunities for our member clubs."

Minnesota has a team that participates in the NIRCA events.  At this year's XC championship, Bloomington Kennedy grad, former Bethel collegiate runner, and grad student at the University of Minnesota Cara Donohue finished second in the women's 6K race in 22:42.  Below she talks about her sports background, the NIRCA, South Africa, her faith, and future running plans.

Cara Donohue striding into the finish at the NIRCA XC]
Championships.

Down the Backstretch:  Sports have been a big part of your life.  You were a multi sport athlete at Bloomington Kennedy, ran for Bethel as a freshman.  Now you’re continuing on with the NIRCA.  How have sports impacted your life?

Cara Donohue: Sports have been an integral part of my life for as long as I can remember.  When I was growing up, there were few sports that I didn’t try for at least one season.  Throughout high school, soccer and lacrosse were my main sports until I broke my jaw playing lacrosse, which led me to try cross-country running for the first time.  

My parents always told me I was a hyperactive child growing up, and athletics continue to be a great way for me to get my energy out.  Sports have been a way for me to have fun and stay active while also being able to connect to other people and learn life lessons.  For instance, having various injuries has taught me determination and how to choose joy despite my circumstances. 

DtB:  Do you do other sports now or just running?

CD: While I miss playing contact sports, my mom jokes that I can’t as long as I’m on her insurance, because there’s been too many medical bills!  When I get the chance to, I play a variety of sports for fun in my free time.  I also tried the rowing team at the U of MN when I transferred here a few years ago, but I missed running way too much!  I also enjoy doing duathlons and cross-train by doing yoga and biking.

DtB:  How did you get involved with the NIRCA?  What role does running play in your life right now?

CD: I first became involved with NIRCA two years ago when I transferred to the U of MN.  I was looking for a running community, and I find the University of Minnesota Running Club to be a great fit.  It has proven to be a great social and support system for me throughout my undergraduate education and now when I am in grad school.  I have the best teammates.  They are so supportive of me in a variety of ways.  I wouldn’t’ be nearly as successful if I didn’t feel so loved and supported by them at the startline    .  Running is both something I’m passionate about and a stress relief for me.  Life can be busy and overwhelming at times, and it’s something that helps me to keep my sanity and a positive perspective on life.  Running is a good analogy for many situations in life, and as a Christian, it helps bring Biblical concepts and my beliefs to life.

DtB:  Why go the NIRCA route other than the NCAA system?

CD: I enjoyed competing on a college team at Bethel, but transferring to the U of MN for my major  (speech language hearing sciences) did not allow me to join the U of MN team, although I would have liked to.  It's hard in some ways to be on the club team, because I primarily train by myself (often times at 5:00 a.m.) due to my class and work schedule.  I often run with boys on the team, because I seldom have teammates that can train with me.  

But on the plus side, I have a lot of freedom in my training and competing.  I also feel like I can achieve better balance in my life, and that I have more opportunities to be involved in a variety of things that are also important to me including volunteering, working in two research labs, tutoring, and my church to name a few.  The other thing I appreciate about running for NIRCA is there is no pressure on me from other people to run; it is pure self-motivation.

DtB:  Don Hurley mentioned recently that sports have changed since he was an athlete in the 1970s, early ‘80s.  He believes that today’s high school athletes (his son runs for Perham) is that the kids display more “sportsmanship,” socialize more with athletes from other teams.  In his day, Hurley says, those you competed against were treated in a more “military” fashion.  They were the “enemy,” to be defeated, not to get to know.  

My wife believes that one reason for the change might be women’s athletics.  That the opportunity for women to be participants in major sports programs has resulted in a breaking down of those values.  That the top athletes socialize with one another.  Compete hard, but once the competition is over bond with their competitors because they are all involved in the same activity.  It brings them closer together as people, rather than as rivals.  Any thoughts on this theory?  The role of social media, possibly, in accelerating it?

CD: I noticed a marked difference in the running community and the way people interact between teams in comparison to when I played contact sports.  When I played soccer and lacrosse in high school, while I displayed sportsmanship, there was no friendliness between teams before or after games.  It was a strange shift for me to make when I started running competitively.  However, it has become one of the things I value most about being part of the running community now.  

For instance, I was so grateful for other teams and individuals that cheered for me during the Nationals race last weekend.  I couldn’t have done as well without so much support. I think running is unique in that during a race you are doing it on your own, but after you can bond with people over it because you experienced the exact same things and you can appreciate what they did.  It’s like so many other things in life that bond you together with other people because of shared experiences. 

Donohue on the course in Hershey.

DtB:  You say that two of the things you like are running and traveling.  Does the NIRCA program feed into this? 

CD: For the most part during our season, we stay in the Midwest in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  While we typically do travel further distances for NIRCA Regions and Nationals, I hope to do more traveling in the future related to running.  In the summer 2012, I went on a track and field trip to South Africa with the organization Athletes in Action. It was a life-changing experience and I hope to go back someday in the future!

DtB: How does sport fit into your academic pursuits?  Your life in general?  An outlet for your competitive instincts, social life, a bit of both?

CD: I graduated a year early this past spring and I am currently pursuing a MA in Speech language pathology.  Academics and athletics have both always been important aspects of my life.  I’m a learner and I’m passionate about the field that I’m going into, but running is something that helps me to achieve better balance in my life.  Graduate school can be intense at times, but running is both a stress relief and a tool that teaches me that I can get through things even when they are hard.  It has taught me both mental and physical toughness.

Running is a way that I have grown in my Christian faith as well.  I recognize that my talent comes from my God and I hope to use my abilities to glorify God and impact other people’s lives.  While I enjoy running and set goals for myself to achieve, I always choose a Bible verse, a person, or a cause to run for other than myself.  I experience God’s presence when I run and learn from him in so many ways through training and racing.  When I’m doing workouts, I learn that I can’t do them on my own strength, but with God I can.  I learn that I can pray myself through races.  I learn that I can calm my nerves at the start line by imagining God is right next to me holding my hand (Psalm 73:23).  

I learn to trust that I can perform well race to race.  This year was a big year for me, because it was a comeback year.  Last year, I was having an awful year racing and was feeling exhausted all the time.  I could barely get out of bed in the morning and could hardly complete my studying.  I finally found out that I was severely anemic and I was devastated.  It took me over six months to stop feeling dizzy all the time and to start feeling normal running again.  While last season was a big disappointment to me, it taught me humbleness and that God is strong even when I am at my weakest point.  It was amazing to see how God has restored my health.  He has restored the joy of running to me.  The Joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10) has been one of my mantras this season.

DtB:  Do you view running as a permanent part of your life?  Something you will do once you’re involved in your chosen profession, or merely a hobby that you are pursing right now?

CD: Running is something I don’t think I could give up permanently if I tried.  This week I’ve been forcing myself to take a week off of running and I can’t wait until the week is over!  I hope to continue to run competitively for as long as I am healthy and able to do so.  I often run in road races during the spring and summer too.  Last year, I also helped coach cross country at Kennedy high school.  I hope to have the opportunity to do this again in the future as I enjoy working with kids and I realize the importance of investing in young runners! 

Donohue crossing the finish at the NIRCA XC Champs

DtB:  Do you have any ambitions in running aside from participating?  Desires to see how far you can take your talent or is the sport more a piece of your overall life plan?

CD: I plan on running with the University of Minnesota Running Club this spring for track for the first time and again next year during my last year of graduate school.  After that, I would like to continue to run competitively with a club team in Minnesota or wherever else I may end up.  This was my first full season of cross-country that I was healthy for and I’m still a relatively inexperienced runner, so I’m excited to see how fast I can become.  Running is something I love to do and I hope that other people are able to see how passionate I am about it.  While I always have goals about how fast I would like to run races, my bigger goal is that my running can positively impact other people in some way.  I mentioned before that I enjoy working with kids and also took a trip to South Africa to work with them.  I hope that I have more opportunities to do things like this in the future.