Three months. That’s all juniors Brandon Rosner and Alexis Happe have. How they spend these months determines the outcome of their upcoming track season. Luckily for them, the offseason ends Feb. 27 with the start of track. Until then, they can only hope what they’re doing is helping.

Dec. 15. Forest Park. 8:55 a.m.

The first race of the Frostbite series is about to begin. An armada of runners is lined up, ranging from all ages, sizes and heights. Some are jumping up and down to keep warm, while others are simply joking around with their friends. Among the hundreds of runners, a head pokes out in the crowd. In 48 degree weather, junior Brandon Rosner stands wearing only a black singlet and blue Nike shorts.

Standing at 6 feet 2 inches, former basketball coach William Moyer approached him many times about joining the team his freshman year. Brandon joined cross country in the fall to stay in shape. Two weeks before basketball, he sprained his ankle while running a race, making him unable to try out. Now a junior, Brandon continues running six days a week off of his own motivation– to be the best.

A short man, holding an airhorn, steps in front of the overwhelming pack of runners. He shouts a few instructions, but over the excitement and size of the crowd, they’re hard to hear. Regardless, Brandon knows what he’s doing. The man steps off to the side, and pushes the horn. It sounds and Brandon’s off. His 3K has begun.

“[At the start] I was thinking I’m cold and this sucks,” Brandon said.

Dec. 17. Francis Howell North. 5:40 a.m.

At North, junior Alexis Happe is thinking the same as she prepares herself for her four-mile run. It’s dark and early, she could be sleeping. But, instead she’s here about to run. She puts on her socks, then over them she puts on a white compression sock. After getting shin splints last cross country season, she was told by her chiropractor to wear this sock every time she ran. She finishes putting her shoes on and closes her car door, smiling.

Alexis is often found smiling, laughing and making other people laugh. Occasionally she’s on the track. She first walked onto the track during the second half of her freshman year and there she runs.

Dec. 15. Forest Park. 9:10 a.m.

Brandon runs the last half mile of his fast-paced 1.87 mile race. The race itself, being to a point and back, is mentally challenging on the runners. The large pack lined up at the start, has now broken up into many smaller packs and points where there’s just individual runners. In between packs, he pushes past a runner from FHC, sprints on to the short straightaway and finishes in 11 minutes, 12 seconds– just under a minute better than last year. He leaves Forest Park, unsatisfied, wishing he wouldn’t have hung around in the middle of the pack so much, but content that he improved his time. He gets in his car and leaves. It’s cloudy the sun is barely even noticeable.

Dec. 17. Francis Howell North. 5:55 a.m.

It’s nearly pitch black outside, giving the track a “sketchy” feeling. Hardly anyone at all is at North, but Alexis is there. She runs around the track a few times, then the campus. She’s greeted by track coach Doc Hennenfent on her run, who congratulates her for running this early. Alexis smiles. She feels accomplished. She runs to room 107, where the rest of her training begins.

Dec. 17. Francis Howell North. 6:10 a.m.

Brandon gets out of his car. It’s early and he’s up. He’s rarely awake at this hour. Despite this, he’s up and walking to room 107.

Juniors Alexis Happe and Brandon Rosner lay on towels in the new distance coach’s room. They’re tired, but they’re here anyway. Coach Lamb asks all the runners if they’re sore from last week’s workout, which was core they did from a 15 minute ab video. He admits he was sore and then proceeds to play the Ab Ripper-X video. They joke around and mess with each other, call each other names and laugh, but at the end of it all, they get down to business and finish the workout. Not just Brandon and Alexis but all other people in the room finish, with one burning word in their mind to get it done: State.

“Take running out of any sport and you don’t have a sport,” Brandon said. “Running makes you better at whatever sport you’re in, and it teaches you way more about life than any other sport because you have to be determined and motivated everyday just like in life.”