The reason behind the mens’ cross country uniforms

By Conrad Engstrom

The cross country team walks out of the locker room for their daily run. Their daily workout uniform? Short shorts. The shorts they wear are far shorter than normal athletic shorts. In fact, the shorts hardly reach the mens’ thighs.

“There is no shame,” sophomore Evan Hatton said. “There may be stares in the DC or around campus, but it is who we are as runners.”

The spirit of wearing short shorts is part of the culture of being a runner. The shorts are lighter and more comfortable for the runners to wear than run-of-the-mill baggy basketball shorts.

“I feel the shorter the shorts are, the easier it is for leg mobility as God intended,” sophomore Justin Brecheisen said. Brecheisen noted that the short shorts alleviated chafing that occurred when he would run, making his times faster.

“The short shorts symbolize you as a runner,” Hatton said. “It’s said in the running community: ‘You aren’t really a runner until you feel comfortable wearing the short shorts.’ You just really need to embrace it.”

Hatton admits that he was not always comfortable wearing short shorts. As a freshman in high school he would rarely wear them, uncomfortable with the unique style and length. Now he can barely take them off.

“The more you do it the less uncomfortable they make you feel,” Hatton said.

The short shorts culture can be uncomfortable for incoming freshman, but it does not take long for runners like Hatton and others to quickly convert them to letting the thighs show.

“Whenever we see someone wearing longer shorts for a run we’ll ask them if they are going to rap concert after,” Hatton said.

As the weather cools off, the short shorts are complemented by compressions leggings to stay warm. But on those rare warm fall days, expect the short shorts to make some final appearances before the winter.