Over 70 men and women competed Thursday in the annual intramural cross country meet at the ISU cross country field. There were winners for different age groups and for those who came the closest to guessing their times. The first male to cross the finish line was Antoine Letoublon in a time of 11:01, and the first female was Barbara Breidenbach with a time of 12:32. Linda Marticke, an intramural coordinator, said they had a great turnout, and they “had a beautiful day for the race.” While some runners waved to friends as they ran by, others looked straight ahead focusing on the finish line. Kurt Goetz, senior in history, placed first in the 21-22 age bracket and sixth overall. “I’ve been training for a half marathon, so it was like training for me. It fit right into my schedule,” Goetz said. As a cross country runner in high school, he wanted the race to remind him of his high-school days. “That’s what it did. It brought back the feeling of old cross-country meets,” Goetz said. He also said he felt the meet was put together really well with good competition. Although it wasn’t the same distance as he was used to, it had the same competitive spirit. As runners crossed the finish line, timekeepers shouted the times out to each individual. The top male and female closest to predicting their time also won T-shirts. Goetz was the second closest, only being four seconds off. The other top finishers estimated under what they actually ran by approximately 30 seconds to a minute. “The course is tougher than what people are used to,” Goetz said. “It’s kind of hilly, so the hills play the factor in slowing people down.” Jake Schmitz, junior in computer science, said although he runs regularly, he still felt the course was tough. “It felt a lot longer than two miles, plus it was cold out,” he said. When the course was built, it was one of the first to be built primarily for cross country. Most other courses are used for golf courses also. Some runners were training for bigger races, while others were out to compete against other runners. “It was fun to run with other people who had run in the past,” said Tyler Rees, junior in agricultural studies. Schmitz, now a junior, ran in the race for the second time. He decided another good reason to run the race was because he could run with other people. “I wanted to see how good of shape I was in, and I figured there would probably be some hot athletic girls running,” Schmitz said. Rees also participated in the race because he enjoys running in general. “It’s healthy to run, and it is nice to get out and do something besides sit around and study,” he said. The intramural race also gave runners an opportunity to push themselves competitively, said Goetz. It allows them to see where they are at physically. “I’m just really motivated to be the best runner I can be,” he said. “It’s almost like a drug sometimes. If I don’t run, I’m down, but once I get out there, it lifts me up.”