By Sarah Turner, Sports editor 

It’s 5 a.m. on a Monday morning. Nobody else on campus is awake, but members of the University of Montevallo’s men’s and women’s cross country teams’ alarms have all just gone off. Six, seven, sometimes eight or more miles on deck for the day, all finished before 8 a.m. classes start, six days a week, all semester long.  

This lifestyle is something graduate student Joseph Pitard has lived for six years now at UM. But Pitard said running has been a part of his life for a long time. 

When he was younger, Pitard’s dad would take him to a nearby track every Sunday, where would have to run a mile. After all of those miles built up, Pitard joined the cross country team in seventh grade, and the rest was history. 

“I wasn’t very coordinated when I was younger,” said Pitard, “so I wasn’t very good at many other sports.” 

After seeing success in high school cross country and having older teammates go off to run in college, Pitard knew college cross country was something he also wanted to do. UM was one of the first college visits Pitard went on. He said he liked the energy that the team at the time had, as well as the coaches’ attitudes towards the sport. Pitard committed to UM in the fall of his senior year. 

Pitard explained that the transition from high school to college cross country is difficult for most people, as the race distance increases. Men and women both usually compete in the 5k race in high school, and in college, women will often compete in a 6k, while men compete in the 8k and the 10k. 

“It’s kind of a wake up call,” Pitard said, “you really see who is made to be a college runner and who isn’t.” 

Pitard adjusted well to the longer distances, explaining his only real goal coming onto the team as a freshman was to improve. Pitard’s first few years as a Falcon were plagued by injury, so this year, he wanted to do everything he could in order to stay healthy. This year, he has been the top finisher on the men’s team in each of the Falcons four races thus far.  

On Oct. 10, the Falcons traveled eight hours to Charlotte, N.C., to compete in the Royals Cross Country Challenge the following day. Pitard explained that his expectations for the race were to have no expectations, because that is when he races his best. 

The conditions on Oct. 11 at McAlpine Creek Park were perfect, according to Pitard, and the course was known to produce very fast times. Pitard started out in the front with a group of men from other schools, but that didn’t last very long. 

“I think it was about mile two, I turned on the gas and I passed the guy that was ahead of me,” Pitard explained, “and I never saw anybody for the rest of the race.” 

Pitard came away with an individual victory for the Falcons in the 8k race, crossing the line in a time of 25:38.06. The men’s team finished in third place. 

“When you’re leading a race it’s exciting because people from every other team are cheering for you, not just your own team,” said Pitard. 

But despite success, most athletes are their own worst critics, and Pitard is no different. He explained that he was wanting to run a personal best time in the 8k in Charlotte, but it just wasn’t in the cards that day. 

“I’m just never really satisfied with how well I do,” Pitard said. 

The Falcons next challenge comes in the form of the Gulf South Conference cross country championships on Oct. 26, their biggest race of the year. Following that, the seven best individuals on the team will compete in the NCAA Division II South regional championship on Nov. 9. The men’s team will likely finish in fourth or fifth place in the conference, according to Pitard, and he hopes to have a no regrets mindset going into the final two races. 

“I think as being the leader of this team, I need to put myself in the best position to allow for our team to do the best,” said Pitard. “So letting every place count is very important.” 

Pitard said it’s bittersweet going into his last-ever season of collegiate competition, and that he’s grateful for the person he’s become as a part of this program. 

He says it’ll be hard to say goodbye to people he’s grown so close to, “but not so much leaving the sport behind, because when you leave college there’s still other races to do and other competitions to be had.”  

But for now, there’s still more work to be done. Time for another 5 a.m. wake up.