Boys Cross Country’s Henry Zimmerman ’27 started running as an attempt at self-growth. He is now a Captain and his personal record in the 5-Kilometer stands at 16:30.2, which he ran as an Upper.
Zimmerman shared how and why began running after Covid-19. Throughout the span of his seventh grade fall, he dropped his personal best in the mile by over a minute. He described what drew him back to the sport during the pandemic.
“I started running after [Covid-19]. I had just moved back to the states after spending two years on a couch in Canada, and [cross country] was a big part of my attempt to get my life back together. I ran my [mile] time trial in 8:45 that seventh grade fall, but in the quest to be a better runner, I found out how to have an overall better time as a person too,” said Zimmerman.
Zimmerman continued, “I got my work done (somewhat) on time, slept consistently, started drinking a ton of milk for some reason, and started doing pushups during bathroom breaks between classes. By the end of that fall, I ran a 6:30 mile, and I cut off another 50 seconds by the spring. The end of the aimlessness of [Covid-19] was the real gain though: through running, I found that much fulfillment can be found by showing up every day to make things just slightly better.”
Zimmerman shared how he interacts with the team during practice and his goals as a Captain.
“I do my best to keep the team as a collective where we have each other’s backs. It’s my job to drop back and chat when someone’s having a rough day on a run in the Ward Reservation, or to introduce two teammates who don’t know each other yet,” said Zimmerman.
As the whole team spends a lot of time together everyday during practice, many get to know each other very well according to Zimmerman.
“We run every workout together, so we get a good sense of what our teammates have in the tank and how to best push each other. My favorite piece of encouragement is “you’re stronger than that hill!” We get a lot of confidence from our hill workouts in the Sanctuary and on Boston Hill, so we know we can run a tough hill and feel better at the top than we did at the bottom,” said Zimmerman.
Zimmerman continued, “Everyone is running the same event fundamentally, so team support is fantastic on the courses. No matter where you finish in the race, you’ll have a deafening roar of Andover teammates bringing you through the finish line.”
Kalis McCoy ’29 described Zimmerman’s impact on the team, specifically the sense of community and the motivating atmosphere he fosters.
“Henry’s best quality is his endless optimism. Sometimes the team will be down if we lose a race or someone doesn’t do all too great, and whenever that happens, you can just look at Henry, and he’s a beacon of happiness and joy and it makes you feel better,” said McCoy.
McCoy shared his experience being mentored by Zimmerman in his Junior year. Starting last year unfamiliar with cross country and the team, he described how Zimmerman’s steadfastness helped him make friends through the sport.
“When I started, I didn’t really know anyone on the team. I was pretty new to it and he was just always there every day he’d come up and talk to me. He’s a really thoughtful person and a really confident leader. He just talks to everyone to make sure they’re doing okay. I’ve met a lot of the friends that I have on the team now because he’d introduce me and take me to meet them,” said McCoy.
Sebastián Vermut ’27 commented on the discipline, work ethic, and devotion to the sport that has led Zimmerman to his success in cross country, and how his journey with the sport makes it easy for him to connect with younger runners on the team.
“Every year, Henry has gotten faster, and [it] comes from consistent devotion to the sport, being diligent, and having discipline. He is the epitome of that on the team. Younger students who’ve only been here a couple weeks have already picked up on that, and know if there’s somebody you want to talk to about what it’s like to push through the days where it hurts or keep your control in the days where you feel like running really fast, he’s the guy. He’s been through all the ups and downs of the sport that we all go through and he’s the guy who can identify with everybody else the best,” said Vermut.
