Erin Radigan agrees, but the senior on the Johnstown-Monroe High School girls cross country team gets through it by thinking of happy thoughts food-related thoughts.

Whatever her strategy, it must work after the Johnnies won a championship for a third consecutive week when they won their second regional title in a row on Oct. 31 at Pickerington North.

"You try not to think about how long three miles can be, so you think of positive things," said Radigan, whose team won the MBC title on Oct. 17 at the Hartford Fairgrounds and the Division III, district 2 meet Oct. 24 at Watkins Memorial before qualifying for the state meet for a second consecutive season. "During a long run, I usually find myself thinking about food, especially chocolate. I also think about things that are going well in my life and I think a lot about my family. I also think about how great I feel after I do well in a race."

Radigan led the way at regional by finishing 10th in 21 minutes, 13.34 seconds. The Johnnies scored 79 points, 10 better than runner-up Galion Northmor. MBC-rival Centerburg (121) and Mount Gilead (152) were the other state-qualifying teams, which was last Saturday at Scioto Downs.

"We knew we were supposed to win (at regional) and everyone thought we would win, but there was still a little bit of doubt because if someone would have a bad day, then anything could happen," Radigan said. "There is always a little bit of pressure from coaches, parents and teammates, but I don't think there was a lot of pressure on us because we knew we needed to go out there and not only run, but have fun. Why do something if don't have fun?"

Sophomore Meghan Schulze was 16th (21:27.33) for the Johnnies, followed by senior Kaila Cramer (18th, 21:54.34), sophomore Stephanie Loshbough (22nd, 21:58.8), senior Brittany Lynch (33rd, 22:26.84), junior Katrina Cartwright (64th, 23:17.0) and junior Sarah Mast (65th, 23:22.52).

"We have done so well supporting each other because we know that if one person is not having a good day then someone else will step up," Schulze said. "We understand the team concept and try to pull each other up.

"I think during the race that it can get tough during the second mile because you know that you have another whole mile to go and you don't think that you can do it. You may want to give up, but you know you have to pull through for the team."

Last year, the Johnnies won a Division II regional title at Pickerington North before advancing to state. However, second-year coach Eric Hamner is not surprised by his team's return to state.

"They are very ambitious kids and they are grounded in faith and morals," Hamner said. "All eight of our runners have a GPA of 3.5 or above, and that means we'll be academic all-Ohio no matter how we run (last Saturday). They're an amazing group."

One of the runners, freshman Jessica Turner, twisted an ankle during the MBC race. She ran at district, but her injury worsened and she pulled herself from the lineup and was replaced by Mast.

"It's unfortunate that Jessica got as far as she did and was unable to finish the season," Hamner said. "Jessica said it hurt so bad after the district race that she was confident that it would feel the same way at regional. She made a mature decision and gave her spot up. As a freshman, she did what she thought was best for team, which is really incredible."