Why we always do a pre-race cheer at PGXC races

HOEBEKE! HOEBEKE! HOEBEKE! Go High Noon! Go Finger Lakes!

@pgxc-high-noon, @pgxc-flrc, I’d never quite thought about it in this way, but it turns out there are research-backed reasons why we always gather for our pre-race cheer on the starting line of PGXC races. From the full article linked below:

  • Rituals Improve Performance: Feeling nervous? Things beyond your control? Gotta preheat that oven. Do a ritual. Predictable routines intravenously dump confidence into your bloodstream and turn you into a 100% US RDA approved Tyrannosaurus of the workplace.
  • Rituals Relieve Anxiety: You are not allowed to be bothered by anything today. I literally told you how to cast a spell and scientifically proved it would reduce your anxiety. How cool is that? Seriously. Who else gave you magic powers today? I made you a wizard in under ten minutes, for free. (Now smile or I’m putting a hex on you.)
  • Rituals Build Community: Traditions are more than just dead people peer pressuring us. Rituals blur us at the edges and bind us as one. Get your friends together to share a meal. Rituals are the big bandwidth cable providing a zero-latency connection to the hearts and minds of those we love.
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And here i was shouting “Hovak” this whole time. No wonder my performance has been off!

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Ah yes, a pronunciation guide, It’s hoe-beck. :slight_smile:

So are we going to get an explanation as to who or what Hoebeke is?

There is no understanding, there is only chanting. :slight_smile:

Rick Hoebeke was the coach and prime organizer of the High Noon team for the Upstate New York Cross-Country Series and one of High Noon’s top runners before he retired and moved to Athens, GA some years back. I don’t have the details at hand, but I believe Rick won his age group for the series overall multiple times in his 40s, 50s, and 60s—he was one of the most dominant local cross-country runners of all time.

To this day, he provides a cash prize in honor of series founder Pete Glavin to the top runner in a different age group each year—I was lucky enough to win the 40-49 division in 2017 when that division was up for the prize.

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