As we enter the month of May, I already feel a little sad as the best season of the year comes to a close. No, not spring, but track season.

Many, especially a lot of parents, know track meets as those interminable events during which they suffer through freezing temperatures in March and sweltering heat in May just to watch their child run for a few minutes or maybe even just seconds.

But even in those most miserable of track meets, track and field can be transformational. I know this because it was for me. I know this because I have seen how it has changed my kids and their teammates. I’ve seen it on the faces of the kids I have coached and their competitors.

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I moved to Germantown in the middle of 7th grade school year as an awkward, somewhat shy 13-year-old with braces. Not ideal timing for such a move, but my older brother and I attended Houston Middle/High School and we were fortunate to have George Gibson as our coach.

Coach Gibson had an ability — one shared with all great coaches — to see the best of what you could be two, three or four years down the road. But he had the even rarer gift to make you see it too. He created a program and a community that has spawned hundreds of good runners and better people.

Coach Gibson did it with stories of questionable veracity and a seemingly unending commitment of time for his runners. He created an environment within which teammates became friends and family while also becoming better versions of themselves.

But it wasn’t just Coach Gibson that made this transformation happen. It’s the sport of track and field that is the perfect substrate upon which to build confidence and resilience and teach hard work, compassion, and the importance of community.

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Track is unique in this way because it is both an individual and a team sport. It is a meritocracy in which the best time wins and the fastest athletes get to perform regardless of the opinions of parents or coaches. But the competition in track is not just between runners, but most importantly within each runner too. Track allows you to be the best version of yourself, regardless of the outcome of a particular race.

Most sports have limits to the number of athletes who can practice or be on the team, but the best track programs in my opinion don’t cut runners as long as they are willing to work hard. There is almost always a direct correlation between the work you put in and the improvement you see. In college, a teammate started with what seemed like middling talent and no experience but built herself into one of the better runners through nothing but persistent effort over four years.

Through all of that pain and training, you are alongside your teammates who have chosen to challenge themselves in the same ways. A bond forms through sweat and exhaustion, and suffering together has a way of breaking down the walls that our egos build.

Those elements of what makes track great were all on display this past Saturday as our 50+ member Snowden Elementary Greendogs concluded the Memphis Youth Athletics track season with the championship meet at Bartlett High School. With hundreds of 3rd through 5th graders from across the county swirling around — racing, warming up, laughing, nervously waiting — it’s hard not to love the sport.

Daily Memphian Track and Field Honor Roll

I saw a third grader who was in tears before and honestly during her first race five weeks ago striding confidently across the finish. I saw a runner sprint into his mom’s arms in celebration after getting a new personal best. I heard a somewhat disappointed athlete explain that he didn’t get the time he wanted but he ran as hard as he could today. I saw a runner collapsed to his knees after an 800 meter helped to his feet by one of the kids he just raced.

Countless similar moments were playing out at tracks this past weekend across the city, county, and state. But there are only a few weeks left to witness them this year, and I would encourage you to get out to one while there is still time.

Notice how the competitors hug after the race, watch teammates cheer themselves hoarse for each other, see the coaches build back up a disappointed runner so they can step out again for their next race. Marvel at the athletic accomplishments, sure, but look closer at each moment of humanity on display because that’s the beauty of track and field.