The thick summer air coiled around the Hamilton home of Sofia Beraldo as the calendar flipped from late July to early August of 2022. Beraldo sat alone in her office - a space she claims has been the sanctuary to her productivity since she was merely a child - and began scrolling through her phone. 

Her eyes lit up to the sight of an email notification resting atop her screen. Feelings of eagerness and joy washed over her and she hovered her thumb over the message. She tapped, she read, and in a matter of seconds, she stood face-to-face with the verbal equivalent of unhinged rejection. 

Disappointment danced across the screen, her face, and twisted and twirled throughout her mind. Through email, Beraldo learned about the absence of cross country from the list of clubs at TMU after requesting information about the school's running programs just months prior. The answer she received was morally devastating. 

"It was soul crushing when I got that email," said Beraldo. 

Having been a competitive runner during her undergraduate years at Western University - and personally experiencing the life-changing effects of the sport growing up - Beraldo, now a graduate student at TMU, was shattered by the news and sat at her office in disbelief. 

Thoughts about her career coming to an abrupt close began to converge and congregate within her mind. Her hopes of continuing to pursue her passion as a graduate student rapidly drifted towards the back of her brain. Out of sight and out of reach. 

"I kind of felt like; is my running done? Is this the universe saying, 'you should just focus on school and run for fun once in a while?'" mentioned Beraldo. 

Yet instead of being chewed up within the jaws of defeat, the then first-year graduate student began to carve her own track to run on, and reboot the cross country program herself. 

Beraldo's desire to not only continue pursuing her athletic career, but also spread the euphoric feeling that comes with running, powered along her journey and made every next step all the more exciting. 

"The community of [running] was so important to me that I couldn't imagine that not being available to the students at TMU," said Beraldo, adding that some of the closest and most integral people currently in her life were met through the running community as well.

From thereon out, Beraldo got down to business and began assembling a team with the potential to be great. What started out with spending a full day sifting through the program's emails, soon turned into a competitive coaching hunt to find the team's next leader. 

Fortunately for Beraldo, she found a pair of proven coaches to help steer the ship, as well as a small contingent of students looking for a new challenge. The return to athletics became a reality for Beraldo and her staff as the first season came and went. 

Running things back, however, became a totally different ordeal for Beraldo and her fellow teammates, and caught the group well off guard. 

The following offseason witnessed the training staff - brought in by Beraldo to guide the team in the coming years - start to disband. Fearful of the program dissolving yet again, Beraldo returned to her hometown in Hamilton and began discussing the questionable future of the team with a group of former McMaster coaches that owned a running store within the area.   

The former Marauders suggested Beraldo reach out to a previous assistant running coach at McMaster to help bring a face to the program at TMU. Desperate to find a frontman, Beraldo obliged, reached out to her new contact, and received a fortunate response. 

Once again, cross country at TMU was back on track. New head coach Zack Jones was welcomed to the squad and immediately began spearheading the program's turnaround. 

"A lot of it just feels like a string of good luck," mentioned Beraldo after securing her new coach. The two have worked tirelessly at recruiting new students to join, with Beraldo even convincing some of her personal non-running friends at the school to get onboard. 

In just its second year since being revived, the cross country program has 15 active members - including Beraldo - and its sights set on competing this upcoming weekend at the OUA Championship. 

The club has come a long way since its disbandment in 2021, yet Beraldo always knew that cross country would make its return to TMU at some point. All she needed to do was cross paths with it and never look back. 

And that is precisely what she did. 

"Having the knowledge [of the absent program] and then I feel like to not do anything about it, would have not sat right with me," said Beraldo. The captain added that she hopes her fight and love for the sport might rub onto a current member of the team to help pave the way for the next generation of runners. 

"I would love for the team to be able to continue after I leave," added Beraldo, who is set to graduate from TMU next spring.

The journey to taking the program off life support all started with Beraldo's ability to say 'no'. To be closely aligned with her internal values and defend any outside threat to her passion proved to make the biggest difference within her life as well as others. 

"I am a very stubborn person. I don't like to hear 'no,'...you're getting told 'no' a million times over, but if it is something you are really passionate about, you've got to keep fighting. 

"You have to keep going back," added Beraldo. 

The team practices every week on the east side of Riverdale Park - about a 25 minute jog from TMU's campus. The terrain features numerous hills, choppy grass trails and wide-open fields - inviting gusts of wind from all directions and preparing the squad for competition. 

As Beraldo and her teammates make their way around the 18 hectares of land, one specific hill always peaks their motivation. At the top sits an irreplaceable view of the city skyline, with the CN Tower nestled perfectly between the rest of the buildings bombarding Toronto's downtown core. 

The dry leaves crunch beneath the soles of their shoes as Beraldo and her team march up the hill. By the time they all arrive at its peak, the group takes a quick glance to their right to admire the unparalleled sight within their gaze. 

Everyone turns their focus to the skyline and what is architecturally built around them. They marvel at its beauty. What sits so far - but in the moment, appears just within reach. 

All of course look except Beraldo, who is busy admiring the community she built around herself. What once looked so far, and now rests in the palm of her hand.