Somewhere in Texas in 2011, I was accompanying my mom in races across the state, sitting in the running stroller as her unofficial cheerleader. I enjoyed the thrill of moving at breakneck speeds for a humble two-to-three-year-old. As I went with my mother to more and more races and marathons, that feeling eventually, one might even say inevitably, shifted to wanting to run on my own, to prove to myself that I could go the distance. That was the catalyst for starting my four-year-long running journey that altered my life for the better and made me learn the strengths of perseverance.
My seventh-grade track year was fun. I was placed in the 800m for the meets, and I did shot-put as a field event. It felt very surreal running the distances as I did back then. A year ago, I would have said that I would never be able to go even 400m, and here I am, doing 800m, 1600m, even 3200m occasionally. This was likely because I pushed through it and endured the struggle that inevitably comes with running.
Then came next year, and eighth-grade track was a testament to perseverance. I went with deciding to narrow my focus solely to the 800m and focused on that. I endured the struggles of bad weather and sore muscles. My efforts resulted in me breaking the 3-minute mark, getting a 2:47, which I was ecstatic about, a record that would stay until my ninth-grade year.
Around summer 2023, right after I got done with eighth grade, my mom recommended me to Coach Monaghan, the head coach for PHS cross country, and I started going to the optional summer off-season practices. The first day was arduous, and I barely got to three miles. But I did not give up, and I persevered and endured these new distances, eventually mastering the 3-mile run, and could feasibly do four miles.
As ninth grade came around, I joined the PHS Cross Country (XC) team officially and started official practices. I did decently, though I was one of the slower guys. Despite me not being as fast as other guys, I made up for it in sheer endurance. I still did decent enough though, despite the endurance gauntlet that was the intervals on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the extremely steep hill that was Fish Hatchery. All of this prepared me for the XC meets, which tested my endurance and got me records. When the Bradley Lake JV PR meet came along, I did phenomenal, executing a wickedly fast kick and getting a record of 12:20 that I have still not beaten to this day.
It was around this time that I started going on hikes more often. Hiking, combined with extra long-distance running in general, got me prepared for the ninth-grade track season, where I joined the PHS Track Team. All was well, until I realized I had shin splints, the archenemy of runners everywhere. I still wanted to run, and still ran not knowing I had them until Monaghan pointed it out. I was out for a week to recover, and acquired new shoes, which fixed the splints. I continued my season, breaking personal records in the 1600m, 3200m, 800m, but breaking 2:30 in the 800m still eludes me to this day. Eventually all the practices and meets led up to the Freshman Invitational, which is the big event for freshmen. However, it was pouring down rain. Despite the bad weather, I ran the 1600m and 800m, and I performed phenomenally, closing out my season with pride and determination.
Once tenth grade started, I continued my work on the XC team, and the first few days, and meets, went well, and I scored better times in those meets than the previous year. However, around a week after the Olympia meet, around late October, I got a knee injury, patella tendonitis to be specific. I was not able to run, or even straighten my leg, without some level of discomfort or pain. It was here that the mentality of not giving up really kicked in. I wanted to run, and I thought it would be fine so I tried the Monday after I got the injury to go four miles to simply test the waters and see how my leg felt. Unfortunately, it did not go well. I realized that despite not giving up, and wanting to push through the pain, but in the state I was in I just couldn’t run. These unfortunate circumstances happened to cost me my season. But, from the time that I did run, I went farther than I have gone before, even going over seven miles at one point.
Overall, my experience with running, and the mentality of not giving up and pushing through the pain shaped how I perceive the world today, as I will press on, never back down, and never give up, no matter the circumstance. My story could serve as a lesson, for those out there who are struggling with problems in life or are dealing with something arduous. That lesson is no matter the struggle you’re going through, no matter the challenge, push through it and endure. If it worked for me, it’ll likely work for you too.