Good runner some day

By Jeshua Erickson

Published Friday, June 13, 2008

When I first started running cross-country in 8th grade, I was the slowest on the team. My daily practices were marked with the following: shin splints, side aches, head aches, and pure exhaustion. Besides being incredibly thin (5'9" and 105 lbs.), I was not designed to be a runner. Why did I keep running? Because I thought, with enough hard work, I could be a good runner some day.

My freshman year in high school I was still the last on the team. In fact, my coach would occasionally have me run with the girls. That might have been a clue that running wasn't for me. But, no, I still had this thought in my head that I could be a good runner...eventually. My goal was to break 21:00: not a fast time for high school cross-country.

I kept running and part way through my sophomore year, I started to get faster. I still had terrible form, my knees turned in when I ran, and I often brought my arms to far up when I got tired, but I started getting faster. I ran junior varsity at the conference meet and miraculously got 2nd place, out of 50 or 100 kids. My time: 17:27.

Excited that my work was paying off, I decided that summer I would run as much as I could. I ran nearly every day, sometimes twice a day...and sometimes even three times a day. That amount of running wasn't a particularly good idea. By the time my junior year rolled around, I was mentally and physically spent. I saw very little improvement that year.

The next summer I ran in moderation and hoped for a solid senior year; one where I would actually be able to run varsity. I won a couple junior varsity races and kept getting faster. My time got down to 16:45. I never dreamed I would be able to run that fast.

My team went on to the state meet after very successful sectional and regional races. I was the 6th man on our varsity team. Only the top 5 score for final meet results in Illinois, but it is important to have a strong 6th man in case someone goes down or has a bad race.

I started the race conservatively and gradually moved up. Near the second mile our 5th man got knocked down by another runner and was out of the race. I ran as hard as I could and crossed the finish in 16:36: my fastest time ever.

As a team we placed 10th in the state, which at that time was the highest team place in school history, and we ran against schools much larger than ours: Chicago schools, and schools from all around the suburbs of Chicago.

After high school, I ran cross-country and track for Luther College. My most memorable race was when I ran 35:11 for a 10k (6.2 miles or 25 laps around the track), which is 5:40 pace per mile, not far from the pace of my fastest 3-mile race in high school. I'm not an extremely good runner, but knowing how I started and constantly reminding myself that I hardly stood a chance when I started, I feel like every race I run is a remarkable accomplishment.

I see amazing runners every day, at the junior high level, the high school level and beyond. And many of them take their abilities for granted. I see slower runners who compare themselves to the fast runners. Some slow runners quit when they're not as fast as other folks; some see that if they work hard, they can improve. If you think you can run fast some day, or if you have a running goal you think you can accomplish, you can! Get out an do it!