Personal Narrative: How Distance Running Changed My Life

Of the more than twenty million Americans who are running today, most who start do so for the wrong reasons, with the wrong attitude, and tend to lose interest after a few weeks or months. Many quit. This is usually because they become concerned with superficial goals such as time and distance and never discover the more profound mental benefits that running offers. (Lilliefors 15)

“In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle or last. You can say, ‘ I finished’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that” - Fred Lebow. I began cross country in eighth grade shortly after my brother joined the year before. He enjoyed it a lot, so I thought it would be fun. I’ve been on the team for two years. I would like to run for the rest of my life. Cross country changed my life positively forever. It taught me to push myself past what I thought was my limit. It revealed to me a great community of people and it taught me to leave my comfort zone.

I found my love for athletic activity at a young age. When I was 7 years old, I was enrolled in a YMCA summer program in Michigan. That is where it all started. My summer days were filled with various sport activities. Unfortunately, when I moved to California at the age of 10, I stopped playing sports for at least a year. However, during the rest of elementary school, throughout middle school, and in high school, I played different sports to figure out which one I liked best, which is now, Track & Field.

As a track runner, it is a necessity to be relaxed yet focused and determined. When I participate in track meets or even at practices, I receive a comforting warmth just by stepping onto the track. I feel as though burdens and worries temporarily lift from my shoulders. One may wonder how this can make someone content with their surroundings instead of nervous and uneasy based upon their environment and luckily for me this is an uncomplicated notion to explain. Unlike particular people, the track calms me and gives me a place to clear my head. I work relentlessly to achieve my goals, nevertheless it also gives me the clearance and space I need to effectively work my hardest whether it be a physical goal I am working to achieve

I was a late-comer to athletics. So when the distance coach recruited me in tenth grade, it was a pleasant surprise to be half decent. I was deemed the most improved cross country runner in the nation, dropping six minutes for a 4K, landing me in my first state race. I have since been a contributing part of my varsity team. I have been All-Conference and All-Section for the past three years. This past year, my cross country team won state and nationals. I, myself, was runner-up in the team division at nationals. In Track and Field, I also competed at state. Running has become a huge part of my life, teaching me many lessons, especially that there is always room for

Running has always been a passion of mine, along the way it has helped me overcome and push towards my goals in life. My cross country and track teams have become more like a family, than a team. We win together, and we lose together. Becoming the distance runner I am today has allowed me to have a purpose in life and to always try to be the best that I can.

This lesson took four years to learn. I first began to grasp the subject in my first year of cross country. I did not run before season. I did not do anything more than what was assigned in practice. I spent the season running JV. Junior year I ran fifty miles before season and attended a couple morning practices. I made the seventh runner by the end of the season. My senior year I hunkered down. I ran 200 miles before season by participating in a half-marathon, running every day by myself, and got a job at which I ran. In season I only missed one morning practice. By the end of the season I had ran over 450 miles, gone through two pairs of shoes, was the number four guy on the varsity team, and ran my best time ever, 18:06. This skill did not just in my athletic world. I put in over 100 hours of community service with the Ludington Jaycees. This helped me get jobs and connections through out the community. At school I went down the most advance math path the school could provide me. They now have to send me out to the local community college for

In high school, distance running has improved not only my physical strength but also my mental toughness, and it has benefited various aspects of my life. By running seven miles per day consistently, I learned to persevere regardless of the difficulties and setbacks, and perseverance also enabled me to accomplish boring and complicated tasks such as spending hours finding and fixing one single unnoticeable bug in my program. Moreover, I became accustomed to challenging myself after I pushed my limits by ordering my legs to move in great pain during every race; accordingly, I would proactively seek academic challenges by taking courses at which I am relatively weak. As for the longest run, my life, I will keep running forward with the same spirit, never stopping self-improvement. Therefore, I will keep distance running in college.

Going to a four year college, and getting a degree is a big commitment to have, however I have always been one to continue through with my plans. I have always loved running, as I have been on the varsity cross country and track for three years so far. During the season, we had practice monday through friday, with races on saturdays. Going everyday was a big commitment, but I was prepared to do it for something I loved. During track most meets went on for hours, and I stayed at the event until the end, which was usually around ten at night, supporting the team and helping pack up the bus. Being apart of the team is a huge undertaking, but I was recognized of my work at the end of every season when I was given a varsity letter. Additionally, I’ve been working at Five Guys for almost a year now, even during cross country and track. Working a real job has given me experience you can’t find anywhere else. How to cooperate with others during a rush, and working fast to keep up with demand are just a few things I have been learning. As well as being able to cope with having various

A personal experience I have went through in my life would be making it to districts in track and field my sophomore year of high school. Making it to districts was a big accomplishment for me and my teammates because track is something that I take a lot of my time to focus on and do multiple hours of training so I am able to compete with the other athletes. I come from a small town in Ohio called Oak Hill. The sport track and field is something you do not hear that much about because our high school is not very big and very few athletes actually run track to make it somewhat far in competition, so for my 4x1 team to make it to regionals was a big deal for me considering it is something that does not happen that often at my local high school.

I have recently become very passionate about the sport of running. In the past every sport I’ve tried, I’ve never been the best at. I've played almost every sport imaginable, from dancing, gymnastics, soccer, basketball, competitive cheerleading, horseback riding, lacrosse, swimming, and now to running cross country and track. I've always just been the one on the team who did nothing and was in all honesty just there to observe. Don't get me wrong I've always tried as hard as I could, but never succeeded. My junior year of high school one of my friends came to me and asked if I would join the cross country team. I looked at her as if she were actually going insane. At the time I could barely run a half mile, and probably would have cried at the idea of running five

When I was 5 years old I had a surgery to treat my scoliosis. My legs were affected by the surgery and I was forced to learn how to walk again. After being released from the hospital I still had little mobility of my legs. I sometimes looked outside my living room window and watch all the children in my neighborhood running freely, I told myself one day I would be running freely too.

People ask me why would I do this to myself and I’d simply respond because it’s fun. Running is exhilarating; the process of depriving myself of oxygen excites me. It’s something in the fact that your brain is saying slow down, but your heart wants to keep on going.

You don't have to be fast. But you'd better be fearless.” ― Christopher McDougall, Born to Run:

I knew at that moment that it was time to go, time to kick. As I heard people screaming, telling me to run faster.