Running and People

When you really like to run, you tend to get a lot of opportunities to meet some really amazing people.  Fortunately, I'm one of those lucky few who gets to meet and compete without some of the best kind of people out there.  Thanks to running, I've met a lot of great human beings over the years.
It all started for me freshman year.  I was a lowly transfer student with few friends, and the only thing I really had was running.  I was still fairly shy with my own teammates, though, and it wasn't until the first outdoor track meet that they heard me really speak for the first time.  After that, I became great friends with all of them, and found my voice.  They taught me to be myself, even if not everyone around me likes the person I am.

Me and the seniors, homecoming 2013

Some of the best friends I've ever had were made because of running my sophomore year.  Alli, Sarah and Maddie were all in my grade, and they were on the team as well.  I went to Footlocker and ended up rooming with Alli and Sarah.  That weekend, Alli broke the toilet within five minutes of arriving, we all got Ramen noodles from the vending machine and had to resort to using pencils as chopsticks for them, and Alli got violently ill in the middle of the night.  We somehow ended up in the same jewelry class together, and spent most of our days clowning around and trying unsuccessfully to make something cool.  The closest we ever came was making pendants that read "PCXC YOLO SWAG", which we wore with great pride.  There are some things you just can't live through together and not end up friends.  Maddie C. (Not to be confused with the Maddie W. mentioned earlier) also transferred to Park City from Judge Memorial that year, and in her, I found a true friend who supported me through the good times and the bad.  Annie, Ali and Emily were the seniors that year, and they were also people who I always knew I could go to.  They were the best examples of leadership and caring, and they are the people that I strive to be like this year for my own underclassmen.  They were all there for me, whether I had a good race or a bad.

Alli and Me (and our matching shark shirts)

Outside of my own team, I also had wonderful opportunities to meet people.  Junior year, I was privileged enough to go to NXN.  Unfortunately, since it was one of the first times I had ever traveled without my team or any close friends, I didn't get to know many of the girls there as well as I would have liked-I'm actually a very awkward human being sometimes if you meet me in person, and I have a hard time being social on first encounter.  (Probably another reason why meeting all of these people is good for me).  I also became good friends with another Utah competitor, Lucy Biles, last year.  We both raced Arcadia and Great Southwest during track, and I got the chance to know her a little better than I had previously.

Maddie and me rebelling at regionals 2014

I think this year was the best of all to meet people so far.  My friend Courtney and I both qualified for NXN, and got to room together.  She's really an amazing girl, and she's one of the kindest people I know.  Since she is good friends with the Davis team, I also got to know some of them a little better.  I even owe my relationship with Jacob to running, in a way.  One day at Nike, he asked if he could have my number so we could go for a run together, and he's been my favorite running partner ever since.  (Even if he does whine about running sometimes.)

Sometimes he even admits to knowing me in public

Team Camp 2014

Finally, my coaches.  I've been blessed to have several men and women in my life who care enough about me to want to help me advance in my running career.  Steve and Wyant were my coaches freshman year, and they were the ones who got me really hooked on running.  Steve was encouraging, always pushing me to reach not just for a better time, but for a better self.  He believed in me and my abilities far before I believed in myself.  Wyant was one who kept me excited about running, and hungry to do better.  If a competitor ever caught me, he would push me to train through it and aim to catch them at the next race.  Miller came into my life sophomore year, and became much like family to me.  He was the type of coach that I felt comfortable talking to about anything.  When I had a bad race, or even just a bad day, I always knew I could go to his room and cry to him about whatever was bothering me.  To this day, he remains a huge influence in my life.  And then there's Jim.  He offered to help with my training after I had a rough ending to my sophomore year, and I owe much of my success to him.  Not only is he a brilliant athletic trainer with countless accolades and experience working with athletes far more capable than I am, he is a kind coach.  Some coaches get their athletes to work harder by abusing them, by telling them that they can't do something and hoping they'll try to prove them wrong, or by pitting teammates against each other.  Not him.  He has several degrees in athletic training and exercise science, and he has done the research to know what methods benefit the athlete best.  He has always known what I was capable of far before I realized myself, and he helps me to reach any goals I set for myself.  Whenever I am unsure of myself or my abilities, he is there to remind me of all the work I have put in, and let me know where I stand.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have such influential people in their lives, but running has been kind enough to place them in mine.

The Southwestern Sasquatches, NXN 2014

I look forward so much to meeting everyone else that there is to meet through running.  I'm already excited to meet my teammates at Montana State, and get to know all of them better.  I love what running does for me, and the opportunities it gives me.