Daily Archives: June 18, 2024

Ian Kolbus, Bishop Chatard High School – Purdue University

“Ever since I was in second grade at Christ the King, I was a runner. I showed up to every practice, and had a natural talent for the sport. I placed at every meet I was in, and only experienced the joys of the sport and never the pain of missing a PR. However, in 5th grade, I lost the love for it due to lack of success and quit in pursuit of other sports. I tried to fill the absence of running with football, basketball, and golf, but nothing ever gave me the same satisfaction as running. The summer of my 7th grade year, I came back to running, but this time for the people who I was running with. I could run the fastest 3k time, but if I was not actively enjoying the people I was with, what’s the point? That season was the most fun I had ever had running. Me and two other boys pushed ourselves every day, running countless extra miles and having the most hilarious conversations about quite possibly anything. With this new found joy, I also found success in the following two years, culminating with a top 15 finish at the Middle School State XC Championship Meet. This mindset continued on with me in high school as I joined the Bishop Chatard Cross Country team and found my place. Immediately I found a guy, Davis, on the team who was my same pace and we pushed each other every day. When one of us would feel like stopping, the other would push them as hard as they could, finishing a run with as little stops as possible. Running allowed me to find my new “family,” as me and 5 others nicknamed ourselves the “Going, Going, Goners,” spending every single weekend making pasta in each other’s kitchens, going to Target after workouts, and McDonald dinners after meets. Every 5:30 AM wake up for practice was with excitement to go out and push myself as hard as I possibly could with people who legitimately cared about my well being rather than how fast I could run a 5K. The following season, my running buddy Davis and I worked together day in and day out, pushing ourselves to the brink of exhaustion, but it all paid off with a trip to the IHSAA Track Championships, and making it back the following season placing 13th in the 4×800 relay. Without the people I formed relationships with, running would have a completely different meaning to me, but the support group running gives me has allowed me to discover who I am. I know I am never going through something alone because I know the people around me will suffer through a 10 mile long run on Pennsylvania and 86th just so we can look at houses or run in Oxbow to look at a river. Running has helped make me who I am today, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

Bailee Kennedy, Decatur Central High School – Franklin College

“It was a warm day in the early fall, the Indianapolis skyline viewed clearly from where parents gathered around the finish line. People were screaming out times and chanting, “Keep it up!”, “You’re almost there!”, “Pick up your legs!” And then, out of nowhere, came the bright red face of my older sister, her french braids loose and messy. I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Wow… This sport looks intense, I’ve got to try this!” I was only eleven at the time, and I was incredibly shy and clumsy; I had been through three different sports already, but my sister was my top role model. She chose running over softball, something she was so talented at, so, despite being the most unsure and unathletic kid in my grade, I couldn’t stop myself from taking on this challenge when entering middle school.That summer I went to cross-country camp with my sister, and to nobody’s surprise, I wasn’t a natural like my sister. In fact, the first time I ran 3 miles, she had to push me to the finish line. Even then I knew I wanted to get better, maybe even beat my sister’s PR one day. When I finally entered high school, I said goodbye to 3k’s and hello to the most exhausting, time-consuming practices of my life. This transition was difficult, and my coaches and the upperclassmen pushed me harder than any team I’ve ever been on, but it was there I began to thrive. A passion for the sport took over my life; my freshman 5k time of 37 minutes slowly went down to 23:43 by the end of my senior season. I was ecstatic that I had beaten my sister’s time, but it was only a momentary win. As much as I enjoyed these accomplishments, I learned to love the look on my teammate’s face every PR. I knew that if it wasn’t for my amazing coaches and teammates’ unwavering support, I wouldn’t have gotten that time at all.Throughout all of this, I started to learn how important it was to be a leader, and how amazing it is to watch your team grow. My team and coaches showed me how special having an encouraging, familial environment was; we prayed together, ate together, joked together, and watched movies together. They are a big part of who I am today and the reason why I want to continue running in college. They taught me how to be patient, how to put myself out there, how to push myself to new limits, how to break past mental barriers and turn injuries into strengths. I am positive when I say I will be bringing these skills into my life as I move on from high school and into my journey to further my education and running career. It takes a special kind of person to enjoy running, but with coaches and a team like mine, the motivation isn’t as hard to find.”

Lucy Hiller, Southport High School – Purdue University, University of Michigan, or Stanford University

“Despite the common idea that running is an exclusive sport, I’ve found the complete opposite to be true during my seven years competing in it. The constant support and love from the running community has allowed me to gain confidence and enabled me to help others do the same.From the course to the shoe store, runners are always lifting each other up. When I ran my first marathon, countless people noticed my “First-time marathoner” bib and gave me encouragement that fueled me through the race, and working at a shoe store myself, I know that my coworkers and I strive to empower our customers during each interaction.I began my own running journey as a shy seventh grader. I created friendships and uncovered my identity during each run with the team, and my confidence grew with every race I completed. As my training progressed and my times got faster, I felt an immense sense of accomplishment. Now I’ve traded out the jitters I felt on the starting line as a 12-year-old for the collected yet excited mentality I have toward races now.In my own running career, I’ve had highs and lows. At the beginning of my senior season of cross country, I got a stress fracture that kept me off of the course for the rest of the year. Even though having my season ended prematurely was incredibly disappointing, I had to stay upbeat and be there for my teammates. Instead of contributing to the team my running, I became the resident cheerleader, hair braider, and peptalk giver. What started out as a devastating injury ended up teaching me an important lesson. I’ve always placed so much of my self-worth in my athletic performance, and this injury forced me to reevaluate. Just because I wasn’t physically running didn’t mean that I wasn’t still part of the running community or making a valuable contribution to my team. In both areas, my injury helped me realize that I wasn’t valued because of how fast I ran or how many points I scored but rather because I brought personality and encouragement to everyone on the team.Drawing on my own experiences, I’ve had the opportunity to mentor younger girls on my cross country and track teams. Whether it was empowering teammates to speak up for themselves or showing them that they are worth so much more than their performances, each chance I’ve had to guide my teammates has made me more empathetic and allowed me to pass on the lessons that I’ve learned. Conversations like these make all of the hard work worthwhile because I know that I’m making a positive difference for the1next generation of runners by sharing my own wisdom.The running community has given me the space to grow as an individual, as a teammate, and as a leader, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.”