My Running Journey

by Josh A on Jan 5, 2026 4:42 PM PST

As a high school student, I am getting my start on running early. There may be people that are better than me on my High School Cross Country team, but I enjoy running, getting physically fit and the atmosphere of running.

My running journey started around 5th grade when I would run with the middle school cross country team once a week. 90% of people in my school thought running is boring and that there is no point to it. I improved throughout my years in middle school as I ran with the middle school. Once they cancelled the middle school cross country program, I took it onto myself to become a quality runner because I knew that is something I wanted to do in my future.

When I got into my last year of middle school (8th grade), we did the annual fitness training that included the mile race. I started off in 1st place but was closely followed by another runner. I ended up with a 5:45 8th grade time which was my PR (personal record) at the time.

I entered myself into the High School program after 8th grade and was the 3/4th top Freshman runner for my team. I had a great year and my best 5k time was around 18:30. My high school XC coach is one amazing dude. He was an All-state XC and track running back in the day, he is an Ironman athlete right now and is a correction officer so he works he with amazing intensity, but we improve. Team Dinners are the best part about cross country because you get to eat lots of food and bond with your teammates.

I just finished up with my Sophomore season of cross country and had another successful season. This season was a lot like last season, except I improved a couple seconds on my 5k time. Most importantly, this season really showed me that I love to run and I want to run multiple marathons after getting out of high school.

My love of running has taking me pretty far. I started my own running blog and that has gone really successful (Note: I would love to write for Stride Nation :-)...

But anyways, everyone should run! and run! and run! and RUN!

This content was created by a member of the Stride Nation community, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Stride Nation's editors or SB Nation/Vox Media.

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hi Josh

I really admire your passion and commitment to running, especially because you started at such a young age. I was a couch potato all through my youth and didn’t start running until I was 25! But 11 years later I am still loving it. I don’t break any records or win any races, but I love it just the same.

My 6-year-old daughter is already asking if she can run races with me. I figure maybe in a year or so we can start out with some Kids’ Fun Runs. I hope my kids will be as active and physically fit as you are, and that I will inspire them a little bit through my running.

by mami blez on Jan 6, 2025 11:05 AM PST reply actions