"I said to myself, I will be back next year as a runner, not a spectator"

Growing up, I had a ton of natural speed. I would always challenge my classmates to races during recess and win without a problem. I put that speed to good use in activities other than for the sake of simply having more speed than the people around me. I played basketball for fun from 1st grade all the way up until senior year of high school, I was a flag football star through middle school, and most importantly I was a dynamite outfielder and base runner for the dozens of baseball teams I played for. Heading into spring of freshman year in high school, I thought I'd spend the rest of my four years as a baseball player. But the coach told me I wasn't good enough. I cried myself to sleep that night, thinking, "what I am going to do now?" The very next day, my mom, along with some of her friends urged me to try track. Some of my good friends were going out as well so I figured I might as well give it a try. My awkward freshman self was completely clueless the first day. A friend of mine said, "just follow me, it will be an easy day." Apparently five miles was considered "easy" for him. Not for me. I had to stop more times than the amount of miles I ran, and at the end, my legs felt more like noodles than flesh and bone. "It kinda sucked," is what I told my mom as I came home that day, "but it was also kind of fun." I continued through the season without even wearing spikes during the meets. I was awarded with the Freshman of the Year Award however, and I realized that running was my calling and purpose. "Of course I'm going to run cross country," I said to everyone who asked about my fall plans for sophomore year. Never having run a 5k before, I had no idea what to expect from myself at time trials. I just tried to stick with a friend of mine that I had been training with over the past few months. I ran a 19:45, which landed me a spot on the varsity team for the first race. Like most people's first season of cross country, I dropped huge chunks of time from race to race. Having no clear goals going into the season, getting really close to a trip to the state finals as a team was considered a pretty successful conclusion to my first year of the best sport ever created. Two of my teammates qualified for states junior year, so I decided to go out to Michigan International Speedway to cheer them on. The atmosphere was simply awe inspiring. Being at such a large venue filled with thousands of people who shared the same passion opened my eyes to the true world of running. I said to myself on the ride home, "I will be back next year as a runner, not a spectator." Sure enough, after a trip to the track state finals as the anchor leg of the 4x400, I was able to return to MIS as an individual and team qualifier. November 7, 2015 was the greatest day of my life. I remember crying at the starting line, thinking that I was beyond blessed to be standing where I was. I ran a PR by a tenth of a second, a 16:05.9, just six seconds off my coach's high school PR. I remember crying at the finish line, knowing that I had done all I could for the team and for the sport. My 41st place finish was just seconds away from reaching the podium as an All-State runner, my goal since seeing my friend up there a year ago. I may not have had my name called that day, but God had been calling my name since that day in March back in freshman year. He said, "Run, Colin. You will love it, I promise."

- @CoolCrusoe98 ( Collin Crusoe )