Varsity Versatility: Running Your Own Race

What is your name, what school do you attend, what year are you in, what sports/clubs are you a part of?
Christian Brumagin, River Valley High School, I’m a sophomore, XC, track, indoor track, basketball, golf, marching band, musicals, band & Chorus, D&D club.

How did you get started in running? Did something inspire you?
It was a couple of years ago, and I was kind of feeling blah. I saw kids who were running their own race, and even though they were different speeds, they were having fun and knew that if they could do it, I could do it as well. At first, I needed to remind myself it would get better and that I needed to push myself through the pain, but once I got the running bug, I didn’t stop.

What do sports mean to you?
Everything! The community, being able to talk to other kids from different schools (which I get in trouble sometimes as I get close to missing my start times- haha), being able to cheer on others, be healthier so I can live a long time, a place I can zone out and get out do my head, my amazing coaches, knowing I can push through anything and there is nothing I can’t do, I love listening to music when I run and look at the beauty around me during long runs. There at times at meets, people will say you don’t know them, and I will say yes, I know them from xyz (another activity, XC camp, etc).

You’re juggling multiple sports and clubs. How do you manage it all and still keep pushing yourself every day?
I noticed that I got good at what my mom calls schedule Tetris. I do much better on tests when I only have 20 minutes to study and need to focus, versus when I have the whole night. I have amazing coaches/teachers who work together and want me to do my best in everything I want to do, and don’t limit my wanting to explore different activities. They decide what practice takes priority, let me do half practices, or tell me what to do on free time to keep up and take me under their wing to make sure I don’t miss anything. Without them believing in me or being willing to give and take, I would be nowhere, and I really am grateful for them. Juggling multiple things helped me develop will power, determination, and helped me grow as a human, and motivation not to quit when things get tough, because a lot of people have faith in me.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start being more active?
It’s like a rabbit hole once you start; you can’t stop, and that is a good thing. It might be tough, but you have to put small goals in front of you and keep chipping away. You have to remember that you are doing this against yourself and not comparing yourself to others, and there will ALWAYS be someone better than you. It's about doing things YOUR way and running YOUR race. At first, it stinks, it might be painful, but a couple of years from now, you will look back and realize things weren’t that bad and face new challenges.

You’ve taken on some big challenges recently, like running a 5K every day this year. What inspired you to make that your New Year’s resolution?
Someone I look up to was able to do it last year so it made me realize that it can be done even though it might be hard. Then I entered the Trooper Iwaniec 1042-mile-a-year challenge (he was a trooper killed by a DUI, and it was his sports numbers), and that continues to push through. It has helped me mentally because I do it in the snow, rain, no matter what life throws at me. I have goals to place in races, so I figured running daily will help my endurance.

How do you stay consistent or push through when you might not be feeling your best?
Knowing that there are people out there who can’t run, I don’t want to take it for granted. I also know how I feel bad when I don’t run and how I need that time to be “in my head” daily. Also, seeing my times go down helps.

You’ve come a long way in your fitness journey. Looking back a few years, what are you most proud of? What is the biggest lesson you've learned?
The biggest event that I am most proud of is running the half marathon last November for Veterans. Personally, it would be becoming healthy enough that I am able to run long distances because I wasn’t able to do that before. I remember the time I would feel horrible running a mile. Thankfully, I have always had support encouraging me to keep going a little bit further. I remember the times I felt Egh about doing things, and now I’m able to do more things (like running a 5k and going for a bike ride later that night). My biggest lesson is that nutrition is important before running a big race. If you eat the wrong foods before you will regret it.

Thank you to Christian for taking the time to answer our questions and share some excellent advice. 

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of "Varsity Versatility", DM @runvarsity on Instagram or email runvarsity@p3r.org