By Hayley Lewis
Friday April 14, at 10 p.m. at Heidelberg University, junior art education major Jenia Freewalt ran the second 10k of her collegiate career.
Freewalt decided to participate in the 10k this year after realizing that the longer she races the better she performs. Which made this race a great option for her. From this race Freewalt wanted to gain a PR (personal record). Due to injuries, she hasn’t had the opportunity to run a 10k since her freshman year of college.
“I did not race smart at all [freshman year],” said Freewalt. “This time I have a game plan and am ready to give it my all.”
Jenia Freewalt and Zach Boch before running 10k’s at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. Photo by Zach Slone.
Freewalt got into “fun runs” in the summer when she was younger to give her a taste of what running and racing was like. With her dad being a cross country and track coach and mom being an avid runner, her parents were big advocates of running. However, her parents didn’t want her to get burnt out on running. They made sure she got to try all the sports she wanted before she officially gravitated toward running.
In seventh grade Freewalt was on the volleyball team. She had played volleyball for years and liked it a lot. Seventh grade was also the year she decided to give cross country summer practice a chance. Freewalt ended up falling in love with the sport and the team.
“I ended up quitting a sport I liked with all the people I knew to join a sport I eventually loved, but had no friends,” said Freewalt. “The team quickly began to feel like family.”
This year is the first track season Freewalt has had since her freshman year due to a hip injury that left her with slower cross country times than usual and sitting her out for her indoor season. This season Freewalt has been close to a PR in 1500, 5k, and 10k.
Freewalt is very confident that she will be able to reach these times based on her training. Her longest run this season has been 9 miles. Freewalt said it was a great achievement for her since last year she couldn’t even run a mile until the end of the season.
With a collegiate running career with so many obstacles it can be hard to stay positive and push through. However, that isn’t an issue for Freewalt.
“I often think, the faster you run, the faster you’re done!” said Freewalt. “Honestly, that feeling I get at the end of the race is worth any pain I feel on the track. I get this sense of accomplishment when I perform the best that I could do.”
Freewalt has never walked during a race other than summer runs last year when injured.
Freewalt taking turn during 10k at Heidelberg University. Photo by Zach Slone.
“Oftentimes the last mile is when it gets really tough and you just have to be tougher,” said Freewalt.
She often thinks of a phrase her dad told her when running hard workouts or long runs over the summer, “You can do anything for a mile”.
“I also remember that there are a lot of people who want to run and can’t,” said Freewalt. “So, I often thank God during the race to give me the ability to run, and that honestly helps because it gives me a new outlook on a hard race.”
Freewalt knows this season has a lot in store for her with upcoming conference and new races at every meet for her to get better at. Freewalt is a very optimistic runner who knows she can accomplish anything that she puts her mind to.
At Friday’s 10k run Freewalt made a new PR of 43:23 shaving off 1 minute and 47 seconds from her previous PR. Her time put her at second place in the HCAC conference and ninth place overall on Saturday.
