Jonathan Meyer.

A common cliche of runners is never shutting up about running, in today’s edition of Just Jonathan I will do exactly that.

Confidence had always been an issue since my time as a collegiate athlete started. Being surrounded with sixty male teammates who all dedicated their lives to running fast for one another is a beautiful yet pretty intimidating thing. Being one of the slower guys on the team I would always hide in the back and stay small, I would leave risks for the other guys to take. Never me, never me. While this attitude was easy it was emotionally draining.

All of freshmen season look like that, a child (with a pretty cool mustache, may I add) afraid of hurting in a race, afraid of being noticed by his teammates, scared to say anything more than a joke to get some laughs, it was a pretty sad use of my time and talent.

With a decent picture of who I was in mind, I want to bring your attention to the race I ran last week. A juicy dive into eight thousand meters of fun, Just Jonathan vs the grass!

To start off with our coach put me in charge of some first year athletes during the race. My job was to set an even pace and get through 5k with my group feeling good. Thriving off purpose, I set an even pace with my two other teammates. A new strategy I tested out along the way to 5k was literally talking and joking during the race. With long stretches followed by 360 degree turns, I could always keep track and see who was at the front. With that information I would simply yell at them as if I was spectating instead of competing. A strange yet effective way of staying calm. With my two teammates beside me I would ask them how they are feeling and when they think we should move up.

Here are my favorite memories fron the race. Our women’s team competed 45 minutes before us and was out and about cheering for us. When I’d hear a “way to go Jon” or “looking good, keep it up” I made it my mission to respond to every single person. Turning my body towards the side I’d calmly say thank you and make a funny face. This element of unseriousness kept me very seriously entertained.

Not stopping at laughs, I would see my dad two-ish times a mile. By mile four I felt like I had a decent conversation with him. “Hey dad, thanks for coming” I remember seeing other parents smile and laugh a little bit as I was talking to my dad mid-race. Eventually the other parents in attendance started talking to me. One particular dad, Pat Erb negotiated with me, wanting to see a big finish down the last hundred meters. While a little more difficult at this point I acknowledged and obliged.

Finishing with a huge personal best, I reflect on what made that race so special. I was finally confident enough to mess around the whole time. Come on people, what is so serious about men in little shorts running around a corn field? Not everything has to be like pulling teeth. My confidence came from being unserious. The best way for me to accomplish big things is to mess around and tell some jokes!