Jake Fuller (West Valley)
180 foot Discus Thrower Gives
Cross Country a Try!!

The Story in His Words!

After we observed State Meet fifth placer in the discus (with a best of 180-04 in that event), Jake Fuller of West Valley HS, have his name show up in some cross-country meets all the way up to the State Meet, we asked him if he would write up his experiences in the fall harrier sport for us.  Not too many elite level nationally weight event athletes bother to run cross-country, so it is a very interesting story.  As a matter of fact it is one of the more amazing stories we have read in recent years about our sports.  Love the attitude and approach he expresses below. 

My Experience as a Cross Country Runner
By Jake Fuller: West Valley High School Discus thrower.

It all started with her pleading his case; her being my girlfriend and super runner Michelle Johnson, him being the Cross Country Coach, Scott Fairley. Why would anyone want me to run long distance? They were desperate and just needed a body. I was on the swim team to stay in shape and finally gave in and decided after never running more than a PE mile to go ahead and give it a try, those guys don’t look so tough I convinced myself. In fact, most of them are afraid of me. So at my first race in Lassen Park, at elevation and very hilly, not to mention my first run of 3 miles; I did not finish last. I called home to tell my parents the surprising news and my Dad laughed out loud and asked: “Did someone fall down?” my answer “No, someone passed out.” But I did not pass out so I felt pretty good about my 28 minute time. The next day at school everyone on campus got a good laugh about my not-so-heroic finish, 2nd to last. I must admit I have never had a competitor not finish a discus competition because they passed out. My Dad put it best “this is one tough sport when you can measure your success by whether you pass out before the finish.”
Finally at North Section Championships I was able to beat a few runners. I was headed in for the final 400 yards my legs actually felt strong; first I passed a kid who was pretty much waddling. I passed one more before reaching the final stretch on our track and then ran by one more who did not like that I passed him I guess because he started a shoving match, again no one has ever shoved me at a discus competition. We “sprinted” to the finish, I managed to keep in front and was happy with my fourth from last place at the meet, I even managed to take a minute and a half off my time. ( About halfway through the season the coach was able to recruit a runner, but I would not “quit” no way). So when the final results were tallied our small team managed to win the division IV title in the North section and qualify for state. One of the better guys could not go to state so once again I decided, sure I’ll try. Coach Fairley warned me that I would finish about five minutes after everyone else, fortunately he was wrong and I finished 197th with a personal best time of 25:00 just a minute or so behind the runner ahead of me but was definitely the last guy to cross the line. I will never do that again, I like to win, I am going back to the field part of track to stay and hope my position is reversed at the state championships. I do want to emphasize that throwers never throw up and often eat while competing, they never pass out unless hit in the head by a flying object, they never push and shove, they never ever start all at the same time. Throwers often sit during a competition, they grunt and scream, and they never go out for a 10 mile fun run. The thrower in first goes last and person who gets last is out first.
Favorite part: Actually racing a few kids at sections.
Least Favorite part: A visiting team having a team meeting on our track before I finished the race. (They did not even move out of my way as I finished.)