“My favorite quote is by Kevin Durant,” sophomore Jaiden Chan said. “I think he said on his draft night ‘hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.’”
Chan is the epitome of his favorite quote. After joining cross country last year as a freshman, he has done nothing but rise up the ranks in a grade filled with talented runners and athletes. He started out doing workouts with the slower JV members and worked his way up to racing varsity. However, he never actually planned to run cross country.
“Originally I was only going to join track so I could run sprints,” Chan said. “I just thought that I could boost my overall fitness by running cross country.”
No matter the reason he was doing it for, Chan wanted to give it his all from the beginning. He started running the summer before his freshman year at the team’s conditioning program.
“At first, summer conditioning was honestly really hard,” Chan said. “We’d go up these huge hills and I would be fighting to even keep running. However, it all became easier with time.”
Chan came out of summer conditioning in better shape than ever. At this point, he was already running up to 40 miles a week and looking forward to his first race.
“My first race was a really awesome experience,” Chan said. “They shortened it to 1.5 miles before the race started because of the heat, so all of my ideas of pacing were kind of thrown off. I decided to just give it all that I had and understood that it being a shorter race meant I would go faster than I expected.”
And fast, Chan went: he came 11th place with a time of 8:35 and medaled amidst tough competition. His first race was a huge confidence booster that set him up for the rest of his first season.
“The first season was really fun,” Chan said. “I enjoyed just consistently building upon my times. I learned that running is a lot more about grit and your mentality than I originally thought.”
Chan took his speed with him into the track season, where he shattered his goals by running a mile in four minutes and 48 seconds and completing the 800 with a time of two minutes and 13 seconds.
“I kind of get a ballpark idea of where I should be in a race based on what my coaches tell me,” Chan said. “My teammates are also a really big factor because I know who’s around my pace.”
Chan had to adjust his workout routine in the track season, moving from longer runs to more speed-oriented workouts.
“I definitely had to change up my workouts,” Chan said. “There were less nine mile runs and more 400 repeats on the track. I also had to change my mentality; rather than focusing on endurance, I had to keep reminding myself that speed was more important.”
For Chan, consistency was and is still the key to his success.
“I mean, it’s everything I do. I have a Jersey Mike’s sandwich before every race. I do the same warmups consistently,” Chan said. “Of course, my teammates are also a huge factor. I love the team environment and everyone is always cheering each other on and celebrating each other’s accomplishments.”
However, when asked about his favorite things to do outside of running, Chan paused.
“I never really thought about how big a part running played in my life until right now,” Chan said with a laugh. “Of course, I keep my grades high and try to be a well-rounded scholar. There’s no specific college I want to go to as of now, but academics have always been a priority for me.”
Chan has also been continuing to explore and grow with his faith.
“I probably spend most of my free time on church,” Chan said. “I’m trying to get confirmed with the Catholic religion, which basically means confirming my faith and getting initiated into the religion. Outside of that, I hang out with the team when I can. We go to the beach and go to people’s houses. Being a student-athlete takes up a lot of time, though.”
Naturally, Chan has been able to develop processes to manage everything. As he said, managing grades while also clocking new personal bests is tough to maintain.
“I’d say my favorite memory from cross country came recently when I got my new PR at the Woodbridge Invitational,” Chan said. “I ran 15:26 over three miles and it was really my first time running in such a fast race.”
Cross country is a passion that Chan has learned a great deal from.
“I’ve learned so many things from running everyday,” Chan said. “Overall, as I said, consistency is key. I wasn’t overly fast or confident for that matter when I started running. Yet, I hit the hills everyday and kept pushing my limits until I improved. And I still do that, everyday.”
