Episode 52 - Jack Pinho
"I wasn't supposed to be doing this (running) and now it's all I can do. It's what makes it fun for me to train for something and knowing it's worth it"
Jack Pinho was a 3 sport athlete in high school with an emphasis in Football and Basketball. Track was a secondary sport as baseball was too slow for him. As he went off to Springfield College for their PE/Education program, he had plans to only be a student. As he settled on campus, the feeling of not having competition took over and he ventured over to the Track Captains’ practices. He quickly became invested in the team and want to join them.
Jack had PBs of what most D3 Coaches would want coming out of high school: 2:00/4:30. Yet Jack was unsure on how he’d fair on the team. His hard work mentality showed him success early on as he consistently broke 2 in the 800.
An ultimatum was the force behind joining cross country led him to losing his nickname of ‘Fake Distance.’ Jack continued to improve while working hard. He lowered his 800m PB down to 1:53 and was on the cusp of making it to Nationals.
As a walk-on at the D3 Level, Jack didn’t expect to have the success that he had. He began focusing on the mile for his senior year and came away with a 4:07PB and a 4th place finish at the National Meet. From there, he knew he had to repeat that success but it would come down to the final last chance qualifier at Swarthmore. A 3:47 PB would get him qualified for the Outdoor National meet but his qualifying time placed him 6th in the nation.
Jack chalked it up to his training that led him to a senior year All-American performance. Despite a heatstroke in the prelim, Jack recovered enough to repeat his 4th place performance.
With 2 season of eligibility left, Jack continued at Springfield to continue to lower his mile PB. Unfortunately, that fell short but gave him the fire of keep competing after college.
Jack has lowered his mile PB to 4:03 and is continuing to hunt for that sub 4 attempt. For a kid who wasn’t supposed to continue running, he has a quintessential D3 Story.
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Quotes:
"I didn't think as a walk-on I'd be able to do anything."
"As soon as I found there was captain's practice, I showed up every day that there was practice. I missed being a part of the team and talking with people on the team got me excited"
"I walked into Coach's office and I wasn't sure what he was going to say or if he was going to run in front of him. I told him I would run through a brick wall for you. And he just looked at me and said, "stop! we'll get you a uniform."
"I had the realization that my coaches were trying to help me and had my best interests so if that meant having to run XC to help the team, I was going to do it"
"I was learning to run not for myself anymore. I realized I was running for something much bigger. Our team had goals and I wanted to help the team meet those goals."
"You don't rise to the occasion, you revert back to the training. I trusted everything I had done and believed I was meant to be there"
"I had heatstroke in the prelim and made the final by .03 seconds so I went into the final with nothing to lose.”
"I still had something to prove to myself because I knew the times and races don't define you. I found my passion because of realizing I was doing it because I love running."
"I wasn't supposed to be doing this (running) and now it's all I can do. It's what makes it fun for me to train for something and knowing it's worth it"
