This week’s guest is Christian Noble of Lee University, a 3x NCAA DII champion and the Division II record holder in the mile, the 3k, and the DMR. Last week at Raleigh Relays, Christian won the 5k in a new personal best of 13:24, beating a deep field of pro runners and D1 All-Americans in the process.

Christian came on the pod to talk about his mentality as a D2 athlete on a big stage, how he made it through the COVID-19 pandemic, and his plans looking forward as he finishes up his final year of eligibility. Hear him share his unique perspective, particularly as we talked about the recruiting process and the lessons we’ve learned as current and former collegiate runners.

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On racing professional runners as a collegian:

“Being Division II, I feel like I’ve got a little bit more to prove… but it doesn’t matter if it’s Division I or pro runners; it’s about having fun with racing and running to win.”

On marketing himself as a runner:

“I’ve tried to market myself as approachable and relatable, and when kids see my success, they see that you don’t have to go to a Power 5 school to run fast.”

On training through a pandemic:

“The anticipation of getting back to racing again is what really helped me get through [2020] the most. That’s why I wake up and run every morning; it’s what I love to do.”