Just Another Runner’s Story June 2025 Written by Gale Fischer
A Diamond in the Rough
“Success is not a comparison of what we have done with what others have done. It is simply coming up to the level of our best, making the most of our abilities and possibilities.”
—-Jerry Horner
Possibilities exist for all, but often times seem out of reach. We are all born with an innate potential, but many underestimate the extent of what they can accomplish. Even the most successful among us has untapped potential that remains unrealized. It is essential to strike a balance between not comparing our achievements to those of others while not placing limits on the individual goals we want to pursue. This month’s featured runner, Alex Steward, spent five years as a student athlete running for Hastings Area Schools. He was one of the slowest members of his team during his first few years and was fine with this, but eventually he decided he wanted to improve. Although he progressed, as a high cross-country athlete, his potential remained untapped. He would eventually find the formula to compete at a higher level after graduating from high school.
Alex always enjoyed running as a young child. He reflected on his initial experience with athletics. “I played soccer when I was in elementary school. I really didn’t want to, but my parents signed me up.” Soccer provided plenty of opportunities for Alex to run, but it wasn’t a sport that he had a passion for. “When I was in eighth grade, I decided to try cross-country. Running was something that I enjoyed, so I thought cross-country might be fun. I developed a love for it immediately.”
Alex touched on how the competitive edge that exists for him now was not there early on. “I was pretty slow. I recall my first race in middle school was around 22 minutes for two miles. My best two-mile run in middle school was around 16 minutes. I didn’t necessarily care how fast I was; I just loved running and being part of the team. It became a social thing. Many of my teammates became my friends.”
During his first few years as a cross-country runner, Alex only ran during the season. “During the off-season, I really wasn’t active at all,” Alex explained. “As I transitioned from my sophomore year to my junior year, I began running year-round. Because of an injury, my times were slower during my sophomore year than in my freshman year, with a season best of 23 minutes, 8 seconds for the 5K distance, my freshman season, and 25 minutes, 11 seconds, my sophomore year.” Going more than two minutes slower compared to his freshman year was a tough pill for Alex to swallow. “I was tired of being slow, so I thought it would help to train year-round.”
Running during the off-season wasn’t the only change for Alex as a runner during the last half of his high school career. “I seemed to pick up more strategies, techniques, and nuances as a runner every year I ran,” Alex recalled. “Eventually, I was always looking to improve.” Alex’s hard work and commitment to his sport began to pay off. He made a more than four-minute drop from his sophomore year with a season-best time of 20 minutes, 59 seconds as a junior. He was able to shave off another two minutes for his senior season, setting his high school personal record that year with a time of 18 minutes, 24 seconds.
As passionate as Alex was about running, he didn’t participate in track until his senior season. A friend of his talked him into joining the track team. He stuck to the long-distance races with a personal best of 5 minutes, 14 seconds for the 1600-meter race, and a personal best of 11 minutes, 14 seconds for the 3200-meter race.
Alex had always planned to attend college after finishing high school, but he didn’t necessarily focus on continuing his running career at the next level. He opted to start at Kellogg Community College (KCC) for two years before moving on to a four-year school. KCC offered a cybersecurity program, which was something that Alex was interested in. He explained the process of joining KCC’s cross-country team. “My high school coach, Mr. Collins, encouraged me to pursue running for KCC.” Alex didn’t reach out to Tom Shaw, KCC’s cross-country coach, but he didn’t necessarily need to. “Coach Collins put me in contact with Coach Shaw at KCC. Coach Shaw showed up at one of my track meets during my senior year.” Coach Shaw had an inkling that Alex would be a strong runner for 8 kilometers, the race distance for college men, but probably couldn’t have predicted the growth he would make as a runner. He talked Alex into joining the team, although it didn’t take much convincing. “He told me he wanted me to run for KCC’s cross-country team, Alex recalled. “He felt that I would make a great transition from the 5K distance to the 8K distance. After this conversation, I decided that I would run for KCC, since I knew that I was already going there as a student.” Competing as a college athlete and bonding with teammates may have appealed to Alex, but this was not the main reason for continuing to compete as a runner. He felt he still had room to grow and develop. There seemed to be no better way to do this than to learn from collegiate coaches and be pushed by collegiate runners.
It seemed that immediately after graduating from Hastings High School in June of 2023, Alex shifted his focus to KCC cross-country. Classes would not begin until the end of August, and Alex trained on his own much of the summer while waiting to join his coaches and teammates for official practices the first week in August. He began implementing the training schedules developed and suggested by KCC's coaches in the first few weeks of June. He was all in for effort and hard work. One aspect of the training schedules that Alex wasn’t immediately sold on was the utilization of recovery days and easy runs. His line of thought was more about hard effort for every run, but eventually, he would buy into the importance of rest and recovery. Alex shared his thought process as he transitioned from high school athlete to collegiate athlete. “My goal going into my freshman season was to break 30 minutes for the 8K distance. This would require me to maintain my 5K personal record (PR) pace for another three kilometers.” Alex was willing to put in the work and expected to see results immediately, but he would have to remain patient. “Initially, after implementing my new training schedule, I wasn’t sure I could meet my goal. My speed work training times weren’t translating to what I was targeting, which was a 6-minute per mile pace for five miles. This discouraged me somewhat. Mentally, it was hard. I wanted to work hard, but also felt that I was working hard and still wasn’t getting the results that I had anticipated.”
Despite feeling a little discouraged, Alex continued to work hard, and he eventually experienced the fruits of his labor. He talked about his first race at a new distance. “In my first 8K race, I cleared a mental hurdle. I was able to break 30 minutes for this race, and my 5K split was faster than my 5K PR.” This race provided Alex with a huge mental and emotional boost. “This race gave me a great amount of confidence and made me want to continue to work hard. I had taken things seriously up to this point, and this race made me want to take my training even more seriously. This time also qualified me to run in the nationals.” Alex had reached his goal early in the season, so it was time to up the ante. “After my first 8K race, I thought that I might be able to chip away and finish under 29 minutes. I was able to get a PR mid-season in a race in Ancilla, Indiana, with a time of 28 minutes, 35 seconds.”
The transition from high school student and athlete to collegiate student and athlete was positive for Alex. He reflected on this. “Running my freshman year at KCC was fun. I enjoyed competing at nationals and as a college athlete. I also realized that I liked competing at distances longer than 5K. I thrived on the transition as a student from high school to college. I wasn’t tied to school all day and liked the flexibility of showing up to classes and studying, and running in between these times.” With his mentality of always trying to improve as a runner, Alex didn’t have much downtime during the offseason between his freshman and sophomore years at KCC. He talked about getting ready for the next season of cross-country. “After my freshman year, I made two goals going into my sophomore season. I wanted to go under 27 minutes, 45 seconds, and I wanted to earn All-American status. I was able to hit my PR near the end of my sophomore season with a time of 27 minutes, 45 seconds at a race in Muskegon, but was unable to earn All-American status at nationals. I was KCC's number two for the entire season. I enjoyed having our number one runner, Julian, pace me during our practices.”
Alex has left a legacy as a KCC runner. He currently sits at number 5 on the all-time leader board with his PR of 27 minutes, 45 seconds for the 8K. The improvement he has made over the last two years is phenomenal. He ran an 8K race at 20 seconds per mile faster than his high school 5K PR. Alex reflected on how he has been able to make such a significant improvement. “I’d say my commitment, willingness to learn, and I guess my understanding of running have led to my success. I definitely got better from upping my mileage and following an actual training schedule. Learning from our coaches and the training plans developed by one of our assistant coaches, Rob Lillie, has played a major role in my getting faster. Developing an understanding of running and knowing when to take it easy and when to run hard has allowed me to avoid major injuries while also increasing my speed. Learning about what heart rate zone to train in for specific types of runs has improved my efficiency as a runner.” Alex followed up his KCC cross-country career this spring with a top 5 finish at the Kalamazoo Ziegler Half Marathon with a finish time of 1 hour, 21 minutes, and 28 seconds.
Coach Shaw trusts the science of running and how it can help his runners reach their potential, but even with this confidence in the system, what Alex accomplished during his two years running under him has surprised him. Shaw gave his assessment of Alex. “Alex is a self-made runner who has dedicated himself to being the best he can be. He came to us as an average high school runner and followed our protocol. He worked hard in the weight room. Where he started and where he finished two years later is nothing short of incredible. He has been self-motivated, shown high academic performance, been a quiet leader who has led by example, and willed himself into being a top ten career runner at KCC. All of these things have made him a perfect college athlete. I couldn’t be more impressed and proud of him.”
Alex will be transferring to Ferris State in the fall to earn a degree in cybersecurity, while living at home and taking classes virtually for the fall semester. He will continue to train and run some races unattached. He would like to run at Ferris State during his senior year. He talked about his future in running after college. “I will continue to run even after I am finished with college. I enjoy making progress and improving my speed and want to continue to evolve as a runner.”
Alex has learned much from the ups and downs he has experienced as a runner through high school and college. He shared his advice for other student athletes. “As a student, I have always felt that it is important that academic comes before athletics. As a runner, my advice is not to run every training run hard. Your body needs rest and recovery.”
There are many factors that exist for each of us to rise to our potential. The desire to achieve a specific goal is always the catalyst. From there, being willing to put in the work and follow a thought-out plan is necessary. If you do all of these things, trust the process and believe in yourself, then the possibilities are there. Alex’s story shows us what can happen when all of these things come together.
Everyone has a story. Stay tuned next month for another runner’s story.