In the last race of the cross country season, Pedro, a senior spending his second year at EF Academy, set his personal record. “Our Cross Country team had a strong showing at the Prep League Finals! Pedro came in 8th overall at 18’43” minutes and led the way for the boys,” according to Coach Clapp.

These days running a 5k in under 20 minutes is easy as pie for Pedro, the team captain of EF Academy’s newly established cross-country team, but the road to reach this pace was a rocky one.

Just 4 months before coming to EF Academy last year, Pedro was inspired by his father and started running consistently. Having his father jogging with him during every run motivated him to start taking running seriously. As he recalled the first time he ran with his father, Pedro recalls running “About 2 kilometers in 10 minutes, I felt really bad and tired after that run.”.Despite knowing how poorly he did on his first attempt, he turned that experience into motivation for him to keep going.

Now, with the recorded pace of 3’50”/km from his most recent run, it is obvious that he has made great improvements in his speed. “Just training every day, consistency is what improving running is all about,” Pedro said.

Diving deeper into his training regiment, he mostly runs 6km every day, or about 14 laps around campus. Pedro recalls, “Feeling good in the beginning, bad in the middle, and a sense of accomplishment at the end.” Not only has he made improvements in his pace, but he also keeps breaking his distance record. The longest distance Pedro had run was 15 kilometers, and the way he motivated himself to keep on running was to play loud music through his headphones. As running is an individual sport, it is also a great time for Pedro to reflect on the things he has experienced throughout the entire day, maintaining his mental health.

Being on the cross-country team is also a good way for Pedro to keep running consistently. As a founding member of the team, he would like to get the team a good start in the first year. From being inspired by his father to starting to inspire others, Pedro is glad to have running as a habit, and he would also like to promote this sport to others in the school community. He would also like to join the cross-country team when he reaches university and try running a marathon in the future.