When the announcements come on in the mornings, onon may catch a glimpse of Senior Chris Hyser playing one of the many roles of the broadcast production team. He is however also a talented runner, running cross country and both indoor and outdoor track for the majority of his high school career. Even though he has been plagued by many injuries, including dislocating both his knees and hyper-extending his right knee, he still finds the strength to keep running.

“I had to do physical therapy for six weeks, and I kept pushing myself  to get back in shape,” Hyser said. His injuries have affected his mental game as well.

“Because I’m not as fit, I’m afraid that I will let down my teammates,” Hyser said. He doesn’t let his injuries stop him from trying.

“Yes, I am afraid of more injuries, I’d like to think that there isn’t but there is always that possibility,” Hyser said.

There are pros and cons to every situation, even when you are injured. For Hyser, if he wins he knows that he won being less than perfect.

“I know that if I lose then I blame my injuries,” Hyser said.

It also takes an extreme amount of patience to come back after injuries.

“It takes 120 percent of your patience; you want to run like you did without the injury but you can’t and you get frustrated,” Hyser said.

This year Hyser is looking forward to being able to run the 800 again, as he did in his sophomore year, after being assigned to run that for the track meets. He is hoping for a time under two minutes, which is only 20 seconds slower than the world record for the 800.

“In the 800 my strategy is to run like heck and then keep going,” Hyser said. This strategy might end up helping him reach his goal.

Overall, Hyser has struggled with his injuries, but continues to fight on.

Q & A

How did you get started running?

My brother introduced it to me in sixth grade.

What is your favorite part of running?

Long runs; just running by yourself.

Do you have any prerunning rituals?

I get psyched up, and also sleep.

What is your favorite memory of running?

Sophomore year I was running the 800, and I was happy to keep up with a good runner.

What motivates you to keep running?

To get more medals than my brother.