Growing up in Central Illinois, redshirt junior Myles Foor has lived out his collegiate dream of running cross country and track for Eastern.

When the time came for Foor to apply at colleges, he only needed a single application to Eastern.

As a kid, he was determined to go to Eastern for school. As Foor began running in sixth grade, he decided going to Eastern for school was not enough.

“Yeah, I always want to run for Eastern,” Foor said. “Eastern was close to home, but I also just wanted to run for Eastern, and I turned out to be able to.”

Foor continued to run in seventh grade; however, it was a tougher time for him. He said he was slower than most runners, leading him to sit out his eighth grade year. Foor was beginning to lose interest in running.

“I didn’t want to run,” Foor said. “Just didn’t really love running at that point.”

Even though Foor felt like his love and future for running were wearing thin, he pursued running in high school with some friendly influences.

“A lot of my friends did it,” Foor said. “So I was like ‘why not keep doing this?’ Soon, running turned into something more for me.”

When Foor started running in high school, his freshman and sophomore years were not competitive for him.

“Freshman and sophomore year I was just running,” Foor said. “I didn’t really see my potential yet. And because there was so many of us that ran, we started to take it more seriously together.”

Foor and his friends trained together all summer for junior year. He said his friends challenged eachother, pushing themselves to get into the best shape possible. By the first day of school, Foor felt confident in his cross country team.

As a kid, Foor said his parents had no influence on him in regards to running. He was the first one in his family to start running competitively through school.

During his junior year, Foor said his high school coach Kevin Kramer had a positive influence on his running career, giving him the motivation to become an elite runner.

“Coach Kramer was the one who saw potential in me to the point where I would want to continue running,” Foor said.

Foor said his junior year was when running became more than just fun; it was his passion.

“My peak in individual running was my junior year of high school,” Foor said. “During that year, I had all of my best times.”

His junior year times would not be rivaled until his redshirt junior year of college. During his senior year cross-country season and track season, Foor suffered injuries.

“I didn’t do too well my senior (of high school) year due to injuries,” Foor said. “I had a stress fracture in my left foot during cross country and my right foot during track.”

Even though his high school injuries slowed him down, he remained optimistic. Foor said he has never been one to set personal goals, even during his junior year. The goals he wanted to achieve were only capable as a team.

“Most of my goals were team oriented,” Foor said. “I didn’t have any Myles goals; I just wanted my team to do really well and get a trophy at the state meet, placing first, second or third.”

During Foor’s senior year, his cross country team placed third at state. Foor said being able to place in state with his friends and coach was the high point in his high school career.

“It was the coolest moment for the team getting third,” Foor said. “We have a picture of all of us holding the trophy and just all excited about. That was the ultimate high point.”

Foor included how great it was for the team, especially for Kramer and the great coach he is. He had never won a trophy before that year, making it all the more special.

When Eastern accepted Foor into college, he did not receive a scholarship for running.

He said due to injuries, he was never able to see his full potential in running.

“I wanted to live out my running career to see how good I can be. I just really liked it a lot and I wanted to see what I can do,” Foor said. “Also, I thought it would be cool to run in college. If you have the opportunity, it is a once in a lifetime chance.”

Foor did not run his freshman year of college, along with his first semester of sophomore year. The first time Foor was able to run was second semester during track season. This year will be Foor’s final year at Eastern.

With being on the cross country and track team, Foor has experienced both sides of running. He said it was an easy choice for him when answering which he liked more.

“That’s an easy answer: track,” Foor said. “Cross country is cool and all, running with your teammates, but track is more of my nature. I’m more of a short distance runner, more like the 1500 meter or mile races. I’m all about speed. I just love fast things, and in track, you get to run fast.”

Foor said he does not have many personal achievements since he did not make it to conference. However, Foor remembers his best 1500-meter time, and his college experience was a big enough accomplishment.

“My best 1500-meter time is the only one worth mentioning,” Foor said. “My time was a 4:09 time. If there is an accomplishment, it would be having the chance to run in college.”

“Running from high school to college is two different levels,” Foor said. “Freshman runners want to come in and be fast right away, but when you come to college, you have 10 to 15 runners faster than you. Freshman year is a transition year to acclimate yourself to higher mileage.”

Adam Shay can be reached at 581-2812 or densportsdesk@gmail.com.