Brayden Bayek, junior, has been running for six years and loves every step. In the past year he has set the school record for the 5K, and plans to continue running in college.
At the CT Distance Festival on Friday, April 22, Bayek broke the 1999 school record with a personal record of 15:46, and while he agrees races can be nerve wracking, to him, running is not.
“I think it is calming. If you are running in your free time and you go at a comfortable pace, it is really soothing,” reflected Bayek, “It is my happy place and my time to open up and just take in the scenery.”
Bayek does not look far for motivation and role models, stating that his father and his teammates have continued to inspire him since the beginning. He models the same behavior for those coming into high school track for the first time.
“I want these guys to follow the same path I did. I am trying to get them to be the best runners they can be,” he humbly remarked.
And a role model he has been.
“Brayden is the type of athlete that puts in the work when no one asks to and he is constantly finding ways to improve himself,” said his track coach, Joshua Brown.
When asked to give one pece of advice, Bayek took a sincere moment of silence and after a minute, he began with confidence.
“Don’t get down about any negative that comes. Everyone has bad races, no one is going to PR every race. The important thing is to keep going–keep fighting. Train really hard. Do what is best, in moderation, and success will come.”
Before Bayek started running, he played baseball for 5 years. “I wasn’t having much fun with baseball, and I asked my dad if I could quit and just run on my own. I picked it up and it led to me doing it in middle school and now high school too,” he explained.
Today, Bayek is by no means done. In the next year, he aims to continue to shed time off his record and race at regionals. Beyond that, he is deciding whether to race as a Division 1 or 2 athlete in college.