For Chase Rivera, having a stellar career in running was never really a choice he had to make.
“My family has kind of been a running family since the start,” he recalls. “We would run little road races around the city, like the Jacksonville Symphony Mile.”
It’s evident that running isn’t just a pastime for the Rivera’s, as their children’s names are Chase, Layne, and Miles.
“My dad became the track coach at Nease High School when we moved to Florida, and I would go out to practice with him as a kid and watch what they were doing and try to participate as much as I could, and that was really like the birth of my running life.”
His father, Mike Rivera, now the boys’ head cross country coach at The Bolles School, instilled a passion for running in his son by leading by example.
“My dad made me want to run because I would look back to when he was in high school and he was a runner, and he always performed well. He also almost coached a team to nationals. Then he started coaching here in Florida, and all the people in running were so nice, just such a great group of people. And running just seemed fun, it’s like a lifestyle, it’s more than just a hobby to me and to the other people who do it as well.”
Chase always knew he had potential, but it was at the New Balance Indoor Nationals Meet where he shattered expectations.
“My fastest mile that I’ve run was at the New Balance National Indoor Meet, and that was one of my favorite experiences ever because I got to get national exposure and it was a really fun trip in general. My mile time was 4:19.94 for a full mile, and then for cross country I PRed with 16:12, and that was the first time I had gone below 16:30.”
His time of 4:19.94 was the fastest time for any class of 2019 runner in the indoor season. He was then dubbed “The Nation’s Fastest Freshman”.
But, how is he handling the fame?
“Being the fastest freshman in the country feels kind of awesome. People will come up to me and now they know me, and I’ll get a lot of comments like ‘awesome job’. I think the best part about that was that people who aspired to be great would come up to me and tell me how many times they watched the video of my run and how cool it was, and it made me feel like I made their lives better, maybe? I don’t know, I hope so. Other than that, it’s pretty normal. I practice like normal and I haven’t let my ego get too big.”
ITG Web Content
Chase Rivera: The Fastest Freshman in America
Written by Kim Hoy
Photo by Kim Hoy
