“Marysville has got one fast guy,” a local marathoner from Marysville commented the other day.  “I thought that I was running a lot, but I see this guy out there all the time.”  Whether he’s seen along the country roads on the outskirts of town or up and down the paved Jim Simmons Trail that meanders alongside the creek near Marysville High School, residents of the area have become accustomed to the sight of one tall, long haired high school senior putting in mile after mile of hard work.  With a quick, efficient stride and a distinctive, twisting left arm swing, the silhouette of Jacob Reed running in the distance has become a Marysville trademark.
Since seventh grade, when he went out for cross country for the first time so that he could get in shape for the basketball season, Jake has been running more and more each year.  An avid basketball player until that point, Jake’s love for running blossomed quickly.  “When we won our first two races, I realized that this was my sport,” he says of those early middle school days.  Fast forward a few years, with those basketball high-tops retired in exchange for a pair of well worn running shoes, and the Jacob Reed of today is a runner on a mission. 
“It doesn't take too much to get me motivated because I love running and I feel guilty if I take a day off or if I’m not able to complete a workout,” he admits.  Currently running “around 60 miles a week,” Jake’s results have improved each year with the increases in the workload that he places upon himself.  After his freshman season, capped off with a top cross time of 17:31, Jake’s progress was temporarily set back by injury his sophomore year.  “The summer going into my sophomore year, I did almost nothing but speed training with a club team at Whetstone High School and realized that is not the method for me.  I ended up getting injured and didn't really see that much improvement.” 

Jake competes on a spectator lined course early in the season at Watkins Memorial.

Jake and teammate Ryan Del Grosso train with former Dublin Coffman standout John Moneyhon at the Columbus Running Co. HS XC summer camp. Moneyhon currently runs for Edinboro University in PA. 

Jake’s efforts don’t lack for support in the tight-knit Marysville community, a locale where the Honda plant annually sends twenty employees to run in the L.A. Marathon and the newspaper prints weekly cross country photos, submitted by XC super mom Connie Del Grosso.  Ask any Marysville runner how the cross country team should fare as the fall season hits full stride, and you’ll come away convinced that not only is Jake going to turn some heads in the post-season but he may just become the next president or walk on the moon.  Support like that is hard earned, and it’s changing the way that many of Jake’s teammates look at their own running.  One runner, in particular, has taken Jake’s example to heart.  Ryan Del Grosso logs most of his miles at Jake’s side, and Jake notes that “he was there everyday (this past summer) ready to run and train no matter how he was feeling.”  The two have given Marysville a tough 1-2 punch in meets as shown by the first and third place finishes that the duo put in at the Marysville Monarch Invite earlier this season.  

While the successes of the season thus far have been numerous, Jake’s eyes are on the big races to come.  Success at the state meet is the goal, and he’s taken a long-term approach to reaching that goal.  From a summer camp three mile time trial run in 15:19 to the 800m and 1200m repeats of mid-season, all of the hard workouts have been run with the post-season in mind.  But Jake has goals beyond this year.  The longer the race gets, the more that Jake enjoys the run.  “My favorite workout is a long distance run anywhere between 10-15 miles,” he says, and the longer races available on the collegiate racing calendar appeal to Jake’s abilities.  He plans to run cross country and track in college at a school “somewhere warm” as he admits that, “I hate the cold!”  Until he migrates southward to warmer climes and longer races, though, Jacob Reed will remain a fixture of the Marysville trails and roadways. 

Below:
Jake and the Marysville squad pack it up early on their home course.

SIDEBAR

Ask Jake what he loves about running, and he’ll tell you that he just loves to run.  While most high school cross country runners would tell you about the inside jokes that the team shares or the pranks played on one another while out on an easy run, Jake talks about the intensity of the run.  He’s a runner’s runner.  However, ask him about what makes him tick and keeps him going for mile after mile, and you’ll quickly see another side. 
“I would just like to glorify and thank God for all the people he has put in my life that have helped to get me to this point,” the devoted FCA member says of the many people who have played a role in his life and in his running.  At one point, Jake heaps praise on Marysville coach Tom Borawski.  “I have been blessed to have such a great coach that cares about not only my running ability but my life and future.  He is always there as a coach and a friend, and I can talk to him about anything.”  At the next moment, Jake is sure to praise his mother.  “My mom has always been there to support me in whatever I do and hardly ever missed any of my athletic events.  She has never pressured me into doing anything I didn't like.  She does anything she can to help me out.  We have a really close relationship and she has always pushed me to be the best I can be.”  
Jake cites one former basketball coach as one of the largest influences in his life.  Price Johnson worked with Jake in athletics, but he has also shown Jake how to make a difference in the lives of others.  “He (Johnson) has opened up The Hoop, a big basketball and workout complex, to the victims of Hurricane Katrina to live in and lined up jobs here so they can get back on their feet and on with there lives,” Jake says.  “To me, that was just amazing that someone would go out of their way to help hundreds of people he doesn't even know and set aside his business for the good of helping someone in need.  He has made a great impact on my life and I’m sure the lives of several others.”