A run of success: Amherst graduate Josh Park went from quitting cross country to being a two-time MAC champion

It's been a long and winding road for Josh Park — on the cross country trail and off. It would be hard to imagine he once walked away from the sport and let go of his dream to run in college, because the Amherst High School graduate will leave as one of Ohio University's most decorated runners with four straight top-three finishes at the Mid-American Conference Championships, including titles in 2018 and 2020. He also finished 49th at the NCAA Division I Championships in 2020, his only appearance at the national meet. "We have such a deep history of distance running and such a unique environment to be able to produce good distance runners," Park said. "I think we've struggled in the past for a number of different reasons, and it was so satisfying to prove to everyone that Ohio University can still produce runners at the highest level. We've had a bit of a chip on our shoulder since 2007 when our track program was cut. It's really cool to show the other teams in the MAC and the NCAA that, even though we still don't have men's track, that we can be competitive in cross country." But seven years ago, Park was in a much different place. Numerous stress fractures made long distance running nearly impossible for the then high school senior. Every time he thought he was back to normal, another bone failed to cooperate. Eventually, he walked away from running cross country. But even though he left the sport, he didn't stop competing, turning his focus on qualifying for triathlons. He set his sights on the 2017 Half Ironman World Championships held in Chattanooga, Tenn., but when he didn't qualify, he wanted to fill the void some other way. So he reached out to the Bobcats cross country program and walked on. "I really had no expectations," Park said. "If I got hurt again, I could just quit. I didn't have a huge emotional investment in it. I just wanted to see if it would work out." To avoid the same issues he had in high school, Park made a number of changes. First, he put on weight, which he said was probably the biggest issue, and then he hit the weight room to build up tissue tolerance. With the guidance of the Bobcats staff, he was able to stay healthy and compete. The journey inspired him to change his major to exercise physiology, and he will wrap up his masters this spring. While he didn't suffer an injury, Park quickly realized after his first year that he had more work to do. Not competing for two seasons combined with a limited high school career thanks to his numerous injuries left him having to play catch up — literally. "My first year on the team, I struggled really hard," Park said. "Not having the high school experience that other runners had was a bit of a setback. It gave me the motivation to pull myself out of the hole I was in. Nobody likes to go to a race and get totally destroyed, and it felt like I was struggling to keep my head above water. "One thing for me was the maturity aspect of it. When I first got on the team, I thought I needed to perform as well as I could so I could prove to my teammates and coaches that I belonged on the team. That was a bad way to go about it because I always got defensive and I was always trying to prove myself. I raced horribly because of it. "It wasn't until our last two meets of the season that I finally understood that I'm part of a team, I have a job to do. This isn't about me, I'm accepted here and it was what can I do to contribute to the better of the rest of my teammates instead of having a selfish perspective. That was really the turning point of my career." His renewed focus, and training, paid off. Park finished the 2018 season with five top-three finishes, including a win at the All-Ohio Collegiate Championships. The only race in which he didn't make the podium was the Penn State Nationals, finishing 12th at the extremely competitive event. He then became the school's fourth individual MAC champion and first since 1996, winning the race with what was then a career-best time of 24:08. "I really didn't grasp how special that was at the time," Park said. "It wasn't until the next season, where I was really struggling, did I realize that I did something really special. I kind of took it for granted in a way." Park entered 2020 even more determined to win another title, though COVID-19 almost took that chance from him. However, he never gave up hope there would be a season in some way and continued to train. When the NCAA reversed its decision, Park found that he was in great position since he remained prepared. He won three races, including his second MAC title, and qualified for the NCAA nationals. Since this year was the final year of Park's masters program, so utilizing the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA was an easy decision for him. His season was a success even though he fell just short of both his goals — finishing second at the MAC Championships and then placing 24th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships, just missing the cutoff for an at-large bid to nationals. He ended his career earning all-region honors. "I kind of have some mixed emotions on this season," Park said. "Last year I ran really, really well. I won the conference meet and qualified for the NCAA championship last year. It was a tall task to try and top that. I ended up falling a bit short at conference and was short again at regionals. The thing about running is that it's kind of a cruel sport. You can be in your fittest shape, but the results aren't necessarily guaranteed. "Overall, I'm still relatively satisfied. Before I started running in college I couldn't even imagine being in contention to qualify for nationals or even make our travel roster to begin with. Looking back from a holistic perspective, I'm really grateful for the opportunity that I got. Even though the season didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted it to, I can't complain. It definitely could have gone a lot worse." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter.