Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christian Harrison. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Coming out of college in 2016, I was the 8th fastest 800m runner in the NCAA. While that was a feat I was proud of, it wasn’t quite fast enough to get offered a contract to run professionally. So I took a job offer that moved me to Boston. While in Boston I did get a contract with the Boston Athletic Association, but it did not come with a salary, only performance bonuses and Adidas apparel. Training on the side while working full-time was difficult, but winter of 2018 it was finally starting to pay off. I had run the 7th fastest time in the U.S. and 18th fastest time in the world (indoors). It was looking like I was going to have a great outdoor season, however I would suffer a season-ending injury just one month later.

My plan was to have a great outdoor season and take those results to Boston Athletic Association/Adidas to negotiate a contract that would pay me enough to quit my job. Obviously it didn’t work that way with my being injured. However, I decided to quit my job that summer anyway, and commit to running full-time. I didn’t have a contract, but I figured if I didn’t have to share time between a job and running then I would surely run well the next year, and finally get that contract I had been chasing.

7 years later, I am now in my 9th year as a professional track and field athlete. The journey hasn’t been flawless, but I’ve made it this far because of the risk I took by betting on myself and believing I would make it happen.

Christian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been running since I was 9 years old and I can honestly say the high school version of myself would never imagine I’d make it this far. I never won a county or state championship in high school, never won a conference championship in college, and I’ve certainly never won a national championship on any level. I’m simply the product of consistency and discipline. I don’t even think of myself as super talented—sometimes it feels like I imposed my will to get here. I wanted it so bad that I was willing to work for it day after day. Eventually those days start to stack, and progress becomes inevitable. I’m simply the result of showing up every day and putting my foot on the pedal. After bad performances, through periods of feeling discouraged, through injuries, through missing family holidays and missing friends’ weddings—I just keep showing up.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

With my first 4 years full of injuries, I would enter into my the 5th year with a surgically repaired achilles and a sense of gratitude to still be competing. It takes a very long time to regain elite-level fitness after 6 months of no running, but I would eventually get there. However, there was a mental portion of recovery that I had not achieved. It’s tough to watch your competitors get better year after year, while you stay stagnant due to injuries. All the while, the young guys coming out of college are getting faster and faster. I went into that 2021 season having not won a race in 3 years. It took me a long while to get my confidence back and race as if I was actually trying to win.

Between the mental and physical recovery of injuries, there are also loss of contracts and sponsorship due to lack of performance. All these things together made up the hurdles in my road to get to year 9. I learned a lot and grew a lot as I navigated those struggles.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

The mental strength needed to excel in professional sports is paramount. Resilience, perseverance, steadfastness (etc.) are mandatory in pursuit of any competitive career. It is almost guaranteed you will not win them all. Even worse, there can be times where you go through extended winless periods. Your ability to continue to attack every day despite hardships, shortcomings, and losses is mandatory in this sport.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGVjFKoiP8/ymk2WWtg9dHm5fpCIkJIUg/edit
• Instagram: @ChristianCash

Image Credits

Jan Figueroa
Marilia Vasilakopoulou
Eli Bogatin