Introduction

Introducing… Sam Fields! Sam is a junior physics major and history minor at the University of Maryland, and has been a member of UMD Club Running since his first semester on campus, Fall 2021. Sam’s passion for physics began as a young lad, having a brilliant physics teacher at Towson high school. Since then, in his first three years of studying at UMD, he’s gained a fascination specifically for high energy physics, a subject he hopes to learn more about in the remaining years of his collegiate learning. 

Early Years

While Sam is very apparently an academic weapon, his arsenal expands beyond just this and dabbles in the athletic realm as well. Since before Sam was even a thought in his parents’ minds, the universe knew that running would be in his DNA. Sam’s dad was a runner when he was in high school, so it seemed like destiny that Sam would follow in his footsteps and become a runner himself. Sam felt this calling before his age even hit double digits, beginning his racing career in elementary school, signing up for the Charm City cross country races. Despite not training for these races, Sam established himself as a genetic beast in 5th grade, placing first in the elementary school division of the Towson Turkey Trot.

Living off the high of this win at the end of his elementary school career, Sam knew he would need to take it up a notch to have similar success in middle school. Immediately upon starting middle school, Sam decided to join his middle school’s cross country and track team. This involved a rigorous practice schedule of running 4 times a week. Training consistently during his middle school years, his hard work culminated in a breathtakingly impressive season his 8th grade year, winning multiple Baltimore County races during the cross country season. 

High School Turmoil

After this 8th grade year, Sam was yet again forced to move up to his next level of schooling. In his previous years of running, Sam was racing literal children. In high school, he would continue to race children, but children who were fully grown… and very fast. It was a big jump up from middle and elementary school. In his first year at Towson high school, Sam battled to get into the top 7 runners on his team during cross country. It was tough, but Sam being someone who is often described as “built different” managed to secure a varsity spot on the team by the end of his first season. Sam would continue to thrive and conquer the poor runners who unfortunately were placed in the same heats as him during his freshman track season as well. Everything seemed like it was going smoothly, and it was for a while. However, it was only a matter of time until the Baltimore Armory Incident.

The year is 2019. It’s a cold February night, and Sam Fields is racing a 3200m race at the Baltimore Armory. At this point in time, Sam had no idea that what was about to happen was going to change the trajectory of his running career forever. Sam was running the first few laps, feeling good, chilling. Some would even say it was a good race. Then… during the second half of the race, Sam suddenly puked on the track and his race came to an end. The fans and crowd were shocked as Sam went off the track. Who knew what would come next for him?

After this incident, Sam continued running, but he couldn’t shake the memory of what happened at the Baltimore Armory. He went into a slump that would last him until the end of high school. After two years of running times not up to his standards, Sam was burnt out by the time he graduated. The two years before Sam began college were very grim in terms of his running career.

UMD Club Running – The Revival

After a summer off from running, Sam was hoping to restart fresh and make a return to running upon coming on campus at the University of Maryland in Fall 2021. Sam decided to join UMD Club Running as a way to get back into running while also hoping to make new friends and form a new community during this new stage of his life. Sam quickly formed some close friends in the club, and was more motivated than ever to get back into running. 

All fall semester in 2021 Sam grinded to get back into shape. He started racing cross country again during this time. He was having lots of fun but early on into the semester he still didn’t feel fully back in shape since his pre-incident self. However, towards the end of the semester Sam decided to embark on a trip to Shelbyville Indiana with his newfound club running community to race NIRCA cross country nationals. This was the start of Sam’s true return, and the first step to finally getting him out of his slump that at this point was long overstaying its welcome. Sam put down an impressive time of 28:23 in his 8k, shattering all of his expectations.

A True Long Distance Runner – Struggle and Perseverance

Coming off of his impressive performance at nationals, Sam started training harder than ever to try to get even faster. Once the Spring semester began, Sam started having more fun with the sport than he ever had. He started running farther and farther than ever before, even reaching runs of 20 miles or longer. His strava followers looked forward to his long runs every week, and were left in awe at his posts every single time.

Knowing his base fitness was the strongest its ever been, Sam decided to try running a marathon. He didn’t sign up for a race. All Sam needed was a Saturday morning and an aid bike, courtesy of Zach Kiedrowski. 

It was a rainy Saturday in May 2022. It was the day Sam was going to run a marathon. Zach asked Sam several times if he wanted to reschedule for a day with better weather. Sam committed to running and decided he would do it rain or shine. Sam started running and was feeling relatively good through 20 miles and was well on pace to run a sub 3 hour time. Little did he know what was going to happen only a few miles later. Once Sam hit the 23.5 mile mark, his body gave out. He couldn’t keep going. His dreams of running a marathon that day were done. He had to get picked up and return to his dorm. 

A week after the attempted marathon incident, Sam couldn’t help but still feel angry. “How could I have gone out so fast? I should’ve known better.” He wanted to do better. He didn’t want to be known as the person who attempted a marathon. He wanted to get the job done. Not even a week after the failed marathon attempt, Sam already made up his mind that he was going to run the Baltimore Marathon in October 2022. This was his only chance at redemption.

After a summer filled with high mileage, long runs, fast workouts, and most of all mental strength, Sam felt ready for the Baltimore Marathon. He had two goals for the race: 1. Finish 2. Finish with a Boston Qualifying time of under 3 hours. Sam was more confident than ever that he could achieve these goals. His training had gone super well, and this time he wasn’t alone. He was running the marathon along with three of his best friends and roommates.

On the day of the race Sam proved that his confidence was justified. He had a hard fought race. He even yakked several times during the second half of the race, but he still finished in a Boston qualifying time of 2:52:54. Having high expectations for himself, Sam still felt like he could’ve done a bit better, but was super proud of the race, especially knowing he didn’t eat at all the whole 2 hours and 52 minutes. He knew he redeemed himself, and he was proud of himself.

Reflection and the Present Day

Sam has continued running to the present day, with lots of impressive performances since his marathon. He has put up an impressive 5k pr of 15:41, and has run cross country 8k races in under 27 minutes. Sam shows no signs of slowing down, running up to 80 miles per week and constantly improving his times.

Outside of running, Sam can be seen listening to music, with some of his favorite artists being Jimmy Hendrix and JPEGmafia. He is also an avid gamer, playing overwatch, red dead redemption, and using the two most disgusting combinations in the history of Mario Kart Wii (Funky Kong Flamerunner and Daisy Mach Bike). 

Sam looks back on his running journey and is grateful. The hardships, despite feeling hopeless at times, made him so much stronger. The friendships he made are everlasting and irreplaceable. Knowing this, how could he trade his experience for anything?