Training for a half marathon is different than training for shorter collegiate races, but that did not deter Mocs' junior cross country runner Jasper Wilson.
 
In high school, the Chickamauga, Ga., native thought he'd be a sprinter since he played baseball. However, by his sophomore year of high school, he became more serious about the sport. It turned out the shorter, faster races were not his speed.
 
"I went straight to the mile after that," he said. "I knew I was going to be a distance runner."
 
Initially planning to come to UTC after being recruited by head coach Andy Meyer, he changed his mind and spent his first semester at Carson-Newman.
 
"The coach there left and I ended up not liking it, so I decided to come back home," he said. "Coach Meyer gave me the opportunity to run here, so I jumped on that pretty quickly."
 
While he had a few half marathons under his belt, he had not been completely committed to the distance, running instead for fun.
 
That changed a couple of years ago. Wilson works for Fleet Feet Chattanooga and they have a good relationship with the Erlanger Chattanooga Marathon.
 
"Where I work asked me if I wanted to run and I said 'yeah', so I snagged one of the entries."
 
He signed up for the 2021 race, but due to COVID, deferred to the 2022 race instead.
 
Once signed up, now he had to decide how devoted he was to the training.
 
"We've definitely upped our mileage this spring, but my main focus is the outdoor season." Wilson said. "A couple of workouts I've just altered with Coach Meyer."
 
Thursdays became dedicated to the longer race with half marathon specific pacing and half marathon specific workouts while still maintaining track workouts on different days of the week.
 
"So just a balance and our mileage has been fairly higher than it had been," he said.
 
The physical and mental training paid off for Wilson.
 
He started out with the front pack but a little more than halfway through he was able to pull away. Over the final 10-kilometers he fought the mental battle as well as the physical one that comes with the longer distances.
 
"I didn't want to go out as fast as we did," he said. "There was a guy that took it out kind of hard, so he actually had a 5:25 for the first mile which is faster than I wanted, but I felt good."
 
By the time he reached the 5K point of the race, he was fourth. A local runner made a move, taking the race a little faster.
 
He thought, "I feel good, so I'm gonna go with him and see what he can do."
 
They worked together for the next four or five miles before approaching the UTC Aquatics and Recreation Center on campus. Several of Wilson's Mocs cross country teammates were there to cheer him on.
 
"That's when I left him," Wilson said. "They fired me up to push up the hill. I'm not much of a big risk taker in races, but this one I had nothing to lose really, so I just went for it and it ended up paying off."
 
With the lead to himself, he kept the competition in his sights.
 
"I'd be lying if I didn't say I took a couple of looks," he laughed. "I'm not the best hill runner and I knew it was a pretty long hill. I was hurting pretty bad so I knew he had to be hurting as well."
 
Once to the top of the hill, he put on a big surge, coming down through the Chattanooga campus.
 
"It's a long downhill so I made up a lot of ground there, just trying to extend the gap as long I as could," Wilson said.
 
In the final stretch of the race, the finish line still not in sight, Wilson heard many yelling for him to turn to the right to continue on with the full marathon due to a mistake on his race bib.
 
"I actually had to yell at the people and tell then 'No. I'm in the half!' So waste a little breath there, he said with a smile."
 
While he couldn't see the finish line, he knew he was headed the right direction. Fans were lining the street including his parents and teammates. All cheering him on to the end.
 
"Crossing the line was cool," he recounted. "Never got to run through a banner before, so that was pretty neat."
 
He finished the 13.1 mile race, more than double his longest collegiate distance, with a time of 1:13.40. He still has more college races to go over the next couple of years, but does see a full marathon in his future.
 
"Road racing after college is probably where I'm going to be most successful, when I continue to run," he said. "I just like longer distances. I don't have that natural turnover like some people do. I like the idea of running 13.1 miles, strategically getting into a rhythm.
 
"Slow pain rather than fast pain."
 

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