Sophomore Eduardo Arcile’s breath was heavy. He watched the mass of runners far ahead of him. Shin splints he earned from the practice before only helped widen the gap.

He noticed teammate sophomore Adrian Gonzalez falling especially behind. As Eduardo picked up the pace, Gonzalez lost his. It reached a point where Eduardo caught up to him.  

“I can’t go any further,” Gonzalez told Eduardo. “I need to stop.”

Eduardo wrapped his arm around Gonzalez and pushed his back. “Come on. Stay. Stay with me for a couple of minutes.” For the rest of the race, Gonzalez didn’t slow down once.

These moments fuels Eduardo to run cross country.

“This sport is not something for the weak,” Eduardo said.  “This is something for people that are strong, and have that mentality, that they will win, but aren’t afraid of losing. Ones that will go for that extra mile to improve and be better than others.”

Eduardo will participate in the 14th annual Woodforest Bank Charity Run on Sept. 21 to raise money for the Woodforest Charitable Foundation, which donates to various non-profit organizations.

“I want to help the community, because the community is also family to us,” Eduardo said.  “We as runners and as the Caney Creek cross country team, we represent our community. I’m gonna try to get a new (personal record) in my three-mile pace or time, and see and just motivate the rest of the guys that weren’t able to aren’t able to go. (I’ll) show them that no matter how slow or how fast you are, you’re still gonna improve later on.”

A ROUGH START

Eduardo has run on the team for two years and is also a club soccer player. Initially, his teammates were the ones who encouraged him to join, so he could improve his speed.

“I brought (cross country) up to my parents; My dad was like, ‘all right,’ but mom was like, ‘No, because your brother did it and he got a very terrible injury,’” Eduardo said. “I never really convinced my parents. I joined cross country behind their backs but after my first meet, I showed them my medal and they let me stay in.”

His brother, Darwin, was an experienced runner and soon to be the captain of the cross country team at the time. His family expected him to go far. That dream ended when a car hit Darwin during practice.

“He was running on the side of the road in a parking lot, and then, I guess it was too dark for him to see,” Eduardo said. “It was very heartbreaking seeing all the hard work my brother put in just go to waste. He broke his leg and I knew he wouldn’t be able to go back like used to be.”

After the incident, Darwin lost all motivation and chose to leave cross country before the following season. His brother’s running career ended, but signaled the start of Eduardo’s 10 years later.

“I’m gonna show my brother that this is where his legacy is not done yet,” Eduardo said. “I have to practice so that I can improve myself and be the person that my brother couldn’t be. I just want to follow in his footsteps and be as good as him.”

LEADER OF THE PACK

Eduardo aims to be captain like Darwin, but surpass his brother’s skill. Gonzalez said Eduardo stands out as a leader. In that first race, Gonzalez was nervous and started too fast when Eduardo helped him.

“I started slowing down a lot,” Gonzalez said. “ And that’s when Eduardo, he just started running in, and I heard his voice, and he’s telling me, ‘keep pushing; don’t stop’.“

Gonzalez had half a mile left when Eduardo approached him. Nearing the end of the race, both sped up. Gonzalez finished only 30 seconds behind Eduardo.

“I didn’t really care about the pain, I just always just thinking to myself, ‘just run.’” Gonzalez said. “I’m just trying to stick with him as far as I can. As soon as I finish, I just lay on the floor, and Eduardo’s there to already pick me up.”

Eduardo has been in those shoes. As a freshman, he struggled to keep up. His solution came from coach Jason Bane’s motivation.

“I couldn’t ask for any better coach,” Eduardo said. “I felt like quitting right after that first race, as if I would never improve. Coach kept telling me, ‘You have to work to get better. If you don’t, the freshman will beat you and you will be embarrassed.’”

Eduardo hopes college scouts will be impressed with his athletic ability but also sportsmanship. The ultimate goal is to earn a scholarship to cross country and join either University of Houston’s or Texas A&M University’s team.

“There’s still more that you can do for yourself,” Eduardo said. “If I make it to a D1 college, I want to use that to inspire people that feel like they can’t make it. I’ll continue to show off the hard work I have to put in and go off to win many races and make my parents proud.”