UofM athlete finds friendship, focus and his future in running

Payton Gleason is a junior at the University of Memphis and is the captain of the cross country and track team. He specializes in long-distances, such as the eight-kilometer and ten-kilometer runs, and is an all-conference performer. Originally from Rochester, New York, he made his way to the Bluff City to further his athletic career under distance coach, Ken Frenette.

A lot of people think that it is hard to run and talk at the same time, but that is very common on running teams. What kind of conversations are had on runs and how do they bring you guys closer?

It takes the work off your head. The conversations are a huge part of our friendship. We don’t talk about the sport of running during the time, we talk about disc golf, what we did today or our plans for the weekend. It is easier to have that distraction that helps the time go by. The bigger the group, the better. We aren’t afraid to run with faster or slower people on the team because we all want to see each other get better.

Running is a very individualistic sport. Someone else’s performance won’t hurt or help yours. Where does the team aspect and comradery come from?

The first race that comes to my mind is the conference championships that we raced in last November. It was arguably the best race of my life, it was my first race getting first-team All-

Conference for the AAC and I looked back after I finished to wait for my teammates. I could tell that not everyone had the best day. We would have loved to finish third place or better, but I was watching everyone come through and I knew it wasn’t our day. There was this brief moment where the negative team result overwhelmed my own personal achievement and that just shows that it is a team sport. The team is what you really care for, that’s why you are wearing the jersey that represents the team. There are no last names on the backs of a cross country jersey, we are all together, all equal, all wearing the same name across their chest.

Walk me through that race and the emotions of it all, it sounds like there were a lot of highs and lows.

At the starting line, we got into the team huddle and were like, “Yeah, this is it. This is what we worked for, this is what coach cares about the most and this is what we care about the most. Today is the day.” We got out in the race, and I was kind of in my own world. I like to focus on the people in front of me, I heard the crowd cheering and yelling for my Zach, my teammate who I usually run with, and I felt confident that we were all where we needed to be. When I got to the finish line, I waited and saw Zach finish. But after that, it was a long wait. That’s when the nerves start to pick up. I know what is going to happen after. Coach is going to be upset and we are going to get yelled at. We let a lot of people down, but there is always something after – it’s never the end. 

How has running in college running been different in terms of teamwork and friendship? When was that new connection made and how much stronger or weaker was it compared to high school for you?

We made a group chat with everyone as soon as they committed. We knew we were all going to be here together for the next four or five years. It was like boom, certified friends. Not many people get that in college, they have to venture out themselves and make their own friends. But for me, it was just boom – eight guys living next to each other. It could not have been placed better into our laps. When I was convincing Peter to come here, who I went to high school with, I told him how awesome it was. I told him about the big workout groups and the time we spent together. We run together, we eat together, we hang out together, we have class together. In high school, we did not have that. After practice, everyone went home. I told him how different of an experience it was. 

If you could sum up, in one word, how important running is to you, what would it be?

I want to say focus, I can go a bunch of different ways with it. Throughout the day, it’s my focus. I choose when I eat to focus on how my run will be. I won’t eat three hours before I run. I choose when I wake up. I look at the weather to choose when I run. I focus everything about my day into the run because that’s the most important part of the day to me. Inside the sport, I focus on eating the right things, getting the right amount of sleep, doing the right recovery methods. Focus is everything.

What is the one thing that you have learned about yourself as a runner since coming here?

I’ve learned that there is no limit to how far I can run. I used to think I could only run the mile or the two-mile, but now I am in love with the 10k. I’ve done a really good half marathon and a really good mountain race. Long races, anything over 30 minutes, have become my niche. Those two and four-minute races started to be pushed away. I found my sweet spot. 

Would you say that focus plays into the newfound love for long-distance?

Yes, you have to buckle down and focus. You have to just click. It is more prominent in the half marathon though. In that race, you aren’t on a track. You don’t have someone telling you your splits every quarter mile. They had clocks at every mile, but that is five minutes where you don’t know how you’re doing. It’s all focus. You judge your next mile from your last one and decide what pace you need to run. You have to focus on and just run at that pace. You also can see someone ahead of you and see them slipping back and focus on catching them. It’s only for longer races though. You can’t do that in a four or two-minute race. In those, you run like a chicken with your head cut off. But if you lose focus in a long race, you’ll pay for it. You might close fast, but you won’t get the time that you want.