For Davin Huffman, every race comes with another gear to find. The Clay County junior has developed a relentless competitive mindset that pushes him to chase down runners, embrace the pain and keep accelerating toward the finish line.
Huffman is accelerating his performance this season by utilizing a mechanical approach to pacing and a high threshold for physical sacrifice.
Huffman said he views the progression of a long-distance race through the lens of a vehicle shifting through its transmission. Huffman said the strategy requires a runner to maintain forward momentum and keep their head up to avoid the pitfalls of fatigue.
“I like to think of it as like gears on a car or a four-wheeler,” Huffman said. “You kind of start down in low and you slowly build it up as the race progress. Just got to keep your head up and keep running honestly. Stopping’s the worst thing you can do.”
Huffman said the difficulty of the sport is offset by the rewarding atmosphere found at the finish line. Huffman said the motivational nature of cross-country often results in competitors cheering for one another throughout the course.
“I mean I hate it,” Huffman said. “The whole way through, it’s terrible. I’m not going to tell you it’s great, it’s not fun, but once you get to the end and you see what you did and the time you got and how far you got and everyone around you cheering on and even the people you’ve passed and how they’re cheering you on because it’s a really motivational sport. People cheer you on the whole way through the race, tell you not to stop. It just feels really good at the very end of it. Feels really rewarding to get to the end of the race.”
Huffman said his competitive mindset developed during his freshman year when he began chasing the top runner on the team. Huffman said he uses the proximity of other runners as a trigger to increase his speed and maintain his position.
Every time someone else comes up and they’re closing in on second best or something like that, I take it into another gear and I pass them up, just keep myself motivated and stay strong,” Huffman said.
Huffman said he believes he has not yet reached his full potential because he has not experienced the same level of physical toll this year as in previous seasons. Huffman said he previously pushed himself to the point of being unable to move or becoming ill after races.
“My sophomore year, I think right before regionals on one of my races, I popped a blood vessel in the side of my shoulder, bleeding,” Huffman said. “I put everything into it and this year I haven’t had that done yet. I haven’t been really sick after any of the races so I’m clearly not putting in enough effort, so I think I could do a lot better.”
Huffman said he encourages other students to join the program because it fosters discipline and provides opportunities to travel to new locations. Huffman said the environment is strictly positive for those looking to improve their physical fitness.
“You’re not going to end up with anything negative from joining, you’re only going to come out with positives,” Huffman said. “I mean, you’re going to make friends, you’re going to be able to go to a lot of new places and some of these places are really nice to see. And, I mean, you’re just pushing yourself, teach yourself discipline, and, you’re just working on your body. There’s nothing negative that can come out of it, really.”
