Week 24: Wes Diener

Home state: Michigan
Status: Junior
Year on club: 2
College: Broad College of Business
Major: Accounting

Wes is part of the MSU Evans Scholars and enjoys playing poker, video games, and studying military history in addition to running. Though he was not able to spend much of his first semester on the club due to the Evans Scholars requirements, Wes ran for the club during his second semester for track and raced the half marathon at the 2015 NIRCA Track Nationals. The half marathon, in addition to both the track and cross country 5k, is Wes’ favorite event. Check out our interview with Wes below:
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Running club: “What’s your favorite part about running club?”
Wes Diener: “My favorite part about running club is the camaraderie, always coming out with other people to run with. It’s so enjoyable--especially after a long summer by yourself running every day. And then you come here with other people. It’s refreshing, and it’s easier to run faster.”
RC: “And you tend to race the higher mileage events. What are your favorite events?”
WD: “The half marathon and the 5k. The 5k on the track can be a lot of fun. A lot of people hate it because you have to go around in a circle a bunch of times, but I enjoy it for the competitive aspect.”
RC: “How do you stay sane during all of those laps--especially on the indoor?”
WD: “Just by hunting other people, just by drafting up onto people, knowing my lap splits: more-or-less just my competitive side makes it easy to stay in the race.”
RC: “Do you prefer the track 5k to the cross country 8k?”
WD: “Yes. I hate the 8k. It’s a longer race which I should enjoy, but just because of how fast you have to run it, it can be really difficult. It’s definitely the biggest change from high school: going from the 5k to the 8k”
RC: “Would you prefer the cross country 5k over the track 5k?”
WD: “I would actually prefer the cross country 5k because the lap thing can get a little annoying. The cross country 5k is probably my second favorite race to the half marathon. Depending on the next couple of weeks, if I’m healthy the half marathon at Nationals will be the second time racing there.”
RC: “Are you currently not healthy?”
WD: “I have been dealing the plantar fasciitis and it sucks. Don’t run with shoes for too long because if you do you can get plantar fasciitis. It’s a really nagging thing, and I think that I’m finally kind of over it. I got new shoes, I’ve been stretching and working on my own.”
RC: “Have you only run the one half marathon so far?”
WD: “I have run three: Indy last year for track nats, the Indianapolis half marathon--which you run around the Indy Motor Speedway, which was cool--and then the Detroit half marathon which was a phenomenal race.”
RC: “So will you race on the track if you end up not being well enough to race the half marathon again?”
WD: “I don’t know. I’m debating running the 5k on the track, and if I’m really not in shape, I’ll throw disc.”
RC: “Have you thrown disc before?”
WD: “Not competitively, but I’ve been practicing, so we’ll see how it goes.”
RC: “Okay, so did you run throughout high school?”
WD: “Yes I did. I ran cross country for four years and track for two years due to a coaching issue. I ran starting in middle school in eighth grade through now.”
RC: “When you were in high school did you also do the longer events?”
WD: “Yes. In track, I never did less than a mile except when I had to for a 4x8 and for cross country, obviously, I ran a 5k.”
RC: “You were voted as the Team Player for the cross country season this past year. How do you feel about that?”
WD: “I was very excited when I heard about it. I couldn’t go because I had other obligations during the banquet that night. It was an amazing honor for me, for my peers, for this club. This club has been phenomenal to me and for them to acknowledge me in that light was just an amazing personal experience.”
RC: “That’s great.”
RC: “What’s your favorite thing about running?”
WD: “Competing. I love competing. That’s the thing about running for me: it gives me an outlet to compete. This as running club gives me the opportunity to compete past high school.”
RC: “Is it hard to balance the requirements of the Evans House with running club?”
WD: “Not really. Not after the first semester; the first semester of the Evans Scholar is the worst and freshman year in general is pretty bad because it’s a semi-fraternity type deal. So you have to pledge in and it’s not the best thing in the world, but it’s cool because you get to learn about everybody in the house. After the first year, the requirements and the extra stuff kind of goes away. I started working this semester at the student athlete services as a tutor, tutoring student athletes, which is awesome. I love working with people who are great in something else, but aren’t so great in something like academics and being able to help them. That has been a really cool opportunity I have been doing this semester. Other than that, I’ve been focused on school and running.”  

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