By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
The sun beat down hot on the shoulders of Dallas junior Carson Sheldon as he made his way down I-35 on April 13 — not in a car or truck, but in a pair of On Cloud running shoes. After six long, sweaty hours and a whopping 38 miles, Sheldon became the first known person to run from Baylor to the Buc-ee’s in Temple.
Despite the impressive distance he recently achieved, it wasn’t long ago that Sheldon picked up running for the first time — just three years ago, he said.
“In my senior year of high school, I hit a hard patch and just saw a pair of shoes in the corner and was like, ‘Let’s just go on a run,’” Sheldon said.
Over the years, running has become more of an escape than a form of exercise to Sheldon, which is why he started off alone. It’s about overcoming hurdles, he said.
“Everyone has a coming-of-age story,” Sheldon said. “After this personal event happened senior year, I just kind of realized this is only on me. I’m going to be the change that I want to see. I’m going to be the one that has to make this change. It’s not something someone’s going to hand me — this mindset of having discipline, this mindset of being mentally tough.”
According to Sheldon, there are two types of runners in the world: most people run just for the fun of it or to get some exercise, and then there are those who have a need for it and feel a constant urge to run. Sheldon falls into the latter category.
“I had to do it,” Sheldon said. “It was like a necessity that had to be filled just because if I didn’t do it, I would have this guilt in the back of my mind, like I’m not going to be where I want to be tomorrow if I don’t go on this run right now.”
Now, Sheldon said he wouldn’t describe himself as a regular college student who is an athlete on the side. Rather, he is an athlete who happens to be a student.
“The biggest reason I’m running is that I thought of myself before I put on the shoes as someone that wasn’t capable,” Sheldon said. “People classify themselves and brand themselves as people that can and can’t do this. If you have God, you can be anything. It might not happen tomorrow, might not happen next week, it might not happen next year. But if you trust in His will for you, you’re able to accomplish things you never thought would be possible. If you told me senior year after my second or third run that I’d be running to Buc-ee’s and be able to maintain a 9:30 average pace, I obviously wouldn’t believe you.”
Sheldon said he has been running the Bearathon for three years now, including the most recent run in March. The first year, he completed the run in an hour and 42 minutes. The next two times, he crossed the finish line at an hour and 29 minutes. In March, he placed 22nd out of 1,700 runners.
Speed isn’t Sheldon’s strong suit, though he started out wanting to be a fast runner, he said. Instead, distance running has been where he shines best, though that doesn’t eliminate speed training from the equation.
His regimen leading up to the Bearathon, which required a focus on timing, involved a six-day training schedule in which Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all speed workouts with shorter distances. Saturdays were reserved for running those long distances Sheldon loves, which also helped him to prepare for the Buc-ee’s run.
“I started my official training block in January,” Sheldon said. “I started 25 miles a week — easy, chill — and then by the end of it, the week prior to the actual Buc–ee’s run, I was doing 70 miles a week, which is 10 miles a day average … After the Bearathon, I stopped doing speed workouts. Instead of doing 800-meter repeats, it was more like, [running] 10 miles.”
Sheldon said the Buc-ee’s run took him six hours to complete. Through the duration of that time, his ears were not occupied by music or a motivational podcast. Instead, his thoughts and the sound of the wind rushing past him kept him company.
“A lot of people listen to music when they run,” Sheldon said. “I don’t listen to music purposely because I like sitting in the pain cave. When everyone is just freaking out, I’m comfortable because I’ve prepared for that moment … it’s a privilege to feel pain to a certain degree.”
In other words, this was a time to face his demons, specifically all the voices of those who ever criticized him. That, and a time to decide what snack he wanted to eat at Buc-ee’s once he finished, he said.
“The scariest part of that is that one of those voices is yourself, saying you’re not good enough,” he said. “Then, there is that one voice — God’s voice — and if you can hold on to that one voice, you can get that.”
Sheldon’s running route went as so: he started at his apartment at LL Sam’s and ran south down Austin Ave. into Hewitt. He stopped at mile 11 to get Nightlight Donuts and kept pushing along the access road on I-35. Once he reached Bruceville-Eddy, he cut over to a country road where he continued until the last mile, where he received an escort from the Temple police as he arrived at Buc-ee’s and made contact with the bronze beaver statue, his finish line.
Though the route was simple to follow, this was no easy feat for Sheldon. There were no gas stations from mile 18 to 32, which meant the water vest he was wearing was empty by the time he came across another water source. From mile 28 to 31, he began to hallucinate, repeat himself and veer off the road, according to his running buddy, Brentwood, Tenn., sophomore Graham Franklin.
The two first met at Greenhouse Run Club, a local weekly fun run club. Franklin said he remembers seeing Sheldon running alone at the front of the group and wanting to talk to him. They hit it off, and from there, they met frequently outside the club to run together.
“Carson is one of the most interesting people I’ve met,” Franklin said. “I’m always learning something new about him. He’s one of the most driven people I know. To be running like what he is, and the speed he is, is kind of crazy.”
As a result of their runs and time spent together, Franklin said he now sees Sheldon as a mentor figure. To see him achieve his goal with the Buc-ee’s run was to see Sheldon’s diligence, consistency and mental fortitude come to fruition.
“It was super cool to witness,” Franklin said. “It was just even more of a clarification or emphasis of how determined he is to finish something that he starts.”
For Sheldon, it was quite literally a dream-like experience.
“It was very euphoric because there were so many times freshman year that you would go to Buc-ee’s with all your friends, and it would be like a 30-minute drive down there,” Sheldon said. “I just remember sitting there … out of touch with myself because I was like, ‘Who am I?’ Like, who runs to Buc-ee’s? Who does 38 miles? I started getting goosebumps and was just like, ‘I did this!’”
Sheldon said he’s not stopping at this milestone. This Buc-ee’s run was just the first of many long-distance adventures for the runner.
“The Temple police asked me to do another one next year,” Sheldon said. “In the fall semester, I plan on doing a thing called ‘Tour de Buc,’ starting at Hillsboro and going to the Temple one, which is 75 miles.”
One of the officers encouraged Sheldon to do the next run for the purpose of raising money for charity, he said. As of now, Sheldon isn’t yet sure of which charities he will be partnering with.
For those who are new to running, the Buc-ee’s runner has some tips, tricks and words of wisdom.
“It’s gonna suck for the first couple runs,” Sheldon said. “It might suck for the first week or two, but you have to be able to keep pushing to where your cup overflows … the only limitation you put on yourself is you. If you’re around people that don’t think you can do it or don’t push themselves in life, you’re probably not gonna be pushed either.”
Most importantly, Sheldon wants new runners to know that they’re not in this on their own.
“Physically, you might be alone, but there’s other guys, other girls out there that are struggling,” Sheldon said. “You are enough.”
