REGINA - Jonathan Podbielski recently was named the Sask Sport Athlete of the Month for November after he won bronze in the U Sports Cross Country Championship.
Podbielski, who attends the University of Regina, started getting into running when he was in elementary school.
"I had a teacher in Grade 8 who recognized I was a pretty strong runner in the field, whether it was a track meet or just at recess, and he saw that I was a pretty strong runner. His name was Eric Benjamin. He put me in contact with his friend, Russell Neff, who was the coach of Excel Athletika, [a] local track club at the time. And there, I trained through high school and got better after Grade 8," he said.
It didn’t take long for Podbielski to start falling in love with running. He recalled going on trips to Winnipeg and Saskatoon, where his friends were there to support him and cheer him on. Podbielski soon realized, "even though it's an individual sport, just being surrounded by these [positive] influences just made me realize how special of an opportunity it is to be on a team like a track and field team."
Finding his calling, Podbielski improved his running, which ended up catching the attention of the U of R, who offered him a scholarship. At the time, he was considering going to other schools across the country, including the University of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan. However, Podbielski decided to stay closer to home by joining the Regina Cougars.
In his first two years with the team, Podbielski accomplished many feats, including winning silver in the 2023 Canada West Track & Field Championships in the 1000-metre run and making the U Sports Cross Country Second-Team All-Canadian in the same year.
Heading into his third year of running with the Cougars, Podbielski started it off by winning the Dakota Classic, a race held around Saskatoon. With his early victory, there were expectations from writers that Podbielski would win his next few races.
Even with all the time and effort Podbielski put into running, he fell short of winning gold in all the races, including placing fourth in the Canada West Cross Country Championships held in Alberta.
With others expecting him to win, Podbielski admitted to feeling pressure during the event. Many people tend to perceive pressure as a burden, but Podbielski feels it’s a good thing.
"Whether it's pressure right at the line or pressure leading up to the race. I don't ever think it's a bad thing to think about the race [coming up]. Some people feel they need to get away from the race or maybe go read a book or study or whatever so that they can take their mind off of the race. But for me, I actually see it as a little bit more of a benefit. If I'm thinking about the race, it's more time for me to prepare for what could happen."
Podbielski also noted he doesn’t perform at his best when it comes to courses that change elevation, like a hill. According to him, his training more focuses on running around 1500 metres, which requires more speed than running in an 8K race, which is more about endurance.
The body of a runner can also play a role in their performance. Based on where they grew up, Podbielski said a runner could have a body that’s more suited for endurance or one more suited for speed. Even though such factors can play into the results, Podbielski would never use that as an excuse for not doing well.
Podbielski could always only race in track and field, which suits him better. However, there is also a benefit to running cross-country in terms of health. "[It builds up] your lung capacity [while] building your aerobic ability and getting a break from these anaerobic types of workouts where you're just hitting the track fast [like in track and field]. [So], instead, we're hitting the field like a little slow, and we're doing longer reps, and we're extending our bodies ability to endure longer amounts of pain."
After training and competing in multiple cross-country tournaments, Podbielski wanted to finish the season off strong.
He was set to compete in the U Sports Cross Country Championship in B.C. The course was a mostly flat layout, which played into Podbielski’s favour.
Around 150 athletes from Canada were entered into the race. With all the runners, Podbielski knew it would be an uphill battle to place in the top three.
After the race started, Podbielski recalled running for 6km. He was running with Ron MacLean, who won gold in the Canada West Cross Country Championships, the same race people expected Podbielski to win.
"When I realized I could be sticking with Ron [MacLean] at that point in the race, I [knew that I] could finish the race just as high as he could."
Once Podbielski really started to put his head down, he "kept passing guy after guy after guy. He added, "I wasn't really thinking about what place I was in, but I kept passing people. Then I kept passing people who were my rivals and whatnot. It was kind of motivating me every time I passed someone. Then I realized with about 300 metres to go that I was in fifth place and I could medal."
As he approached the finish line, Podbielski only cared about getting a medal. He remembers almost falling over at the end of the race, but he hung on to finish third.
Podbielski was happy to receive the medal, but he would never think he was better than any of the other runners in the competition. "At the end of the day, we're all athletes, and we're all just trying our best. So that's how I look at it."
He also sees the accomplishment as a stepping stone towards his next goals. Podbielski is focused on the upcoming NACAC U23 Championships, where he hopes to make it onto Team Canada.
In his multiple attempts, Podbielski has gotten close to making it onto Team Canada. One year, he missed the mark by 0.8 seconds.
Podbielski talked about what it takes to make it onto the team. "You're basically competing against all the other events as well as your own events, so not only do you have to be top two, but you're competing against every other event in track and field, and you have to be among the top 20 athletes. By their ranking system, obviously, but yeah, so it makes you have to be basically one of the top 20 track and field athletes in Canada under 23."
One day, Podbielski hopes to represent his country in the Olympics, but right now, he’s focused on making a living out of running.
