By: The Etrain Crew (minus Jarrett)
*Before we get started, we would like to congratulate fellow writer Caleb Gatchell for qualifying for D2 nationals in the 1500! It is an outstanding accomplishment and we are happy to know that he will represent PA as well as the Etrain brand at NCAA's. Congrats again Caleb!*
If you're reading this post, thank you! This means that the blog has reached over 500,000 total views (half a million!) and we couldn't thank you enough for the support.
Jarrett Felix started the blog because he loved the sport. He wasn't in it for recognition, he wasn't in it to bash/criticize certain individuals, and he wasn't in it for money. He simply loved the sport (and that's pretty rare when we talk about track and xc coverage today). Jarrett started the blog because it was a way to facilitate discussion and give credit where credit was due.
For over a decade now, athletes, parents, and coaches have tuned into the blog to read the outstanding content Jarrett has posted. Now, the Etrain writers felt it was time to give Jarrett some of the recognition he deserves, and what better way to do it than to interview the man himself?
Below are a list of questions from the Etrain writers asking Jarrett about himself and his blogging career. As you can see by his answers (and probably by most of his content), the guy is pretty selfless which is why he was initially hesitant to do this interview because he "didn't want the blog to be about him". After some convincing, we got him to agree.
Be sure to read up below and ask any questions we missed in the comment section below! Again, thank you for the support!
-The Etrain Crew
Click here for Jarrett's most recent District Preview/League Recap post
GETTING TO KNOW
ETRAIN
1.
If you could interview any runner, who would it
be and why?
Unsurprisingly, I
think the answer to this would have to be Robby Andrews. As most people
probably realized if they read my stuff, he’s my favorite runner and he’s been
a part of some of my favorite races to watch over the years. If nothing else,
I’d enjoy just reliving all his awesome moments in his career. However, he’s
also had a ton of ups and downs in his career with some big highs and big lows,
seemingly on the brink of retirement from the sport just a couple years back,
so it would be cool to hear and write about his journey first hand.
2.
What was your favorite state meet (XC or Track)?
This a tough one
because there have been so many individual races that stand out as extraordinary.
However, I’ve only had the privilege of attending a select few meets in person
over the years and those experiences have definitely been memorable than
watching anything back on replay. So I’d say the 2012 XC State Championships
was up at #1. The races were pretty epic including a crazy finish between
Galassi and Luke Jones in A, a battle of three of the best AA talents ever in
Shearn, Jaskowak and Todaro and, of course, the climax of the Henderson vs.
O’Hara debate that had dominated the blog since the summer (I think the
original post I made on who would win states back in August is still the most
viewed post I’ve had in my career). I’ve found over the years, it’s rare that a
race will live up to the hype or turn out how you dream it will. But when they
do come together, like that race did, ending in a 6 man tiebreaker again, they
are unforgettable.
3.
If you could put together a dream PA alumni race
(all in their prime) what event would it be and who would be in it?
Man, another really
tricky question. Personally, I always loved relays. I think they are what
really made the sport fun and seeing everyone come together to do something
special is a great time. Honestly, my favorite race to see would be a 4x800
battle with the top programs from the last decade facing off with their 4 best
alumni. I’ve done mock versions of this before, but seeing it live and in
person would be fascinating. I’d probably have CB South, Abington, CB West,
Upper Dublin, O’Hara, LaSalle, Henderson, Cumberland Valley, Pennridge and
State College on the agenda for this race as of right now. If we give it
another couple weeks, we may sneak another team or two in based on their
performances down the stretch this year. I think 10 teams is probably the
perfect amount for a 4x8, but I can push for 12 if need be.
And it’s really
hard to pick which schools belong in (Baldwin, DT West, Wissahickon, etc.).
Upper Dublin has to get because they are my alma mater, sorry fans.
4.
What is your proudest racing moment?
I feel fortune to
say I have a lot of moments I’m proud of in my racing career. I’m definitely
not the fastest kid (pretty much everybody I blog about is better than I was at
my apex), but I think the best thing about running is that each person can have
individual success regardless of their starting point/ending point and each
other runner can related to that success. Not to get too philosophical or
anything.
But to answer the
actual question, I think if I have to pick one moment, my proudest moment is
probably the first time I (officially) broke 2 minutes in the 800. It was a
goal of mine ever since I overachieved my sophomore year of high school and,
despite one split under 2 minutes that I can’t really count, it took me until
my sophomore year of college to actually do it. It was fresh off a miserable
1500 and a rough indoor track season, which had made me really question whether
I wanted to keep training so hard if I meant I wasn’t going to continue to make
any progress.
But on Muhlenberg’s
home track on a random day, I pulled out a 1:59.62 and won my heat of the 800
(which wasn’t the fast heat, but still feels good). It was my first time under
2 minutes and I got to celebrate with all my friends after the race was over.
I’ve been under the barrier again since, but I’ll always remember that first
time.
5.
What are your hobbies outside of running?
Um, nothing really.
Just kidding. Does writing about running count? Just kidding. Guys, seriously.
I do other things. I really like basketball. It’s probably my favorite sport to
actually play, I’m just not particularly good. Ultimately, I’m a pretty
competitive person so I’m always down to play games and compete. There’s this
game we play called spike ball. It’s pretty sick, look it up. I also listen to
a lot of sports podcasts and Bill Simmons stuff. Grantland/Simmons was/is kinda
my blogging related inspiration.
6.
If you could go on an easy run with anyone, who
would it be?
Well, the cliché
answer here (but true answer) in order would probably be my girlfriend Nicki
and then my college team, then my high school team. But those aren’t really fun
answers, so I’ll give you my fun one.
I think it would
have to be Chris Derrick. I feel like he’s the kinda sarcastic, smart, runner
dude that would be very entertaining to go on a run with. There’s also like a
50 percent chance I wouldn’t like him much at all and he would think I was lame
and stupid. But I’ll never know unless I find out right?
Merber would be
invited too. For sure.
7.
Anything the readers should know about you?
I just want to take a
quick sec to clear the air about the Steph Curry thing. Yes, I am a bandwagon
mega-fan of Steph, but I was a band wagon fan circa 2012-2013 rather than circa
the year the Warriors won the title and stuff. It started with NBA 2k and hit
its full peak in the Warriors-Spurs series. So, like, don’t get it twisted.
ETRAIN AND THE BLOG
8.
For any new readers or those who might not know,
just tell us a little bit about how you got the nickname Etrain and how you
began blogging.
Well, at Upper Dublin
High School, we had a number of guys who were real into the Penntrack forums
(believe it or not they used to be hugely popular among runners, not just
people complaining about things). So, naturally, by the time I hit sophomore
year I wanted to get involved. My dad had already made an account using our
family email (didn’t have my own email back then) so I started borrowing his
account. So the name “etrain11” was actually the name my dad created based on
his nickname (“Earl” was his nickname because of the basketball player Earl
Monroe and “train” comes from the act of training in the gym, my dad powerlifts
as a hobby. The 11 comes from the month we were both born, November). Once I
got the account, I just got hooked posting and discussing track. I was on the
website all the time and became something of a well-known name.
We realized at a
couple meets that people recognized the name “etrain” so we (my friends at
Upper Dublin) made a fan page on Facebook and got a ton of followers through it
(relatively speaking of course). I also made a Top 50 list for XC that became
kind of popular on the site and something of a trademark for me personally. My
brother then came up with the idea for a blog. He created the very first one
for me personally and inspired me to give it a shot and have a bit more freedom
to get readers. That was really the birth of the site.
9.
What is it that you think separates the Etrain
brand from other track and field websites? Any one aspect in particular?
Honestly, I feel
people recognize the name because I’ve been around so long. I strive to be
knowledgeable, fair and fun in my work and I hope people are attracted to that
aspect. I feel like many people could do what I’ve done, however, I had the
advantage of doing it first and growing a bit of a fan base for it. From there,
the commenters and the readers have really blown the things up. Without the
community of readers we have, the blog is nothing. I get many of my best ideas
from them, a ton of information and they are the motivation to keep me working
harder and dreaming bigger.
Also, I feel like
I’m not afraid to treat the high school sport a bit more maturely. I’m not afraid
to make predictions or rankings that aren’t just strictly numbers, but
considering the subjective parts of the sport as well (and there are way more
subjective pieces than objective). Many sites are afraid to be subjective
because they are so concerned with offending people. I trust that my readers
are mature enough to know that I don’t mean any offense and I’m just having fun
and trying to keep things interesting. I’m always proud to hear that people
read what I had to say and were motivated to prove me wrong. It’s just a
perfect attitude to have about the site and the sport in general.
10. When
did you realize the blog was going to be this big?
Haha, never. I
never had high expectations honestly because I know it’s a very small, niche
market and I guess I just never thought I would get any readers at all. I’ve
done a lot of writing just because I love it and I love the sport, but when you
are behind your computer you have no idea who is actually reading. You can’t
get a feel for it at all.
I think in 2012,
when the blog really hit it’s stride, I realized just how big of a deal it was
to some people. When I went to states and parents were coming up to me and
saying that they loved the site it was just amazing. I couldn’t believe it. I
never really thought about kids caring what I had to say, let alone parents and
coaches.
As long as I have
one reader who gets joy or motivation from what I (and now we) do, it’s “big”
to me. So in a way I guess never might be a bad answer haha.
11. What
is it like to have a community of runners know who you are and regard your
opinion so highly? Why do you think that is?
Again, I don’t
really think I’m doing anything ground breaking. It’s amazing to have like a
“fan base” of sorts and to have people who I admire and respect reciprocate is
really unbelievable. The best part of my blogging career has been readers
reaching out and talking track with me. It’s unreal.
But there’s a ton
of guys who have brought a lot to the table for our site and I’m just one of
the few that was willing to put my name on everything. Really my biggest
advantage is I’ve been doing this for a long time. Experience, as I’ve said
like a million times on the blog, is important in any part of life. So
definitely for the blog as well.
12. What
is your most memorable post and why?
Alright you’ll have
to let me over indulge a bit on this question. I have a couple posts that I
really like. I think a lot of my best work probably came in the 2014-2015
seasons, just because I had the most time and really got into it. But my
favorite actual posts might be on my old blog. I did this one post on
Valentine’s Day in like 2012 or so where I just kind of starting writing and
then, by the end, I had ending up accidentally making an elaborate
running-girlfriend metaphor that I had not envisioned when I started. I thought
it was one of my cooler posts.
But my most
memorable post is probably the post I made right before the 2012 XC state
championships about one of my best friends, Francis Ferruzzi. It was right
before his last race and I came up to Hershey to watch him run. The post still
brings a bit of a tear to my eye and makes me very nostalgic and happy.
Sometimes the best part of running has nothing to do with races or times and
has everything to do with friends and teammates.
13. Is
there a certain writer you try to emulate?
I love Bill
Simmons. He’s definitely like a writing icon of mine and I get inspired by
reading his stuff. I like to be factual and knowledgeable, yet funny and
casual. I aim to try and write in a way that lets you imagine we are just
talking to each other. I want people to hear my voice when I write and seem
like they could talk back. And I definitely want people to laugh and to think.
That’s the way Simmons writes a lot of stuff and I really like it.
14. What
went through your mind as you were writing the Brett Favre post on the old
blog? What was the reaction to that post like?
Retiring from
blogging before my senior year of college was really sad. I think that last
year, it had gotten a little overwhelming. When you have a lot of readers
commenting and sharing thoughts and making requests, it can take a toll on you,
especially because I like to try and please everyone. So I just decided to take
a break, especially because I could feel myself getting so old.
But writing the
post was very sad and thinking back on all the memories and experiences was
crazy. The support the post received was unbelievable. The comments I received
both on the blog and off it were unreal. I felt so touched and appreciated and
a part of the community. It really meant a lot to have so much support even
after I was finished.
15. What
was it that made you comeback to blogging? Any one instance in particular?
Like I said before,
I retired originally because I just felt like I was trying to please too many
people and I was getting overwhelmed. But I never really stopped writing or
following the sport, I just changed tactics. I was doing a decent amount of D3
stuff and crunching a ton of numbers for my XC team that year. I started a new
blog on the side, didn’t really tell many people about it and just went about
business as usual. I decided that if I was gonna start up another blog, I was
going to write about whatever I wanted to and do things my way. Stop trying to
be what everyone else wanted me to be and just do what I felt like.
From there, things
just kind of grew. I always knew the most about PA High School stuff and, not
to brag, but I feel that the time and effort I’ve put into study the sport in
the last decade has made my knowledge base pretty darn extensive. So it just
was easy to write about that kind of thing and slowly the site became more and
more PA central.
I think what really
made my comeback complete was finding Grantland.com. I started reading that
stuff all the time and it reminded me how much I loved writing. I really love
the stuff so it didn’t feel like a job or a duty anymore, it just felt like a
passion and things really took off after that. I think people saw my passion
and got on board and then the site became as popular as ever.
16. How
have you noticed the impact of the blog on the running community?
I’m not sure how
much of an impact it’s had on the runners themselves. I think people like
reading it and talking about it, but the kids make the results on their own
with hard work and determination. I do, however, think that the way we talk
about running has shifted dramatically thanks to the blogs that have existed.
When I was in high
school, penntrack forums used to be all the rage. They were huge, bigger than
this site was for sure. Now, I feel like the blogs have taken on the role of
the discussion which is interesting. I also feel like the small level of
competition we have injected into the market has helped push Penntrack and
ourselves into better coverage. I’ve seen some of our ideas reflected in their
work over the years and obviously I’ve incorporated some of their ideas into
our work.
17. If
you could go back and change anything about the blog, what would it be?
I definitely made
some big mistakes, especially in the beginning. I was still a kid when I
started up and I made some posts and handled some situations very poorly. Even
now, there’s a lot of times where I just don’t what the right thing to do is
morally. I have had some sleepless nights for sure trying to think about that.
But honestly, I’m
not sure I would change anything. The mistakes I made proved to be lessons for
the future. I have goals to improve the site in the future for sure, but I’ve
kind of accepted what the past of the blog was and I’m very happy with the
experiences I’ve had and the positive feedback we’ve received over the years.
18. What’s
your most memorable fan interaction fan from the blog?
The most memorable
time period was my junior and senior year of high school. That’s what I started
to realize the people actually knew the name “etrain” outside of the UD circle.
We met up with the CB South 4x8 that was on the verge of the state record a few
days later. CB South knew our 4x8 because they were both really good teams and
I was just chilling as an alternate gawking. Then one day in the hallway at
Shippensburg, I was talking on the phone and Tom Mallon, future state record
holder (and current indoor state record holder), walked by and just said,
“What’s up, etrain”.
And I just inwardly
lost my mind like nobody’s business.
19. What
is the vision for the blog moving forward?
Moving forward, my
#1 goal is to increase the site’s legitimacy. I feel like a lot of people just
see the site as “some kid with a blog” and, although that’s technically at the
most basic level what it is, I feel like we are so much more than that. I feel
like we’ve received some great feedback over the years, but it still kind of
feels like no one wants to associate themselves with us at some level. I think
I can help improve this by hopefully opening up more of a dialogue with coaches
and athletes and getting a more active twitter following going forward and, if
things go well, we can continue to make strides in the right direction. We’ve
already come a long way from our initial “blacklisting” of sorts where we were
the “he who must not be named” of the penntrack forums and stuff and I think we
can continue to become more respected in the community if we can continue to
respect the sport, promote a fun environment and create strong contact.
I’ve been
unbelievably blessed to be joined by a talented and passionate group of writers
who want this blog to be just as big as I do (if not more so) and work really
hard to expand our range and build on our ideas. I’m so thankful that these
guys have come along and done so much. We’ve expanded into a variety of new areas
and I think we will hopefully continue to expand in those areas. It’s a much
trickier market as there are a ton of sites out there that do what we do for
college and professional athletics, but I do think my fellow writers are
knowledgeable and creative and bring a lot to the table.
The next big focus
will probably be a YouTube channel that we will be working to update and
develop. I think we can do a lot of fun stuff through the video avenue in
addition to continuing to come up with new ideas for writing pieces. We can’t
lose sight of what made us who we are and what got us to this point and,
hopefully, we will continue to bring great content to the community.
