Justin Jablonowski ’02, from Vernon, CT, is a materials engineering major and a runner on RPI’s cross country team. Jablonowski began running indoor track as a freshman in high school and cross country as a senior. Before switching to cross country, Jablonowski played soccer—he switched over to running after the soccer team underwent a coaching change.
"I didn’t get along with the coach and I knew I loved running, so I decided to switch sports," he said.
Over the last couple of years at RPI, Jablonowski has performed well. He has finished in the top five for the school in all of the last three years’ cross country meets. Last year, in the regional meet, Jablonowski finished 31st. On Saturday he also finished 31st in the state meet with a season-best time of 27:50 over the muddy five-mile Hamilton College course. Jablonowski will continue his season by competing in the New York State Regional Qualifier Meet at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx this weekend. He hopes to beat his personal record of 26:19, which he achieved last year in the same meet.
While not running cross country, Jablonowski enjoys hanging out with his friends. He also enjoys spending his time at other sporting events as a means of relaxation.
"I support all sports at RPI—[I watch] soccer, football, basketball, and swimming meets," he said. While not watching sports, Jablonowski is usually engaged in pickup basketball games and skiing with his friends.
While running, there are many things Jablonowski does to keep himself motivated and focused.
"Usually I just try and see how I feel inside and try to push my self harder and harder in each race," he said.
Jablonowski believes that success in running comes from within rather than trying to beat other runners. An individual, he explains, should focus on their clock time rather than anything else. To keep his focus, Jablonowski sings a song as he runs—he runs faster as he sings, knowing he’ll stop singing the song once he has finished the race. He also gains endurance when he sees other people tiring in front of him. Jablonowski believes that this has helped him perform at a high level in every race he runs.
Although this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the RPI team, Jablonowski said they have performed better than expected.
"We brought it together and a lot of the younger guys have performed very well," he said.
During the cross country season, Jablonowski especially loves competing against St. Lawrence because every year the team has good runners. During his career at RPI, Jablonowski has performed very well against the Saints—he credits this to the heated rivalry between the two teams.
Jablonowski described the both the men’s and women’s teams as being very united. "We hang out a lot together, we do a lot of outside activities," he said. The team studies, bowls, and goes to parties together.
After graduating from RPI, Jablonowski plans to continue running, possibly for his future employer, as a means of keeping himself into shape. He also plans to compete on his own in different races but hasn’t decided which ones he’ll do.
