Monday Morning Motivation: Dhruvil Patel

I chose Dhruvil Patel as this week’s Monday Morning Motivation because of the phenomenal progress that he has made as a runner over the last few years. In his words:

Improvement in running is available to anybody who is willing to put in the work day in and day out!

Dhruvil Patel, 21/04/19

On April 19th 2019, Patel set a Division III record for 5000m metres. For anyone unfamiliar with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Division III is athletics programmes at universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to their students.

Patel has said that he was inspired to start running at around 14 years old, following the death of his father. His sister recommended joining the cross country team at school, so he did even though he had never run competitively before.

In that first year, he managed to run 3miles in 20:23. Many runners would be delighted with that time, but it’s not outstanding. By 22, he had improved to run 5000 metres (3.1 miles) in 13:51.

I’d strongly recommend that you read A Collegiate 5K Record Falls After 42 Years—And No One Saw It Coming. In this article, Patel explains what has motivated him to train hard after an inauspicious start.

Read more:

• Dhruvil Patel Might Be The 13x All-American, 6x National Champ You Haven’t Heard Of
• Follow Dhruvil on Twitter @Dhruvil1114