Elijah Schemel Enjoys Running Success

Elijah Schemel is working hard, aiming high and enjoying success in just a brief time as a competitive runner.

He began participating in the sport just 15 months ago as a seventh grader on the Marco Island Charter Middle School team. As an eighth grader, Elijah has progressed to the point he’s qualified for the Florida Youth Running Association Middle School State Track and Field Championship, set for May 21 at IMG Academy in Bradenton. 

The Marco resident is the sole runner from the island to qualify for the meet. He met the standard in the two-mile, the one-mile and in the 4x800 relay with his teammates from Naples-based Elevate Performance Training, also known as the Gulf Coast Runners.

“Amazing,” is how Eli described his feelings when asked about qualifying, prior to the FYRA meet. “It was something I was really chasing in seventh grade. It felt like something that was out of my reach. Then, when I finally qualified and I could see how much I’ve grown over the last year, it felt really good.”

Elijah, who goes by Eli, has achieved several other milestones recently. He established a personal best and finished first when he ran the mile in 5:04 at the Elite Runner Youth Running Club meet in Fort Myers on May 7. And he won the 2-mile at the Collier County middle school championships on April 30 and took second in the 800 meters. All told, the 14-year-old has first place finishes this season and two second-place finishes. 

The son of Christopher and Shannon Schemel, baseball was Eli’s game in fifth and sixth grade, until the remainder of the season was canceled because of COVID. He got into running at the suggestion of his mother, who’s a runner herself. His older brother Zach ran cross country for one year at Lely High School.

By process of elimination, middle-and-long distance running quickly became his focus after joining the MICMS track team. 

“When I was a lot younger, I thought I was very fast,” explained Eli. “I would beat kids in races all the time. But in tenth grade, when I started running track, the first track meet, I lost pretty badly. From there, I started distance running and realized I was pretty good at it.”

He also fell in love with running’s solitary aspect and the fact that unlike a team sport, each competitor completely controls their own destiny. 

The mile is Eli’s favorite event. “It’s fast the entire time and you have to be really good at racing and not just a fast runner,” he explained. “You have to use strategy.” 

When asked what fueled his performance jump, he was quick to credit his Gulf Coast Runners coach, Justin Moomaw. “I think I was already getting better, but how much faster I was getting really started to show when I began running with him and he began designing my workouts for me,” he added. Those workouts see Eli averaging 25 to 30 miles a week; 35 during a high-mileage week. 

He plans to attend Lely in the fall and join the cross country and track teams. 

“My short-term goals are I want to get top-five in the mile at states and then, long-term, to start setting records in the mile and cross country at Lely and to run in college.”