Arjun Mitra is known for his charismatic attitude towards everyone. He is also known around school for being “Mr. Smartie Pants,” and yet while known for this, he is a great athlete, too. He was not just born with this talent, but has had to put in sweat and tears to get to where he is now. The off season is critical for him and he maximizes his time by focusing on what he needs to improve on. The early wake up calls have led him to an early personal record and high hopes for this season.

Mitra is an all around person, but to achieve this feat he has had to put in maximum effort. During the summer, when we are all relaxing, Mitra uses his time to take massive leaps. He’s up early getting runs in and consistently hitting his required mileage he is assigned. Mitra does not take a break because he knows that if he wants to be dominant, the summer is where he will build his base. “The early morning runs and body weight exercise gave a great base for the start of the season,” said Mitra. 

At the start of the season, the cross country team opens up with a rust buster. This was no ordinary rust buster for Mitra though. He finished second on the team with a major personal record of 16:48 for a 5k. This was a fantastic achievement for him and a great first race considering that most don’t even come near their personal record on their first trial. This earned him athlete of the week allowing the entire school to see his greatness. This all came from the hard work he did over the summer and preparation he had at the beginning of the season. “I had a strong base which allowed me to push myself during the race,” said Mitra. 

Coming off of a hot star, Mitra is feeling amazing. This race gave him the fuel and confidence going into the rest of the season. After breaking 17 minutes for the first time, it proves that he can really do it all. This confidence is enough fuel for Mitra to push hard through all of his training as it shows that hard work does pay off. Taking this mindset, he is more than ready to attack the workouts and early morning runs with all he’s got in preparation for the rest of the season. “You can expect a strong finish at state,” said Mitra. 

Mitra has created a great base from his summer training. He is able to rely on this and use it for the rest of the season as he continues to grow and becomes stronger not only as a person, but as an athlete as well.