The first thing that John Jay Indian track star Charlie Stewart will tell you is he lives with no regrets. After running the 4×400 relay for League Championships at Lakeland Panas High School, Charlie noticed a serious pain in his foot that was so excruciating that even walking became a challenge. Despite the pain, Charlie ran in the Invite Mile and the New York Relays two days later because “the greatest runners never stop when there is pain”(Stewart). After running a 4:28.44 mile at this event, the pain continued, however, and Charlie thought the pain was was due to muscle fatigue rather than structural damage. While training for Penn Relays just a day later, Charlie heard a crack yet kept running. He collapsed in pain multiple times as kept pushing his foot to the absolute brink. Finally, the pain overcame him and Charlie was down for good.

After being rushed to Urgent Care in Mt. Kisco, doctors took a series of x-rays which later turned out positive: Charlie broke his foot and would be out running for potentially six months. In recent weeks, Charlie has experienced both physical and mental pain. Charlie’s foot still hurts him every day, yet the mental idea of not being able to run is the worst part. “You can take drugs for the physical pain but the mental part bites away at me every day” (Stewart). Despite the injury, Charlie still goes to practice everyday, and you can even find him in the weight room after school doing whatever he can to get back on the track. In retrospect, Charlie does not regret running in so many races after feeling the initial pain. Great runners never stop, and Charlie plans to comeback stronger than ever next winter.