Griz runner believed in himself when others didn't

By: Katie Michel
GameDay Kaimin

For cross country runner Duncan Hendrick, running is like breathing. It may not come easy to him, but he couldn’t live his life without it.
When he was a baby, at just 18 months old, asthma constricted his airway forcing him to undergo nebulizer treatments anywhere from three to eight times a day. A mist of medication would enter his lungs as he struggled for a breath of fresh air that was so essential to his existence.
Now a senior ready to complete his last seasons of cross country and track and field, running has been the best medicine of all by reducing the severity of his asthma, allowing him to breathe easier.
“Without running I wouldn’t be the same person I am today,” Hendrick said. “It’s shaped my character.”
Hendrick, who comes from a family of runners, has been running competitively since seventh grade. A mere 70 pounds at the age of 13, Hendrick was not a standout athlete, partially because of the asthma that constricted him.
“It hindered a lot of his endurance activity,” said Daniel Hendrick, Duncan’s father.
“Then he found if he could just run through it, he could do it. It came from a belief in himself. He just went out and worked at it so he could be good at it.”
Hendrick stuck with it, and hoped to someday run for a Division I school, despite a lack of faith by his coaches and teammates. He thought differently.
“I started training harder because I wanted that,” Hendrick said. “You have to be self-motivated. I could tell in high school people (doubted) I would get into a D-I school. I had times where I questioned whether I could get better but you have to push through those.”
Last season at the Montana Open, Hendrick placed first with a 6K career best of 19:02, an accomplishment that he had fallen short of in past races. Hendrick often struggles not because of asthma or sore muscles, but because of his mind.
“Sometimes I mentally crash during good races. For most people it’s the mental aspect that holds them back,” Hendrick said.
In the last cross country season of his college career, Hendrick said his biggest goal is to stay strong mentally, even when he isn’t physically.
“You’ve got to look at the positive things,” he said. “Accept the pain because it’s supposed to be hard. Every race I come in with a positive attitude.”
As the lone senior on the team, Hendrick wants to set the pace and show his improvement by having his best season to date.
“He’s gotten stronger and he’s become more of a leader,” said head coach Tom Raunig. “Sometimes he’s run down in the season because he is such a hard worker.”
Peaking too soon has plagued Hendrick’s past seasons and prevented him from saving his best for last, something that Hendrick is looking to change.
“I’m focusing on training smart and training hard. This season should be different” Hendrick said. “I’d like to leave my last season without having any doubts about it.”
Hendrick’s days revolve around training with all other activities fitting in between. When he isn’t racking up more than eight miles a day through workouts, circuit training, jogs and form drills, he is studying to finish his degree in biology with the hopes of going to medical or graduate school.
“I just try to fit in stuff whenever I can,” he said.
No regrets and a successful season are all Hendrick wants, something his father Daniel knew might not have been possible without his son’s determination to overcome his asthma.
“The reality is he didn’t put any limits on himself,” Daniel Hendrick said. “For me, I’m just happy he’s competing.”
In the next step forward in his life, Hendrick said that although his college running career will quickly come to an end, his love and appreciation for the sport that gave him relief from his asthma will never stop.
“I can’t see myself without running.”