Most students get stressed enough by just getting up, going to class, coming home, grabbing some food, then going to bed. Imagine doing all of that plus running 100 miles a week.

Corey Ihmels, Iowa State’s senior cross country runner, does just that. Ihmels’ accomplishments speak for themselves. In high school he won the National High School Cross Country Championship. He is a six-time All-American and a member of the 1994 Iowa State National Championship team.

Ihmels came from Williston, a small town in northwest North Dakota. “After I won the national championship I could have gone anywhere,” he said. “I was looking at schools in Oregon, Arkansas as well as Iowa State.”

“I really liked the strong tradition at Iowa State,” Ihmels said. “I wanted to go somewhere where I could win a national championship and this was the place,”

Ihmels said he was looking for a big school that did not feel like a big school. He said Iowa State was perfect because sometimes you can disappear in its size or enjoy the peacefulness of a small Iowa town. “Everyone has always been friendly,” Ihmels said. “I like the small town feel of Ames.”

Cross country entails grueling endurance races spread out over eight kilometers. “I would compare it to a really long drive,” Ihmels said. “In the 8K you have to really concentrate. You have to know how fast you’re running and who’s around you.”

Ihmels said that training for the cross country season is pretty individualized. He went on saying that the team only works out as a team once or twice a week and outside of that the training is basically on your own.

“Everybody’s different,” Ihmels said. “You can’t train everyone the same. Some people have the body to run 100 miles a week others break down after sixty.”

“It is nice because you can run any time of the day, and work around your own schedule,” Ihmels said. He went on to say that people always ask how he can run for miles at a time. “Running is weird,” Ihmels said. “Sometimes it’s a struggle just to get up and do it. The first couple of steps are usually the hardest.”

Ihmels said that he just lets his mind wander while he’s running. “When I’m stressed, it is relaxing, it gives me time to think about things,” he said.

This season will be no different than any other for the cross country team. Even in the Big 12, the competition will not be that much different.

“The Big 12 is one of the best cross country conferences in the country,” Ihmels said. “Our toughest meets will be against our usual Big Eight rivals. The Texas schools are good sprinters.”

“It will be fun to run in the first season of the Big 12,” Ihmels said. “I think we have a chance to win the conference this year.” The Big 12 championships are hosted this year by Iowa State and will take place November 2.

“I will miss the camaraderie of the team,” Ihmels said. “I’m going to run for myself for the rest of my life, it is only while you’re here you can run for Iowa State.

After this season Ihmels plans on staying around the area so that he can do his student teaching. When that is done he says he will take up running full time. “I would like to find a shoe sponsor so that I can train,” Ihmels said.

Ihmels was ranked fourth in the United States in the indoor mile last year and missed the Olympic trials due to an injury. “I think that the key is staying healthy,” he said. He went on to say that he will try again for the Olympics in 2000. “It’s a long way off, I’ve got a few years to figure out what I’m going to do,” Ihmels said.

Until then Ihmels will be a true leader for the Cyclone cross country team, trying to bring another conference title and maybe another national championship home to Iowa State.