CATHERINE
HARJU

On Then vs. NowThe difference between then and now

I think my biggest difference that I noticed between our photo shoot in the fall and our photo shoot in January is confidence. I think that the first shoot, I was nervous not only for the photos but for the upcoming cross country season as I was assuming a role on the team that I had never fully filled on another team. That role being the lead runner for the majority of the season. I had been the fastest runner on a team before when I ran in middle school, but I don't think I was as mature at the time and didn't really understand the weight of my position on the team in regards to championship meets and qualifying and placing at state. I think a lot of the nerves that arise during the photo shoot in the fall were from me thinking about my role on the team as the season approached very quickly. One difference that I noticed in January is as we were taking photos is that I already felt more relaxed and free to try new things as my cross country season in the fall started in a very odd way, and ended with me not totally satisfied with my season, but proud of the progress I was able to make in such a short time. I was in a really weird headspace going into this track season not really sure what to expect and one of my biggest fears was burn out, but I just had to have faith that the photos in January would pave a strong path for the goal of a breakthrough track season and they did.

WIAA Cross Country State Championships

On AdversityThe hardest moment

The hardest moment of my season was not a physical challenge, but a mental challenge. At the beginning of the season, I hoped to convince my coach to let a distance relay team travel to Oregon relays in Eugene, Oregon, and Nike Twilight Jesuit relays. By the time these conversations started happening. It was too late to make the trip to Eugene but I was able to convince my head coach who coaches sprints and hurdles on the Stadium girls team to let us take a 4x800m relay team to Jesuit. My teammates and I were unaware that this would be a full meet and there was a possibility of getting waitlisted if our times weren't not fast enough. So in order to just put down an 800 time we all ran the 800 once but none of these were full, hard, efforts. This miscalculation resulted in our team being entered with an inaccurate seed time and being waitlisted for the meet. This was devastating to me who had worked very hard to be able to run at an elite meet such as this one and who had done a lot of planning to ensure our entire 4x800m team could travel to Oregon for the race. I made light of the situation by running a league meet against Kentwood that week instead of racing at Jesuit. This league meet I won the 3200 and got a new season best time. This race was a real confidence booster, and solidified that I wanted to train to race the 3200 in the postseason. Even though that week of racing was not what I expected, and it was a huge emotional and mental barrier to overcome and I'm glad that I pushed through and made the best of a rough situation.

The hardest moment of my season was not a physical challenge, but a mental challenge.

On the BreakthroughThe moment it all clicked

I think that the race where all of my training really paid off and where I felt like I found a new gear was the 1600 at South Sound Classic. I was not in the fast heat for this race, there were three heats, and I was in the middle heat. Leading up to this race I talked to my coach about winning this heat, and I kept repeating to her and to myself that I knew I was going to PR. This was a big deal because I hadn't PRed in any of my events all season and it had started to feel very discouraging. I warmed up with my teammate, Jessie, who was racing in the first 1600 heat of the day and as we warmed up, we talked through our race plans and how to manage our nerves on the start line. I've been really lucky to have such a great team here at Stadium and Jessie is actually a teammate that I have trained with since 7th grade when we ran together at Hilltop Heritage middle school. I was also very excited to race at Sparks Stadium because despite having several club meets there, I never actually raced any of them, I just went to watch or to coach the younger kids on my club track team. There is something so special and pure about racing on a track that you have never ran on before. It's like trying a new food and then loving it so much that you have to keep buying it and keep eating it and you can't stop. I started this race very tactically by hanging off the edge of the front three runners the first 700m and then taking the lead with two laps to go. I likely could have ran this race differently, but for me, I needed that confidence booster of winning a race. This race was no easy win though, with 100m to go, Vega Hendrickson from Bainbridge high school showed up with a monster kick and finished only 0.06 seconds behind me. My final time was 5:11.72 which was a nine second PR for me and my first PR of the season. This race proved to myself that I am not yet burnt out, and I still have a lot left to show the world.

South Sound Classic — The 1600m PR, May 2026

On Why She RunsWhat running gives her

For me running gives me two great things that I cannot find anywhere else. The first is a thrill that I can't even find when I'm riding The Wild Thing roller coaster at Wild Waves in Federal Way. Every time I run, from the slowest recovery run to PRing in the 1600 I just feel so overwhelmed and excited to be running. This overwhelm makes me so grateful for the hard things my body can do every day. The second thing running gives me is a community where I can feel free to be myself and be happy. The deepest, strongest, best relationships of my life are because of running. All of my best friends are people I have met at practice, at meets, and even just the people who have supported me along the way in my running journey. In fifth grade, I somehow convinced my best friend, Mallorie to join my club cross country team because I wanted a friend at practice. Sure I had plenty of friends at practice, but in fifth grade, I was not fast enough and locked the motivation to run with the fast workout group that all of the other girls, my age were part of. Mallorie hated running for several years until we got onto the Stadium team in ninth grade. This was where both Mallorie and I found the true community aspect of running. I think ninth grade is where Mallorie found — and I rediscovered — the love of running.

On Her Support SystemThe people in her corner

I have had so many people in my corner this year supporting me, loving me and carrying me every step of the way. I know I am a difficult person to work with, but these people keep coming back and finding me and helping me even when I'm having a hard time. I've been so grateful to all of my friends and teammates throughout both this cross country and track season for everything they've done for me. I would also like to thank all of the coaching staff on the Stadium track team, but especially my distance coaches, Coach Danny Richards and Coach Maddi Hammond. Coach Danny has led the Stadium girls cross country team to many victories in the past decade and has been a pleasure to work with these past two years. Coach Maddi showed up when it mattered most and even when she couldn't be, there was always supporting however she could. Coach Maddi is our assistant cross country coach and our distance coach for track here at Stadium and my favorite part about working with her is how it feels so easy to talk through anything that might be going on from stress of burnout to key racing strategy. But the person that has always been in my corner has to be my mom. She is the person who inspired me to start running, she has ran a half marathon and a marathon, and she qualified for cross country state in her junior year of high school at South Whidbey high school in 1986. No matter whether I have a good race or a bad race she is always there to support me and cheer me on. There is truly nobody who has been as supportive as she has.

A Note to HerselfA message to her younger self

If I could tell myself one thing in the fall, I would encourage myself to trust the process and be patient because results do not come overnight in the sport and it's unrealistic to expect that. Those unrealistic expectations can lead to a lot of self doubt and unnecessary stress. Trust in your training and results will come.

Trust in your training and results will come.