Bellamy Immanuel blazes the track once again as the EMU Athlete of the Week. Immanuel, a junior, has made his presence known ever since his first-year, being named athlete of the week two times, and Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Athlete of the Week three times. Upon receiving these accolades he said “I think I feel special about it, but I don’t want to dwell on my past. I plan to look towards my future and just grind.”
Robert Hepler, (a.k.a Coach Bob), the Cross Country & Distance coach, commented saying “Bellamy is aiming for something higher than being the 3x ODAC Runner of the Week although he is honored to win this award. This summer Bellamy had a five week stretch of getting up at 3:30 am 4-5 days per week just to get his run and strength workouts in. That was before starting work at 6 am as a lumberjack. He built up his training volume to the point where he was running over 80 miles each week. He even had his first 100 mile running week. His last six months of training and improvement is on a scale that I’ve never seen before. In all my decades of coaching the only other athlete who I’ve coached who has displayed dedication like this may be his teammate Lucy Unzicker. But that’s another story. Bellamy’s work ethic and character are simply at the highest levels. He has high athletic, academic, and personal goals. I’m keeping those athletic goals between me and Bellamy. He believes in himself and trusts that his hard work will get him there. He continues to grow as an athlete and person. I am proud of him and truly honored to be the coach of such a focused man.”
Dawson Woodruff, a senior, commented “training with Bellamy is always motivating through how he provides hope to myself and the team that if we truly dedicate ourselves to the training then our hard work will pay off like it has for him.” Woodruff also noted that Immanuel is “known for training very hard, but also very smart through recognizing when it is time to push his body and when it is time for rest. He highly emphasizes the saying ‘hard days are hard and easy days are easy.’” Woodruff stated Immanuel’s “work ethic and dedication is unmatched” continuing to say that “Immanuel enters David Goggins’ mental state while training,” referring to a retired United States Navy Seal who was also a ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, public speaker, and author of two memoirs, and was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.
Vanessa Gardiner, a senior, said “It’s motivating and inspiring to train with Bellamy. He’s fun to train with because he makes a lot of jokes and is competitive.” When asked about his work ethic she commented “He’s a very hard worker, the amount of growth he’s made in the past three years is amazing. He’s breaking school records and making himself a name in the ODAC. He does so many crazy intense workouts like they’re nothing.”
Immanuel and his teammates run about 80-85 miles per week in training. He calls Sunday “my easy day” with only 8 or 9 miles of running. Mondays are more endurance driven with miles ranging from 8-12 and “we recover on Tuesday with 10 miles.” They get back on Wednesday with “double mileage beginning at 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.” Throughout the week Immanuel tries to get at least 7 hours of sleep. If meets fall on Thursday then they would run anywhere between 9 to 11 miles. On Fridays, if there isn’t a race, they average between 12 to 13 miles. However Immanuel ends his week off with a “long run which could range from 12 to 15 miles.”
Woodruff noted that “It is common for him to send teammates or the whole team texts of encouragement through highlighting areas where people individually are succeeding.” He also commented that “he typically reinforces positive behaviors through helping me to relax and slow down my breathing so that I am able to be more in control of my body when I am training. He also pushes us by telling us about what he thinks we are capable of achieving.” Woodruff lastly stated that “seeing Bellamy progress over the years could be summed up by his confidence and hard work. I knew he would be a great runner, but the jump he made from last year to this year has been surreal.”
Immanuel finished off his sophomore year by achieving second place in the 800-meter dash at the EMU/Bridgewater Dual Meet and achieved fifth place in the 4×400 relay at the ODAC Championships. Even though Immanuel’s junior season has just begun he has already obtained 1st place in the Men’s 5k at the EMU Mennonite Heritage Cross Country Invitational and 7th place in the Men’s 8k at The CNU XC Invitational.
