Watch day one of Easton Allred's NXN Blog and check out his YouTube Channel at Easton TV
If you ever wondered what the journey to Nike Cross Nationals is like for aspiring high school athletes, Easton Allred's recent two-part video journey is a great glimpse into that reality.
The high school runner from Colorado -- who actually tested out of high school at 14 and currently takes college courses at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado -- published a series of videos on his growing YouTube Page, Easton TV, earlier this week.
It came after Allred's first experience at NXN as a sophomore-grade runner and ultimately after a thoroughly accomplished season in which he ran successfully for Rock Canyon High. He ultimately finished one spot outside of All-American status, crossing the line in 22nd place in 15:36.80.
He finished eighth in Class 5A at the Colorado cross country championships and third at NXR Southwest in 14:53.00, which also earned him the second-fastest 5K time for sophomores in 2017.
"It was an incredible season," Allred said. "I got to run with my teammates, who pushed me all season long. This is the first time I've been able to run with a real team and to have this success and to achieve all the goals I've set for myself was special."
Allred hasn't had the traditional high school experience, though. An entrepreneur from a young age, the 15-year-old has built podcasts -- one is called Fueled For Teens -- and even written a self-help book.
After testing out of high school as a teenager, he began taking college courses and began working toward an associate's degree in communications. He will likely pick up his degree in two years -- or sooner -- and has plans to go on to a 4-year school where he can study either business, medicine, or another academic track.
Running has helped ingratiate him back into high school culture.
Watch Day 2-3 Of Easton Allred's NXN Blog
A year ago, he finished first at the NXR Southwest Open Large School boys race in 16:08, but this year, after several successes, he went for a qualification to NXN in the championship.
Coincidentally, just three months prior he had began documenting his life in a video blog that he published on his personal YouTube page. Part of Allred's style mirrors that of former Texas A&M University cross country athlete and entrepreneur Ryan Trahan, who also tries to inspire others through his vlog.
"I've looked up to a few guys and Ryan's blogs are awesome," Allred said.
Ultimately, Allred struck the perfect note at NXN, journaling through his excitement, dizziness, curiosity, and anxiety as he finished up his last race of the season in Portland, Oregon.
Along the way, he made friends in Cole Sprout and Charlie Perry, who can be seen in both videos enjoying the same moments with Allred.
"People actually were asking us all the time if we knew each other," Allred said. "I had actually only met Charlie once and I met Cole at a summer running camp. I had never met Aidan (Troutner) before then. But we all became super close. That couple days getting to know them was awesome."
Over the past couple of months, Allred said he's learned a lot about blogging on camera.
"Vlogging in public can be a very weird thing," he said. "You have to put yourself out there. You're often seen as a target with a camera. But once you get used to it, people started to enjoy it and thought it was fun to have around."
Allred wants to try to continue to build his YouTube page with insightful videos about life as a teenager and high school runner. Some of those videos touch on athletics, but some also try to instill inspiration and insight into the world in which Allred lives.
While Allred is still a teenager, he also is starting to think about his future. College may be in the future, or business. He likes BYU and Stanford. He also enjoys vlogging and hopes to make his channel as big as it can get.
Whatever happens, keep watching. Allred has a lot to say.