Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes McDonald High School product Heidi Hoffman is looking to close her running career strong at Grove City College.

Being a distance runner isn’t an easy task.

It requires a lot of preparation, both physically and mentally, along with many hours practicing to help build up stamina.

It is even more difficult when recovering from an injury, as McDonald High School product Heidi Hoffman knows all too well.

She has gone all-out during her final season at Grove City College following an injury-plagued junior campaign.

In late February, the Wolverines competed in the Division III Presidents Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships inside the Watson and Tressel Training Site on the campus of Youngstown State. For the first time in her collegiate career, Hoffman competed in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters in the same meet.

“It’s pretty tough, it’s challenging.” Hoffman said. “You definitely have to have mental endurance and mental toughness, and the (physical) endurance to keep up with it. But, if you have a team that’s supporting you, that is what gets you through it. I try to get up to 45 to 50 miles a week, sometimes more than that. There are lots of hard weeks, pushing with my teammates a lot.”

Hoffman finished third in both events, posting a 10:47.46 in the shorter event and a 19:14. 24 in the 5,000 meters. The Wolverines scored 96.5 points as a team to be runner-up, behind Westminster.

Grove City coach Jessica Smith thinks that Hoffman did well.

“I’m so proud of Heidi, the 3K-5K double is not easy by any means,” Smith said. “Not only did she have an excellent 3K race, she also came back stronger than what we anticipated in the 5K, and that’s huge. You don’t see that every day.”

Grove City is a Christian-centered university, and the faith aspect played a big role in Hoffman’s decision to attend the school.

“I really love that everyone loves the Lord and just loves putting in their effort just to give the glory to Him,” she said. “My favorite part is the team. We have a unique team where both the boys and the girls are very close, which doesn’t usually happen.

“But we hang out all the time. We have team meals and then even after team meals, we’re hanging out all together. So that’s probably my favorite part is just having a team that comes out and supports me even though they’re working hard, too.”

McDonald has produced a number of collegiate track athletes over the years, and Hoffman is proud to be part of that tradition.

“I had really good coaches in high school, obviously the McDonald program is really good and it’s improving every year,” she said. “But I think that the program here was very similar. My coaches have had very similar styles in how they’ve taught us, so it’s wasn’t a huge difference, but obviously college is a lot more challenging with the academics and everything.”

Hoffman is a captain on both the women’s cross country and track and field teams.

“I know, especially all of the distance girls, really look up to her just because she puts in so much time and effort,” Smith said. “They see that every day, so it’s been great to have her on the team.”

There’s still the outdoor season left before the door closes on her track career, but Hoffman feels that her time at Grove City has been fulfilling.

“I’ve hit a lot of (personal records), I did really well in cross country in the 6K, and I ended on a PR. Now I’m just going to give it whatever I have left and just try and have the most fun that I can.”