Lucas Rhed: Overcoming adversity again and again

As a sophomore in high school, Lucas Rhed wanted to focus on basketball and baseball. His former cross country teammates told their coach of Rhed’s running ability. Rhed refused to run when approached, so the coach asked him if he’d like to make a bet.

The bet: if the coach could beat Rhed in a game of H-O-R-S-E, Rhed would try out for the cross country team. This isn’t what interested Rhed, it was what the coach said next.

“If I lose, I won’t approach you to run ever again,” the coach stated.

Being a basketball player, Rhed agreed. The problem was that he didn’t know the coach was Tim Ray, who in college played for Ball State University’s basketball team alongside former NBA player Bonzi Wells. Ray won and Rhed tried out for the team.

At the age of seven, when Rhed was in first grade, he found his love for sports. Initially playing basketball and baseball back home in Chesterton, Indiana, he was also introduced to track and cross country. Rhed enjoyed sports so much that he would play year-round, but they weren’t easy for him.

As a child, Rhed would walk on his tiptoes with an idiopathic disease, causing him to have surgery. Due to him standing and walking on his toes, his Achilles could not grow with his body and doctors told his parents the tendon was four and a half inches too short for his body. After the surgery in November 2007, Rhed had spent three months in a wheelchair. The local 5K run was in March, and he warned his parents of his intentions to run.

According to his doctors, “If you run in the 5K, you won’t be able to finish the race.”

This was fuel for Rhed, he finished the 5K in just over 22 minutes. This is when Rhed knew he had a gift to run. He started competitive cross country shortly after he began third grade for St. Patrick Catholic School, and he consistently finished in third place against other schools. Rhed used this as motivation to work harder, which lead him to winning first place all of fourth grade.

Once again, adversity struck when Rhed was in eighth grade. At practice, he pulled his hamstring.

“I did not want to be the kid to whine and cry about an injury,” he explained.

This is when he learned there was nothing wrong with being that kid. His decision to continue running led to a broken pelvis which started from the hamstring issue. Convinced that this injury would change his running career, Rhed decided to focus on basketball and baseball.

The summer before freshman year of high school, adversity once again took place. Rhed got injured and broke his back. As a member of a traveling baseball team, Rhed swung his bat and noticed discomfort in his back. Rhed continued to play and cause more pain each time he swung the bat. As freshman year started, during conditioning for basketball Rhed’s back gave out while squatting in the break room. Rhed had fractured his L3, L4, and L5 vertebrae. The back injury made basketball and baseball harder to play, so he needed a back brace. Due to playing in the brace the entire time, Rhed could not bend to play defense in basketball or swing a bat in baseball. This made Rhed question his future in sports as he lost confidence in himself and his love for sports.

Barely making the varsity team his junior year, Rhed trained even harder during track season to become better at cross country. Rhed would run at least 50 miles a week and cut over a minute and a half off his time. The hard work translated into the cross country season, and because Rhed did so well he made it to the state tournament. Rhed finished sixth place and would be honored as part of the All-State cross country team. This is where IUPUI cross country coaches approached him about running for the University’s cross-country team, and now he is here.

As a freshman at IUPUI, Rhed underperformed for the standards he set for himself. IUPUI had won the conference title before he attended the school, so Rhed wanted to be a part of the next win but it did not happen. The cross-country team was battling a tough season due to the death of teammate Jake Graf. Now every time Rhed and the other three members of the freshmen year team dedicate each season to Graf. Conference championship was Saturday, November 2, at Highland Heights, Kentucky. This meant everything to the team to get the win. Even more for Rhed who said his father is battling cancer and loved getting the win for his dad.

When asked what is his motivation to continue going, Rhed responded, “I have been through so much and I realize it is to help everyone else who has gone through or have to go through things so they can see that nothing can stop us.”