Fernando Cabada Jr. (born April 22, 1982) is an American distance runner. He first established himself in the national running scene while in high school when he was ranked among the ten fastest high school boys in the 3200 meters in the United States. Having developed a reputation as an elite prospect, he accepted a scholarship from

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

, but became disenchanted with school and attended a total of four different colleges before quitting running altogether and pursuing manual labor jobs in the early 2000s. Cabada then returned to competitive running with

Virginia Intermont College Virginia Intermont College (VI) was a private college in Bristol, Virginia founded in 1884 to create additional educational opportunities for women. The college became coeducational in 1972. It experienced significant financial difficulties duri ...

coach Scott Simmons, who helped Cabada prepare for his 2006 marathon debut in

Fukuoka, Japan is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, Kuma ...

, which he ran in 2:12:27. Since then, Cabada established himself primarily as a marathoner.

Running career

High school

Cabada attended and ran with Buchanan High School of

Clovis, California Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. It was established in 1890 as a freight stop for the San Joaquin Valley Railroad by a group of Fresno businessmen and Michigan railroad speculator Marcus Pollasky. The railroad bou ...

until he graduated in 2000. At Buchanan, Cabada ran cross country and track and established himself as one of the most formidable high school distance runners in the state of California. In cross country, he recorded 15:42 in the 5K as a junior at the 1998 CIF Cross Country Championships. He recorded a personal best 3200-meter time of 8:59.02 in his junior year at the Golden West track meet on June 11, 1999, after which he was ranked seventh in the high school boys' 3200 meters in the entire United States. In his final outdoor track season as a high school senior, he recorded a personal best time of 4:17.28 in the 1600 meters.

Collegiate

Upon finishing high school, Cabada took up an offer from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

to attend school with an athletic scholarship. At the time, the Arkansas Razorbacks' prestigious cross country and track programs were headed by experienced coach John McDonnell. Cabada quickly grew disenchanted with the pressures at Arkansas and returned to his hometown to attend

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

. At Fresno, the cross country and track programs folded due to financial reasons, and Cabada attempted to walk-on at Arkansas, this time without a scholarship. Eventually he dropped running and, in 2003, dropped school altogether to work as a tile setter for $8 an hour. While working various labor jobs, Cabada allegedly applied to

Minot State University Minot State University (MSU or MiSU) is a public university in Minot, North Dakota, United States. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, MSU evolved into a university in 1987 and is currently the state's third-largest, offering undergraduate and ...

after contacting their coach, Scott Simmons, on the internet. Simmons, however, moved to Virginia Intermont and Cabada left Fresno to follow him. The move to Virginia ultimately saved Cabada's running career; at

, he won 7 NAIA titles.

International

At the

2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships The 1st IAAF World Road Running Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary on 8 October 2006, the women's race starting at 11:00 and the men's race at 13:00. This was the first time the title of World Road Running Champion had been competed fo ...

he finished 72nd. In the following year, Cabada finished 50th at the 2007 World Championships in the marathon. In 2008, Cabada won the 2008

Twin Cities Marathon The Twin Cities Marathon is a marathon in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area which normally takes place the first weekend in October. The race is often called "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" due to a course that winds through down ...

. At the

2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships took place on March 29, 2014. The races were held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The essentially flat one-loop course was beginning and ending in the city centre by Christiansborg Castle. Detailed repor ...

, Cabada finished 46th.

National

Cadaba is a two-time winner of the US 25K national championship race. He set the national record for the distance (1:14:20) in 2006. In 2011, he was back at the top of the podium, clocking 1:15:41. He won the 2008

, which served as the United States National Marathon Championship for the year. He won in a time of 2:16:32.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabada, Fernando 1982 births Living people Virginia Intermont College alumni Track and field athletes from California American male marathon runners American sportspeople of Mexican descent Sportspeople from Fresno, California Arkansas Razorbacks men's track and field athletes