He talks about how reaching goals requires patience and persistence and about how, over time, all the small things can stack up to become something very big.
Junho Eo is 12. His perspective is much older than that.
“If I keep running, keep studying, keep getting stronger and keep working on myself, I believe that someday I will reach the goals I have set,” he explains. “And when I do, I want to set another goal and take the next step.”
The next step. Such a fitting viewpoint for a runner.
A year of accolades
Still relatively new to the sport, Junho has accomplished plenty over the past year.
In December 2025, he was a top finisher at a national cross-country race, earning All-American honors from USA Track & Field. Seven months later, he finished in the top 10 in two individual events and was part of a winning relay team at the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships.
“The most important part of these results is not just the medals or times,” says Junho, a seventh grader at Lakeside Middle School. “I am proud that I have continued improving since I first started running.”
It all began as “just a suggestion,” says Junho’s father, Taesoo, who thought running could help his son excel as a soccer player. So the two of them began jogging together around their Irvine neighborhood.
Those 1-mile sessions led Junho to Happy Feet, a local club that offers before-school runs throughout the week and longer workouts on Saturdays. Soon, something he did occasionally with his father became “a regular part of my life.”
A new adventure
In September of last year, he decided to try cross-country for the simplest of reasons: He thought it would be fun.
“I remember being surprised when I went to my first race,” he says. “There were so many kids who were incredibly fast. Later, I learned that many of them had been training seriously with running clubs for years. That experience made me want to learn more.”
So he joined the Placentia-based SoCal Quick Track Club, which emphasizes more structured training while offering opportunities to compete on a grander scale.
Representing Quick Track, Junho finished sixth in the boys 11-12 division at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Indiana, only four months after his first competitive race.
Quick Track teammate Samuel Weinraub finished third, and Junho completed the 3-kilometer course in 10 minutes, 53.2 seconds.
Joy of a team
Over the summer, Junho experienced even greater success with Quick Track at the national junior track and field championships at Cerritos College. He finished second in his division at 3,000 meters and sixth at 1,500 meters.
The brightest highlight was teaming with Ryan Yuen, Willis Simmons and Kaijin Nelson to win the boys 11-12 4×800-meter relay.
“I really enjoyed the energy of running as part of a team,” Junho says. “The moment when you receive the baton and then pass it to your teammate is completely different from running an individual race. There is a lot of excitement and responsibility in those few seconds.”
Today, he is training for more national competitions in both cross-country and track. He is someone committed to preparation, athletically and academically, using part of the summer to devise his own study plan to work ahead in subjects like math, science and history.
His longer-range goals include attending the United States Military Academy at West Point.
“I think it would be amazing to represent the country,” says Junho, who was born in Korea before his family moved to the U.S. when he was 1.
He also has greater plans for his favorite sport, an often lonely endeavor he’d love to wrap in the feeling of community.
“I hope I can use something that I love – running – to help bring encouragement, hope and positive energy to other people,” Junho says. “For now, I am running to become a better version of myself. Someday, I hope I can run for someone else.”
