Running has helped junior Dunn ‘suppress’ his anxiety

It has been FAIRBORN — quite a run at Wright State for junior Nathan Dunn.

Dunn and his Raider teammates are in Kenosha, Wisconsin for the Horizon League Championship race this morning. WSU’s top men’s cross-country runner, Dunn finished eighth last year in the Horizon League on his way to second-team all-league honors.

Away from his battles on the race course, an often unseen hurdle has affected Dunn.

When Dunn was in middle school he would often experience panic attacks severe enough to force him to leave early occasionally. Dunn said it was probably the time in his life when his anxiety was at its greatest.

“It was becoming a burden in my life. By the time I got to junior high I was bullied a little, which was also suppressing me,” Dunn said. “I didn’t really like to talk about it. It was a dark time, but ever since I started running it’s taken a little of the edge off.”

Dunn found running therapeutic.

“When you get done running you get a runner’s high that takes away some anxiety. I realized it could be an outlet,” said Dunn, a Covington High School graduate. “To this day I’ve noticed if I’m running my anxiety is pretty low. I think I’ll have to run or do some sort of physical activity for the rest of my life to be able to suppress it.”

Exuding toughness is often a stereotypical masculine trait. Dunn said that shouldn’t deter someone from expressing the emotions associated with anxiety and that bottling them up only amplifies that feeling.

“We portray ourselves as being tough and not having problems, but that’s not the case. I think it’s a good thing to get those feelings off your chest because everyone deals with struggles,” Dunn said. “Most people didn’t know I did because I kept it within myself. I still have a fair amount of anxiety but going on a long run takes it away. I will still talk to my parents or friends if I have problems because it’s not good to hold it in.”

Dunn’s sister, Anna, a sophomore on WSU’s women’s cross-country team, has been another part of the support system.

“Nathan being able to express those anxious thoughts makes me so proud of him,” she said. “It is such a nod to his mental strength. I look up to him knowing that he has put forth the effort to work through them.

“To support him I’ve just been the sister I know I should be. When he doesn’t have the best run or day I tell him the same things he would tell me. It’s one run, one race, one day and learn from it, build from it, and come back even better.”

The WSU women, led by senior Hailey Brumfield (Tippecanoe), compete in the HL Championships beginning at noon, followed by the men’s race.