Jared Wilson
Blue Team
RUNNING JOURNEY
When I started running I was also practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. During a routine training sessions I got thrown and landed funny - all of a sudden a pop and sickening pain in my knee. I knew something was wrong. I could barely walk. I have a high pain tolerance and even this was difficult. I left that training session shortly after trying my best not to throw up due to the pain. Not wanting to go to the doctor I took anti-inflammatory and RICE'd, I had a jiu-jitsu tournament in a couple weeks I couldn't miss. I ended up placing first in my weight class. After that tournament though I knew something was wrong. I went into the doctor to get an MRI, reviewing my scans the doctor said: "It looks like a bomb went off in your knee". My meniscus was torn to shreds. The doctor said I'd be lucky to ever run again without a lot of pain. I agreed to the scope meniscus surgery. After the surgery and a few months of rehab I tweaked my knee trying to get out for a short jog. It was at that point I broke down. I was defeated and asking the Lord to heal me. I was pleading with Him saying that I don't care if I ever run again, I just pray that I can be an active dad to my kids (like mine was to me). It was a very difficult and dark month. I went back for a follow up MRI and consult with the doctor. He came in, was looking at my scans and was acting weird. He told me to hold on, he left and came back a few minutes later and said "are you sure they scanned your right knee?" I thought about it and said yes. Then he called down to the MRI techs to confirm, they confirmed they did the right knee. He then turned around and said that he doesn't know how or why but the scans of me knee looks like the scans of a knee that never had the injury that I had. I was healed. I followed up with him multiple times to make sure there wasn't a records issue or something like that but nothing ever turned up. Since then I've completed two half Ironman races, multiple marathons, multiple 50ks, one 50 miler, and two 100 milers. At one point I thought I was going to struggle to run another 5k. I never thought I'd be able to run around the yard with my kids without pain. I truly believe that the Lord healed me, I now have three kids who I tackle, wrestle, run around with, and am so active with. My story is one of pain, loss, and redemption.
RUNNING GOALS
I am an ultra runner in eastern Tennessee, in a small mountain town outside of Chattanooga named Signal Mountain. I completed my first 100 miler (Chattanooga 100) in 2019 days before the world shut down. The following year I ran the Yeti 100 mile endurance run in Damascus, VA. While my accomplishments are great and a driving force for me, my real story starts 8 years ago when I severely tore my meniscus practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I got thrown, I landed in a funny position, and ended the night with a very swollen knee and a good bit of pain. Not really knowing what my options were I saw the orthopedic doctor and decided on getting the knee scope surgery. After the surgery, the doctor told me that my knee looked like a bomb blew up in it. He did everything he could but ended up taking a lot of my cartridge out. At the time I was getting into sprint and olympic distance triathlons. He said that I would likely not be much of a runner - at least not without a good bit of pain. I was really devastated. Not really because I was potentially losing my running hobby, but because I may have been losing my active lifestyle. I had dreamed for as long as I could remember of being a husband and specifically a dad, a dad like my dad. One who runs around in the yard, plays sports with their kids, crawls around on the floor being a monster, and plays at the park with them. At the time I wasn't married and I didn't have kids, so much of this was forward-thinking. But, I knew what I wanted. After the surgery, I couldn't do any of these, for some time I was barely moving without inflammation or pain. I cried a LOT and prayed for healing. A couple of months later I went back in for a follow-up MRI due to a slight tweak I thought I had. Once I came back to see the doctor that did my surgery and for the scan read-out, he was acting really strange... He asked me if it was my right knee with the injury, which I confirmed. He asked me if it was my right knee that they scanned, which I confirmed. He left the room with little to no explanation. After returning he proceeded to tell me that he doesn't know how but my meniscus, the one that looked like a bomb went off, looked like it was never torn in the first place. It was healed. I don't know what, how, or why. But since then I found long-distance triathlons, finishing the Chattanooga 70.3 twice, and eventually, ultras - running the two 100 milers, along with numerous other 50ks. More importantly, I have three incredibly active and amazing kids that I chase, wrestle, and play with every day of my life. So now anytime I run it's a story of redemption, a reminder that I "shouldn't" be doing this but somehow here I am; and a reminder to love and enjoy every second I have being active with my kids because any day it could be gone.
SOCIAL
IG: marathonmountainman. Twitter: @JWilsonSecurity. Facebook: jaredscottwilson
