Jacob’s Story

In my Junior year of high school, my team qualified for Nike Cross Nationals, which is basically the biggest and most competitive high school cross country race in the country. We went in as the favorite, and everything felt like it was lining up. We had trained all year for this, and we really believed we could win.

Then about five days before we were supposed to fly across the country for NXN, things started to go sideways. My stomach was killing me, my blood sugars were running really high, and no matter how much insulin I took, it barely helped. I felt drained, like I had no energy at all. We eventually figured out I had high ketones and was going into diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which is when your body doesn’t have enough insulin and starts breaking down fat for energy, causing dangerous acid levels to build up in your blood. It was scary, and honestly, I had no idea if I’d even be able to race.

The next few days were a grind. I was constantly checking my levels, drinking fluids, taking insulin, just trying to get things under control. The morning we were supposed to travel, my mom, who was also one of my coaches, told me straight up that if my ketones weren’t low enough, I wasn’t getting on the plane. That moment hit hard. We drove to the airport not knowing if I’d even go. I remember standing in the bathroom, waiting on that test strip, knowing it would decide everything. It came back just low enough. Not perfect, but safe enough to travel.

From there, I slowly started to feel better each day, but I still wasn’t fully myself. I got in a light workout and a couple easy runs, just trying to rebuild some confidence. By race day, I finally felt close to normal again. Not perfect, but ready.

That day, we went out and did what we had believed we could do all season. We won NXN and set a record low score. I was fourth on the team, which meant I scored, and I finished around 43rd out of 200 runners. More than anything, I was proud of how I competed and how I closed.

Looking back, that whole experience changed the way I see diabetes. It doesn’t make things easy. There are moments where it feels like everything is working against you. But it also showed me what’s still possible. Even after something as serious as DKA just days before the biggest race of my life, I was still able to show up and contribute to something special. I hope that can be a reminder to other people with diabetes that you’re capable of way more than you think.

Jacob Hunter