Ohio distance runner Juli Accurso’s love for running sparked in her sixth-grade year when she and her dad, Kevin Accurso, ran their first 5k together with their Casstown, Ohio, church. The next fall, she joined her middle school’s cross-country team and has been running ever since.
Now, Juli outruns her dad.
“We would always run together, and I remember the moment in her high-school career and the exact spot on the road where I said to her, ‘You know what, Juli? I can’t keep up with you anymore. You just go and do your thing,’ ” Kevin Accurso said. “I’ve been running behind her ever since.”
Accurso has taken her small-town roots to Athens and has thrived as a distance runner. But this Spring Quarter, she will travel an even longer distance — across the Atlantic Ocean.
Accurso will take a step away from Ohio’s track team to study French in Avignon next quarter and then stay overseas during the summer to volunteer through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. She will learn how to run a bed-and-breakfast, harvest a vegetable garden and teach English to local students, all while continuing her training and living in a town north of Avignon.
“It’s a once-in-a-life experience to go to another country and experience another culture, and I think it benefits athletes when they can go abroad,” coach Clay Calkins said. “She is one of the most motivated athletes we’ve had, and we have all the confidence in the world she will keep with her training in France on her own.”
Along with running, studying French, studying abroad, volunteering and balancing her academics, Accurso still finds time to Skype with Achia Ndao, a 21-year-old student in Dakar, Senegal. Through Ohio University’s Language and Culture Exchange program, Accurso and Ndao spend half the time speaking French and the other half speaking English to help learn each other’s language.
“There is definitely a correlation between running success and academic success. Pushing your mind to learn is difficult, and so is pushing your body to run an eight- or 10-mile progressive run,” Ohio distance coach Mitch Bentley said. “People who succeed at distance running can apply that mental determination to take their learning process to new levels, as well.”
Accurso has accomplished more as a sophomore than many dream of doing in a lifetime. The record-breaking runner is traveling the world, planning to dual major and hopes to join the Peace Corps. An influencer and a motivator, she gets noticed on and off the track.
“She had been a little bit shy, but the friends she’s made throughout her career, especially in college, really helped her be more confident and developed her as a person even more,” Kevin Accurso said.
Seven years after her first race with her dad, Accurso has surpassed Bobcat records in the 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter runs, distance medley relay, and 6k. She won an individual title at the 2011 Mid-American Conference cross-country championships and then went to NCAA Nationals, finishing 36th. After her cross-country season, she became the first Bobcat to receive All-American honors since Jackie Conrad in 1998.
“Going to Nationals was something that I didn’t think I would ever be able to achieve at my time here,” Accurso said. “It was more like a mental accomplishment, showing myself that I can accomplish these goals.”
She wears the same socks, sports bra and underwear for every race — but superstitions only take her so far. Sophomores Emily Pifer and Melissa Thompson, two of Accurso’s closest friends, train with her year-round, even when the team is not working together.
“Our bond goes beyond running — that is for sure,” Pifer said. “However, we are strongly bonded by the fact that all three of us are really dedicated and working towards the same goals.”
The trio does practically everything together, practicing every afternoon during the week and traveling with the team on most weekends for nine months of the year — whether it is indoor season, outdoor season or cross-country.
This winter, Accurso and Pifer are doing additional pool workouts every morning, along with core work and some lifting to build strength and to prevent injuries.
The three can be found running together, but mostly away from campus. They start at The Convo or Peden Stadium and then leave campus and run toward the outskirts of Athens. Accurso’s favorite trails are “Hilly Dogs” and “Angel Ridge,” which she describes as breathtaking and, quite literally, off the map.
The trails are a team tradition, passed down from when Bentley ran at Ohio more than 25 years ago.
“There is this special bond between everyone. It’s a family,” Accurso said. “The family stretches from the girls to the guys team. We are all one big family.”
nb155607@ohiou.edu
