There are many ways people relax and get away from the stresses of the world. Thomas Chaston runs – he does it a lot, and he does it quickly.

The Cheyenne Mountain junior was in his happy place when he won the Liberty Bell Invitational Division 3 boys’ race Friday at Heritage High School.

“I really enjoy running, and it’s a good stress reliever after going to class at Cheyenne Mountain, which is a tough school academically,” Chaston said. “Running is a good break for your mind after a long day, and I love it.”

He also loved his winning time at the Liberty Bell. He ran the 5,000-meter course in 15 minutes, 57 seconds, which was 20 seconds faster than Brandon Swenson of Evergreen.

The time was 29 seconds faster than Chaston’s personal record for that distance, and was tied for seventh-fastest of the meet, regardless of division.

“It’s a special race to compete in, and it’s a hard course, so I was very happy to be able to come out on top,” he said. “I tried to go out pretty conservative for the first mile, and then put in work from there. I never really looked back during the race, so I thought Brandon was closer to me than he was. I didn’t know I was going to win until the final stretch.”

Chaston credits the rapid improvement between his sophomore and junior seasons to his training regimen over the summer, during which he was running 40-50 miles per week.

Cheyenne Mountain coach Stan Lambros has been at the school for 22 years, and has watched Chaston get better since he joined the team as a freshman.

“He really started to come on at the end of last school year in track,” Lambros said of Chaston. “So it was quite a big step forward, but it wasn’t a major surprise because he’s been steadily improving.

“There’s no magic formula, Thomas has just shown up every day and worked hard to be consistent. He had a good group of guys before him in James Jones, Thomas Staines and Will Mayhew, and I think they made a real nice path of what he needed to do to improve.”

That trio – Jones and Staines graduated in May, and Mayhew in 2015 – set the program up well for the future, including helping Chaston.

“I learned a lot from those three, and they helped me a lot the last two years,” Chaston said. “They taught me how to race, and how to stay patient throughout a race. Now, it’s my turn to pass that along to the younger guys on our team, and we’ve seen a lot of improvement from our underclassmen.”

Lambros has been impressed with Chaston’s progress, and sees his potential.

“He ran the fifth- or sixth-fastest time in school history, which is pretty impressive considering our program’s top 10 list,” Lambros said. “But he takes that in stride, and is back to work and always wanting to get better.”

The team aspect of cross country means a lot to Chaston, and he wants to see the team succeed as badly as he wants to win.

“One goal I have is to win state as a team by the time I leave here,” he said. “It’s something we can do if we work hard and stay consistent.”

Cheyenne Mountain High School junior cross country runner Thomas Chaston is the Gazette’s Peak Performer of the Week. He was photographed at the school Monday, September 12, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette

MARK REIS

Cheyenne Mountain High School junior cross country runner Thomas Chaston is the Gazette’s Peak Performer of the Week. He was photographed Monday, September 12, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette

MARK REIS

Cheyenne Mountain High School junior cross country runner Thomas Chaston is the Gazette’s Peak Performer of the Week. He was photographed at the school Monday, September 12, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette

MARK REIS

Cheyenne Mountain High School junior cross country runner Thomas Chaston is the Gazette’s Peak Performer of the Week. He was photographed at the school Monday, September 12, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette

MARK REIS