This is an interview with 2025-2026 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year Jackson Spencer who won his state meet, NIKE NXR Regional, NIKE Cross Nationals and Brooks XC Nationals. Jackson leads the nation in the outdoor 3,200 meters with a time of 8:46.04. He will compete in the iconic Arcadia Invitaitonal on April 11, 2026.
RunBlogRun and NIKE Present
The Journey to Compete Episode 2 –
Jackson Spencer
This is our interview with Jackson Spencer who won the NIKE Outdoor Cross Country on December 6, 2025 and the Brooks XC National Championships on December 13, 2025.
At the World Cross Country Championships, Jackson led the U.S. to an 18th-place finish, helping Team USA win a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. Jackson told RBR that the last lap in Tallahassee was pretty tough. After Tallahassee, Jackson took two weeks off, then ran 8:50.50 at the Simplot Games.
At the New Balance Indoor Nationals, Jackson ran 13:54.70 for the 5,000 meters, the No. 2 all-time US high school indoor mark. Jackson Spencer also anchored his club’s DMR team at NBIdoors.
At the Pine View Invitational, Jackson Spencer ran a national-leading 8:46.06 in the 3,200m.
April 11, 2026 Jackson Spencer and: Marcelo Mantecon the race is over 3200 meters Arcadia Invitational. It could be a race for the ages.
Here is our interview Jackson Spencer (we’ll be interviewing Marcelo Mantecon next week).
Find all of ours Distance socialization series of interviews here. https://bit.ly/34czL0e
Find all of ours Athletics Chat episodes here https://bit.ly/2GkVoDD
Find all of ours Conversations with Larry here. https://bit.ly/30io2vY
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Special thanks to Mike Dearing, original member of The Shoe Addicts, who edits, clips, directs and produces Fortius Media Group, LLC and the podcast. RunBlogRun.com.
Special thanks to Jackson Spencer for this thought-provoking interview and to NIKE Sports Marketing for their kind support. NIKE Sports Marketing and NIKE running believe we build the sport one athlete and one coach at a time.
To learn more about NIKE Running, visit www.nikerrunning.com. We highly recommend it NIKE Vomero Premium and NIKE Pegasus 42 (And the new NIKE Structure PLUS!)
