Algonquin native hero to father, who has never run

Joel Jager stated things quite eloquently in his personal blog a few weeks ago.

Jager, a deeply religious man, called it “divine irony” that his son, Evan, has become a world-class runner and will run in the Olympic Games this weekend in London. Evan Jager did not come from a running family, he just found his love for the sport by himself.

His father, in fact, was never able to run. Joel Jager contracted polio when he was 10 months old and his left leg, after several operations, is significantly paralyzed. It is just another wonderful sidebar to the story of the 23-year-old Algonquin native's ascension to becoming an
Olympic athlete.

Evan Jager, a 2007 Jacobs graduate, will run on Friday in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase preliminaries at the Olympics. His recent success
in his new event – he has run the steeple only five times – indicates he has a very strong shot at making Sunday's finals and possibly contending for a medal.

Joel, Cathy (Evan’s mother) and Mallory (his sister) will be in the stands cheering him on. Without getting too sappy, Evan has never made a big deal of running for his father, who couldn’t run, but he knows the enjoyment Joel derives from seeing his success.

“That was a big part of why I enjoy running so much,” Evan said. “Seeing the amount of joy it brought to him seeing me do well kind of kept me motivated to keep trying to do better. It’s very gratifying and enjoyable to see how much joy it brought him, seeing me enjoying what I love to do.”

Joel underwent nine surgeries through his life, six on his crippled left leg and three on his right (mainly to keep the right leg from growing much longer than the left). He walks with a slight limp.

“I don’t really regret not being able to run,” Joel said. “It’s not like I feel inadequate or incomplete. Getting to see him run is really, really gratifying. It’s a compensation for never having run. When he’s doing it and doing so well, it’s great to see him succeed.”

Joel remembers Evan was always running, starting as a toddler when Cathy chased him around their house. Later, it was chasing a soccer ball.

“It was the perfect sport for him, he needed to burn off the energy,” Joel said. “He could be busy the whole time, ‘Chase the ball! Chase the ball.’ Soccer was ideal.”

Later still, it was usually others chasing him around a track or cross country course. He won four Class AA state running titles (three in track and one in cross country).

Joel never blamed God for him having polio. Instead, he thanks God for blessing him with such a talented and driven son.

Evan says his parents did not know a lot about track when he began thriving in high school races, but now his father is a “full-on track junkie.” Joel can talk track and knows names of runners everywhere.

And as a person of deep faith, Joel firmly believes he will have running days ahead of him somewhere.

“I honestly do not hold any bitterness about not having that experience,” Joel wrote on his blog, “but I will tell you that when I have a regenerated body in eternity, I am going to be the Forrest Gump of Heaven. I might never stop.”

Like son, like father.

Jager file

Born: March 8, 1989

Hometown: Algonquin

High School: Jacobs

FYI: Won Class AA state title in 2007. ... Won track state titles in 3,200 relay (2006), 1,600 (2006) and 3,200 (2007). ... Signed professional running contract with Nike after 1 year at University of Wisconsin.