Who are we and where are we going? These are usually very common questions at some point in people’s lives and, at that moment, we should sit down for a moment to think about what we really like, what we are passionate about and what gives us fulfillment. Steve Jobs said that “the only way to do a great job is to love what you do”.
These same questions were once asked by Josué Murcia, an athlete from Los Ángeles, a town in Grecia, in the province of Alajuela. We will talk about this later, in some very interesting paragraphs about difficult moments in his career that he was able to overcome thanks to God and to the fighting and motivating spirit of the 27 year old.
For Murcia, his childhood was quite beautiful and meaningful because at the age of 4 his parents enrolled him in a soccer team. He studied elementary school in Los Angeles. Then he was in the sports high school of Grecia, he entered that school because he could practice sports half of the day and the other half to study, and at that time he was focused on athletics, at 13 years old to be exact.
However, in school he had already known and, of course, practiced sports such as indoor soccer, volleyball, handball and athletics, in fact both Josué and his classmates became national champions two years in school in handball.
Los Angeles according to Josué Murcia
The young athlete described the town where he was born and grew up, which belongs to Alajuela, “it is an almost rural area, where the kindness of the people, of the Costa Rican is characterized, in a rural area it is undoubtedly different than living in the metropolitan area, in the sense that in Los Angeles, all the neighbors know each other and if my mom cooked something she gives a little to the neighbor, we all know each other, we share and we take care of each other. You keep that desire to serve the community, to try to help each other, that’s something I like a lot. It can be different in the case of the cities where everyone is in their own things, accelerated”.
Regarding his childhood, he said he spent a lot of his free time outside the house, playing with his friends, riding his bicycle, going to the rivers, to the pools, climbing trees, so he said he had a very healthy, quiet and nice childhood, “I was always involved in some sport; I remember Sundays going to mass because our family is Catholic. Now I live in Santa Ana, because I work in Escazú and it is close enough to visit my parents”.
About Costa Rica, the country he loves deeply, he highlighted the immense nature, the beaches and the mountains, “I could not choose which one I like more, I enjoy both. I am proud to be Costa Rican, when I am abroad I represent my country with pride, when I talk about it, people perceive it”.
Thanks to the teachings of his parents, Murcia has values, principles and a way of being authentic, which are reflected, in his opinion, in the most important thing: “thank God for all the things I have, for me it is very special to be close to him, also try to be a better person every day, is what my parents and sport has taught me. To be clear about where I come from and the person I am with respect to my values. That if you set your mind to something you can achieve it and that things have to be earned, nothing is a gift. Since I was little I remember that I had to work to buy my things, we never lacked anything, but they (my parents) did it that way and I am very grateful, because when you grow up with those teachings everything becomes easier, the theme of fighting and getting ahead despite the circumstances or adversities, and we do not really see it as that, it is like what we have to do, which is part of life”.
Studies and diverse work experience
Josué studied Human Movement Sciences at the University of Costa Rica. Last year (2023) he completed a specialization in International Training at the University of Leipzig in Germany and is now in the process of studying for a Master’s degree in Business Administration, preferably in the United States.
His work experience has been diverse: he has worked with swimming and athletics academies. Now he is the trainer and physical trainer of the Eskalada Deportiva school in Escazú, he has an athletics team called “Flowtrack”, it is an enterprise, he is also the trainer of children who run on track, in the street, who do marathons, he also trains people who only do it for health.
There is no sport he doesn’t like
Murcia has always had an affinity for sports, “there is no sport I don’t like. My mom signed me up for a soccer team when I was 4 years old, by the time I was 10 years old I was playing five different sports and when I couldn’t play one because the weather didn’t allow it, I had a hard time because I really enjoyed practicing, training and moving around, today I am dedicated to athletics, but whenever I have some free time I like to go swimming, cycling, or do another sport because I really enjoy it,” he said.
Athletics runs through his veins
Josué has been practicing athletics for 14 years now. When he decided for athletics, he began to take it seriously, “I have always been in the middle-distance area, when I was younger I competed with the 600 meters, also instead of the 400 meters I went with the 300; instead of 1,500 meters I went with the 1,200; today he keeps with the 800 meters.
The Tico athlete emphasized that, thanks to many people, mainly his parents, he got to know athletics, they have supported him, he never lacked anything to train.
“There comes a point when you question why you do it, and today I practice athletics because I like it, I will continue running all my life, I enjoy it very much. You always have the desire to want to be better, to improve yourself, when you set a finish line and you have trained a lot, when you think that the race you are going to run is going to be the best of your life, that is what moves me and it is one of the few things in life that makes me feel those emotions. Of course, with time one can no longer make it so intense or so competitive with respect to the distance, but I will still enjoy it to the fullest. There are many other people who have influenced my career: managers, coaches, friends and the desire to do things, since there are times when you are tired, or there are other commitments,” he added.
Pillars in the sport
He considers himself lucky, because when he started in the sport in Greece, he had a coach, Carlos Campos -now retired- who had a very good training with the process of technical athletics, “he taught us athletics as a game and then basically we fell in love with the sport, he is the most important pillar of my beginnings”.
His parents are another of his pillars, since they have always been linked to the sport: his mother is 61 years old and runs street races, his father is physically active, and his siblings were running until recently.
Why did you choose half distance and not full distance?
In athletics there are different areas, according to the taste of an athlete. If we focus on the Tico athlete, we can say that there is half and full distance, he has always liked half distance because, in his opinion, it is very complex. Running 800 meters is a test in which you have to have a lot of resistance, but you also have to be very fast, maybe not as fast as the 400 meters, or not as resistant as the 10,000, but you are like in the middle, you have to be between the two and it is something very nice. Before I didn’t enjoy training sessions as long as 20 and 25 kilometers, now I enjoy them more, I also like to run fast. There are weeks of sprint training, I have to run 50, 100, 200 meters, 20 kilometers and so on, you can have that versatility that makes it authentic”.
The dream of going to the Olympic Games
The dream of every athlete is to go to the Olympic Games, it is the finishing touch, says Murcia, but at the same time he feels that going to the Olympics does not mean that he will feel fulfilled in life, “there are other goals that make me feel that way. However, after the pandemic I had proposed it more seriously and it is something I fight for, although it is a little far from the current reality, but I will always try to improve, to see how far I can go”.
The essence of athletics…
Josué, according to his experience as an athlete and the studies he has carried out, considers, he says that the essence of athletics is science in general, competitiveness, wanting to win, to excel, to be better every day and to obtain titles. “The essence is in learning to enjoy it, because it is a lifestyle, it involves you completely”.
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What must a person have or maintain to be a practitioner of athletics? “First you must be aware of what you want to do, to be clear about what it implies, because I have talked to guys who train and they tell me – they want to be the best – and I ask them if they really want that or if they visualize themselves on the podium lifting the trophy, because they are two very different things, because if you really want something you also imagine yourself reaching the top, but you also have to take into account everything you have to do to achieve it. You have to be disciplined, resilient because things are not always going to go well and have endurance in the face of pain, fatigue and state of mind, in the face of all that to stay in time”.
Achievements of the athlete from Alajuela
He has competed in all the minor category processes such as National Youth Championships, National, Student and University Games, Olympic cycle competitions, National Senior Championships, Central American and Caribbean University Championships, World University Championships, the only championships in which he has not been a winner was the World University Championships, in the others he has surpassed the goal.
It is worth mentioning that at the end of March he participated in the Pepsi Florida Relays 2024 800 meters, in which he did very well; on April 12 and 13 he competed in the Bryan Clay Invitational: Athletic Summit in California, in 800 and 1,500 meters and, at the end of April, he was in the National Senior Championship in Costa Rica where he won gold in the 800 meters; all of June and July will be international competitions with the National Team and other events.
Difficult moments and how he has dealt with them.
Josué talked about two difficult moments in his sports career, very significant that left him of the best learnings: The first, was in a 2017 World University Championship in Taiwan, his first experience as a world champion, at that time he had a coach and thought he had prepared well, but they had never entered to work the psychological part, which played a dirty trick on him, “I was very anxious, nervous, The coach could not travel with us, because there was no budget, so we were alone, I had a hard time focusing as it should be and in the end the results were not positive, the leaders who were around at that time were quite critical of me and I felt like in a hole, after that I had a hard time trying again”.
In 2018 he tried to quit athletics, he left for the United States, he froze his career at the university, he spent a year without studying or training because he did not know what he wanted to do, he was having a very bad time. “In 2019 I decided to resume, again I was in National Selection processes and in an international event again I was with another negative psychological episode, so then I decided to start working with a psychologist, the pandemic passed, I managed to stabilize and performance continued to improve.”
Another difficult moment was last year (2023) in Germany, he had prepared a lot to go to study and compete in Europe; when the competitions were starting he had a displacement in the joint capsule in his left knee, in a training session at the gym, it became very inflamed and in a week he thought he would not be able to run anymore, which emotionally deteriorated, because he visualized himself not so much competing, but running all his life, which for him is his satisfaction, meditation, he feels happy and full. “No doubt I felt quite sad, because I was also qualified for some events of the Olympic cycle of the previous year and obviously I could no longer do them, but after taking tests it turned out that in 6 weeks of rest and therapy I could continue running, when I found out about that I felt that I was born again”.
It has helped the athlete to face the strongest circumstances of the sport: the fact of being a fighter, resilient, trying to see the good side of things and always go forward.
Other occupations and how he sees himself in the future…
Regarding his responsibilities with the Eskalar sports complex.
He came to work with Eskalar in 2020 when he was one year away from finishing his degree in Human Movement Sciences, they were looking for a physical trainer, and he applied after going through some interviews.
For him, everything has been a great learning experience, because first he entered with the focus on physical preparation, then he had to get more involved as a coach, I had to learn a lot more about the sport of climbing.
“I started in the company from the bottom as a physical trainer, then I developed a long-term sports structure by age, now I am the coordinator of the school and I work together with other colleagues, who are the ones who put together the routes and are the administrative area.I thank the owner Julio Arce, a mentor for the sport and professionally, thanks for the trust, we are a good team. Our purpose in the company is to be a reference at regional, national, Central American and Caribbean level for the sport, the values of the mountain, the discipline as such, we can teach people to climb, to enjoy it and do it safely, also, we have a group of high performance who want to reach important international competitions,” he reported.
Murcia also gave us details of his involvement with Hagamos Equipo, the Coopenae space.
Since 2021 he met them and was training and competing as part of Coopenae, in fact, he did quite well and returned to run fast. He contacted them again, made a contract and since he has been with them “everything has gone well, even feeling the support of a team, of a company that is committed to your growth as an athlete, as a person, professionally in this academic case, we get along very well, I am very happy, I am happy to be part of the Coopenae family and I would like to stay with them much longer,” he said.
As we mentioned earlier, Josué is also an international coach, so we asked him what is needed in addition to training, to be a coach today? From his point of view, to be a coach you have to be quite studious, understand the sport in which you are working from all areas, what is needed for a person to develop properly in the sport (in this case athletics), that people know how to run mechanically properly, the habits that are needed to be able to do it.
“Then the sessions are planned so that the athletes have the necessary adaptations and improve, but you also have to know what the principles of the laws of training are, on which you have to base them so that the training can be sustainable over time, so that the person feels good and improves. You have to understand that most clients have a working day of up to 10 hours a day, that they have families and responsibilities and you have to learn to coordinate everything so that together with what we indicate as trainers, they can do it in a healthy way and enjoy it”.
He mentioned that the psychological part is fundamental to help the trainees in their feelings and performance. “The coach must have excellent communication skills and at the same time be strict in his own values, attitudes and skills to set an example”.
Looking to the future, the athlete, a proud Tico, would like to lower his personal bests a little more, achieve the national record in 800 meters, run faster in 1,500 meters. He would like to go to more important events such as the World Championships or the Olympic Games, “although it is quite difficult to get there, because I feel that I have already experienced and enjoyed everything else”.
Josué likes to cook – he often dances while he cooks and it is a combination that he loves – he is passionate about reading biographies, articles, playing other sports recreationally and eating.
He identifies with Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Rafael Nadal and the Spanish coach Pep Guardiola, who in his opinion, have excelled a lot in sports and because “they are very intelligent and understand sports very deeply, from many areas they can live it intensely, I like that because I do the same”.
When he was little, and did not know how to share the good that practicing and training generated, he felt strange, perhaps as if he did not fit in, he always had the need to spend time reading, talking, investigating how he could improve “and the people around me did not see it that way, or did not share it so much, now after reading biographies of these sports personalities and relating to those who share the same passion as me, I feel comfortable and identified”.
Does he have any business ventures?
He is the founder of Flowtrack, and now he shares the training part with his girlfriend, the two of them are developing the training platform, which he said is in its infancy, due to their other occupations.
They want Flowtrack to be a training or integral development platform for people who want to learn to run recreationally or competitively under scientific criteria. “The idea is that in the future we can have a complex in which we can develop and where we can work with many people, now what we do is to train; we have groups with whom we train in La Sabana, also in the BN Arena, we have kids who train remotely who run marathons outside the country because they live in Europe or in the United States”, he pointed out.
For Murcia, entrepreneurship has been important, he says that it is a space to get to know himself better, to improve himself, to share with other people the same passion for athletics, his achievements, mutual support, to have a sense of belonging, and to want people to enjoy it, to sustain it in the long term in a healthy way and with a professional training criteria so that they can do their best.
“The time will come to dedicate more time and love to Flowtrack, right now I am dedicating myself more to being an athlete, I am only 27 years old”.
Undoubtedly, the story of Josué Murcia is incredible and sport, or rather athletics, runs through his veins, just like the title of this material.
The athlete concluded the pleasant conversation with our TCRN team, expressing that this life is very beautiful and we must enjoy it at every moment; that sometimes we postpone many things, but we must understand that life passes very quickly and we should consider, rethink what we want to do. “In many cases it is necessary to have a plan and dream, observe where we are and where we want to get to and take into account everything we have to do to achieve it. And if you get to the top, observe all that you have lived, between laughter, tears, exchange of knowledge and always thinking that what you live today is what really matters, dreams can be fulfilled, with effort and believing in ourselves. What we do and enjoy, we should do for ourselves”.
If you want to know more about Josué you can follow him on his Instagram account: @murciaj800 and Facebook:JosueMurcia Cruz.
