Mitchell Gray finished his LBC career in 2024 with three Runner of the Year titles.
(This article originally appeared in LebTown on June 4, 2025.
When [Lancaster Bible College graduate] Mitchell Gray (’24) was at Eastern Lebanon County Middle School, he realized he had a gift for running.
He was competing in the mile race with a goal of getting under 5:10. On the last lap, he said he realized he was at a good pace and could continue to push.
“I knew I had less than 400 meters to go yet, and I found something down in myself that I didn’t think I could find. It was just like an inner confidence, and I realized that I had more to give than what I ever thought, and I ended up running a 5-flat in the mile,” Gray said. “I didn’t know my body was capable of doing that, but once I put my mind to it, I knew I could do it, and that just gave me the confidence of being able to know that I could do anything that I put my mind to.”
He said he continued to improve throughout high school and college, eventually bringing his mile time down to around 4:20.
Gray graduated from ELCO in 2020 and continued his running career at Lancaster Bible College. He graduated from college in December 2024, and is now back at ELCO Middle School as a physical education teacher and coach for the basketball and track & field teams. He’s continuing his running regimen and is prepping for even more races.
Despite starting his school day around 7 a.m. each day, he has stayed committed to running. Sometimes this means working the entire school day, coaching practices during the afternoons and evenings, and then training at night.
“It’s definitely not easy to balance, as you can imagine. It’s definitely a lot going on,” Gray said. “I try to get as much of a workout in as I can. I pretty much have gotten all my workouts in since then, but that goes past 7 o’clock. It’s definitely a long day, but I try to be as committed to running as I can with all those things going on.” CONTINUE READING…