If, as the author Charles Swindoll opined, life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it, then Gwyneth Young ought to be guaranteed a very happy and fulfilling one from here on out.
Because for reasons both within her control and way outside of it, the former Cedar Crest distance running standout’s first 21 years on the planet have been, well, challenging at best.
None of this is apparent while one observes Young telling her story. She is quite animated as she does, often smiling brightly and engaging with her lunchtime companions on an otherwise unremarkable Sunday in January.
In fact, Young, currently enjoying winter break while preparing for her second semester of the school year at Elizabethtown College, appears to be very much at peace with herself as she details the laundry list of struggles and misfortunes that would likely have completely overwhelmed a less hearty soul.
It all began to go wrong for Young in the spring of her senior year at Cedar Crest in 2021. One of the top distance runners in the Lancaster-Lebanon League and District 3 in both cross country and track and field throughout her time as a Falcon, Young knew something wasn’t right with herself physically, and she finally was seen by a doctor in April. Her worst fears were realized when she learned she had a stress fracture in her tibia, as well as a strained gastrocnemius and a torn Achilles tendon.
Even more troubling to Young were the doubts she felt from some people who believed she was either imagining or embellishing her injuries. That only served to add to the pressure she already felt to perform at the highest level, for both herself and her reputation as an elite competitor, and also as a member of the Cedar Crest program, long known for its high-achieving ways.
Even predating her senior year ailments, Young had long felt an intense pressure to perform that did not allow her to enjoy her accomplishments as a runner.
As she wrote in a blog post for the hiddenopponent.org, “It’s sometimes hard for people to understand why I would cry after some races or just run away and be alone. I had so much pressure on (me), from not only the general public but also myself, that if I didn’t win, I was a failure.”
“It’s been a blessing, and it’s been a curse,” her mom, Gina Young, said of the success Gwyneth enjoyed. “Once you hit that (level of) success, everyone expected you to be at your best every single race, break every record. No one was ever happy with her running. And she felt the weight of Cedar Crest on her shoulders everywhere she went. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a 16-year-old kid.”
On Dec. 6, 2021, Young learned the reason for her emotional unsteadiness. She was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and social communication disorder, which finally gave a name to some of her struggles. In third grade, her parents, Gregory and Gina, asked teachers if she should be tested for autism, but were told that Gwyneth simply had trouble focusing and the result was a somewhat quirky personality.
And just in case that wasn’t enough for a high school senior to deal with, Young was also diagnosed with an eating disorder around that time.
“I was told if I had Starbucks more than once a week, I wouldn’t make districts or states,” she said. “I tracked what I ate to prove I was a ‘clean eater.’ I got told by so many people in the community that I got fat and peaked in high school.
“I cried a lot, a lot of tears were shed. It was definitely hard.”
But after her injuries were identified and she went through eight weeks of physical therapy, Young thought she was ready to race again, just in time for her to begin her college career at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was enrolled in the prestigious Wharton School of Business.
However, she soon realized she wasn’t ready to compete at a high level yet, physically or emotionally.
“I felt everything was better,” she said, “and I would be able to race in the fall. However, my fall was worse than i could have imagined. After much consideration, I eventually decided that I needed to leave UPenn and take a gap semester to clear my head.”
That was when the healing process began for Young. She enrolled at Elizabethtown College, where she remains today, and has served as an assistant coach at McCaskey High School in Lancaster, helping guide the Red Tornado’s female distance runners to a state championship during that stint.
And on Dec. 8, 2021, just two days after her autism spectrum diagnosis, Young had surgery on her tibia, having a metal rod and two screws implanted to aid in her recovery. “After about 2 1⁄2 months of learning to walk (again), I was able to run, and have been slowly coming back ever since,” Young said.
She’s not running as fast as she used to prior to joining the Blue Jays cross country and track and field programs, but she doesn’t really want to. It is more than enough to be back in the race again, and helping others to run it without encountering some of the land mines that tore up her life for a while.
“I can be hard on myself sometimes,” Young said. “Like, why am I not running the times I used to?
“It’s hard, but I try to remind myself that I’m here but I shouldn’t be here. My surgery should have been career-ending, but it wasn’t.”
Young said that she also has to remind herself that, back in high school, she wasn’t healthy.
“I was running fast, but I wasn’t healthy,” said Young. “It was also partially self-inflicted. In a way, I enjoyed the spotlight, and I didn’t want to get rid of it. Because it was, like, if I get rid of it, what am I?’”
Among other things, that makes Young a fighter and a survivor.
Hoping to prevent others from dealing with what she had to, Young has become an advocate for mental health awareness, particularly among athletes, and hopes to help eliminate some of the stigma that comes with it so others can hopefully enjoy a smoother journey.
“I am not trying to pull a pity party,” she said. “I am not trying to sound like the victim, because while I can be seen as one for some situations, I also was at fault on multiple (occasions).
“I am (trying to) bring awareness. I want to show people that it is OK. You are enough, we can fight through all this together.”
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