‘Marvelous Marvin’, freshman track star flashes through EU ranks

Despite not racing in two years, Marvin Tchangwa has risen in the ranks solidifying himself as a top ten track and cross country runner at Elmhurst University at the Feb. 12, Titan Open placing in second place with a time of 1 minute, 58.97 seconds. 

Starting his academic and athletic career at EU this past fall, Tchangwa was uncertain about his abilities to compete in the first race because of the impact COVID-19 had on sports, and a personal injury.

“It was my first race in two years because I was injured; and because of COVID[-19], we didn’t have any races,” Tchangwa, freshman, said. “So, I went into that race just to see what kind of pace I could run. But then I managed to win the race which I was very surprised about it. Even though the time was not even that great compared to my PB [personal best] now, still, it was a good benchmark for me to keep working and trying harder.”

After this race, he went home to England for winter break with his family before returning on Jan. 28, for the cross country and track season having a race lined up for Jan. 29. 

“I was very tired on that day because of jet lag,” Tchangwa said, “I went into the race saying ‘okay I am tired, let me just get this over with.’” 

However, with resilience and precise strategy as he tried to stick behind the first person and kick at the end, Tchangwa ranked in the nineteenth spot with a time of 2 minutes, 03.03 seconds.

In his third race on Feb. 5, at the University of Chicago, with the same plan, Tchangwa managed to rise from the top 20 into the third spot, cutting down on his time. 

“I was one-tenth away from my lifetime PB, even though I didn’t race for two years.” Tchangwa happily said, “And then I said to my coach that I would like to race in a quicker race with quicker people,” he continued. “So I can cut down my time even more.” 

In the most recent race on Feb. 12, during the interview, Marvin agreed that this was one of his hardest races ever. 

“One of the people in the race has a very quick time on paper, I was expecting not to be that close to him.” Tchangwa said, “But, the race started and when I went around the third corner of the first lab, I was ahead and I felt good because even though this guy is very fast on paper, I can still keep up with him.”

Tchangwa continued “I was struggling to be honest but then with the support of my coach and my teammates, in the last corner, I accelerated around him. I almost beat him, but he saw me in the corner of his eyes, so he sprinted away from me, and I lost by .1 second.”

Tchangwa’s record after that race was 1 minute, 58 seconds. Moreover, with that time, Marvelous Marvin, a nickname he’s picked up from teammates, has established himself in the top ten of EU’s fastest runners, top ten regionally, and top 180 fastest runners nationally.