For those of you who haven’t already, meet Leo Schilling, a new junior who hails from the Cayman Islands. Schilling is a man with a great variety of interests such as aviation (he knows how to fly a helicopter), film production, and acting, but another one of these interests is running. Schilling has been running for four years now. “I started running two miles every morning, then fell in love with it,” he said. “It centers me.” Schilling also cited the YouTuber Casey Neistat as a reason he took on running as a hobby: “He goes out for morning runs every day,” Schilling said, “and I’ve also made YouTube videos before, so those passions kind of intertwined.”

Schilling’s accomplishments in the field of running are greatly impressive: in addition to running two full marathons, he’s also run several half marathons and has traveled to places such as Miami, Florida and Long Beach, California to run. However, despite all of the different locales in which he’s run, his favorite place to run is his homeland of the Caymans. “It’s a place that I’m used to,” he said. “It’s flat, and sure, there’s lots of humidity, but the elevation is low, so the two kind of help each other out.” 

Schilling also spoke of how New York’s colder climate has helped him as a runner: “Running in a cold environment has helped me adapt to running in warmer conditions as well,” he said, “because it’s the inverse of what I’m used to.”

During the fall sports season, Schilling was a member of the cross country team, and he expressed gratitude towards his coaches and teammates. “Here at Masters, I have two amazing coaches that are around most of the time, Coach Allen and Coach Luciano, so shout out to them,” he said. “And the Masters running team, they’ve been there to help challenge me and push me to the best. Having all their support has really helped me for the better.”