Dylan May was born to be a runner. His father, Clint, an excellent runner in his own right, introduced the sport to Dylan and his siblings at a young age. Clint has coached at almost every level of the sport and has been successful ever since Dylan can remember.

Dylan watched his older siblings excel at the sport, especially his brother, Colter, and sister, Kensey. Although Dylan could run and run extremely fast, for that matter, his real joy came from wrestling, which he did competitively for ten years.
 

In 2016, when Dylan was a freshman in high school, his father was offered the head coaching job at Southern Virginia University. So, the family picked up and left their longtime home in Bozeman, Montana, to move across the country to Buena Vista, Virginia. 

Dylan admits it was bittersweet leaving his childhood home, family, and friends to move across the country, but he was excited for a fresh start. His excitement increased when the family pulled up to their new house and saw ward members outside waiting to help unload the truck. Dylan met people that summer evening that he is still friends with to this day.

Your first cross country season was more than you ever hoped and dreamed of. You win your first collegiate cross country race, something you were not expecting. The next two races include stiffer competition and more racers, but you still finish inside the top 20.

In the final tune-up before the conference championship, you earn your second victory of the year. You ride that momentum into the conference championship, dominating the field and finishing your 8k in just over 25 minutes. After the race, you are recognized with First Team All-Conference honors, conference Rookie, and Runner of the Year.

Going into the regional championship, you have little to no expectations, just excited for the experience and the chance to compete. You surprise yourself again, finishing second, collapsing at the finish line after giving everything you have in the tank. The placement would send you to the Division III National Championship.

Dylan joined the cross country team at his new school, Parry McCluer High. He admits that although he enjoyed running with friends, he joined the group to stay in shape for the upcoming wrestling season.

Wrestling, similarly to running, also ran in the family and was even more popular. Dylan's father and uncles were state champions in their respective weight classes in high school.

In his freshman year at Parry McCluer, Dylan finished fourth in the state in the 113-pound weight class. After growing four inches and gaining almost 30 pounds between the end of his freshman season and the start of his sophomore season, his coach wanted him to lose the weight to get back to his previous weight class for the upcoming season, which led to unhealthy habits.

Following much discussion and prayer, Dylan decided to step away from wrestling and began to focus on his running.

Your first experience with the national championship is great. Just like the regional championship, you don't have any expectations heading into the race. You are excited to represent the school, the team, and yourself on division three's biggest stage. Your 75th-place finish is the best result in program history.

Following the Division III National Championship, you get a much-needed break from running and school, returning to Montana during the Thanksgiving break. While at home, you go hunting with your father—one of your favorite activities to do with him—and as you run through the snow, the pain in your knee returns. The swelling is so severe you can barely walk, let alone run. Luckily, the swelling dissipates quickly, and you again don't think much of it because the pain goes away.

You realize something is seriously wrong when you go home for Christmas. While completing a speed workout, the pain returned worse than before. The swelling in your knee continued despite icing and resting. You believe it is time to see a medical professional, so you take the rest of the break off and schedule an appointment with the university doctor as soon as you return to campus. He organizes an MRI, and the results frighten you.

After a successful cross country season in his junior year of high school, the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) started recruiting Dylan. The May family took a trip to Twin Falls, Idaho, to visit the school and meet the coaching staff. Other family members had previously been a part of the Golden Eagles cross country team and enjoyed their time there. Dylan's cousin, Griffin, who was the same age, was the first of the two to commit to the program, and Dylan planned to follow suit.

His desire to join the program increased after Dylan's father accepted the head coaching position at the University of Montana before his senior year. Dylan had always thought running for his dad at Southern Virginia would be fun. So, when his father decided to leave, it cemented Dylan's decision to attend CSI.

There was only one problem: Dylan desired to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The doctor tells you that the recurring pain in your knee is caused by plica syndrome and that surgery is a must if you want to continue competing due to the severity of the issue.

This makes you nervous because you understand the ramifications of knee surgery, and have seen many runners, including professionals, never return to their previous levels of ability.

After much prayer and consideration, you decide that you are willing to take the risk because of your desire to continue competing at a high level.

Dylan focused on his senior cross country season before deciding where to attend college, a season crucial to his running progression. The year prior, a rivalry began when Dylan came up just short at the state championship, motivating him to set the goal to win his senior year. He worked harder than ever before, and it paid off, winning by 12 seconds against his"arch nemesis" in the 2020 Virginia Class 1 State Championship.

After winning the state championship, Dylan was on a high, but news from CSI about his offer sent him on an emotional rollercoaster. The coaching staff rescinded the original scholarship offer after Dylan decided not to postpone his service as a missionary.

Your surgery is scheduled for February 16, 2022, and despite the nerves, you are excited to no longer have to deal with the pain and swelling.

After the surgery, you wake up to soreness in your knee but mostly feeling nauseous from the anesthesia.

You are looking forward to running again, which you remember you should be able to do two weeks after the surgery. However, a few days pass, and you realize you cannot follow the originally scheduled plan. A miscommunication leads to complications, and the next thing you know, you are dealing with blood clots in your leg. Luckily, the problem is not grave, but it still sets your journey back by a few weeks and causes many mental struggles.

You planned to take it slow with the recovery process because of the seriousness of knee surgery in runners. You were not planning on competing in the 2022 track season, but the setback is still infuriating.
 

After taking the rest of his senior year to prepare for his mission, Dylan received the devastating news that he could not serve due to a preexisting medical condition.

Dylan and his family decided it would be best to take some time to ponder before deciding on his future. He and his mother moved back to Montana to be with Dylan's father, who moved the year prior after accepting the Head Coach position at the University of Montana. He spent his days training and got into some of the best shape of his life with the help of his excellent support system—his parents. His mother was especially helpful during his time in Montana, preparing meals that were best for his diet and helping him follow his strict training schedule. The family would even plan trips around Dylan's regime, allowing him to maximize his efforts.
 

You are lying in bed a few days after the surgery, tracking the times of teammates, friends, and competitors. You are happy to see their times improve, especially those of your teammates, but you resent that you aren't racing alongside them. It is one of the darkest points in your life.

Suddenly, you sit up and look at the familiar whiteboard across the room where you have set your goals since high school. Painfully, you hobble over to the board and erase everything there. At one of the lowest of lows you have ever experienced, you make a decision that changes the trajectory of your competitive career.

Dylan remembers the day he knew he was supposed to attend Southern Virginia University. He was on his way to a date and just got the overwhelming feeling that that was where he needed to be. He immediately pulled to the side of the road to call coach Kyle Chandler—his father's successor after leaving for the University of Montana.

After the phone call, Dylan could not wait to return to Buena Vista. In a few short days, he has scheduled classes for the upcoming semester, made living arrangements, and booked a flight to campus. The only problem was that he couldn't start immediately, but Dylan made the most of his time with family in his beloved Montana.

You replace what was previously on your whiteboard with a single goal—become one of the best runners in Division III. 

Subsequent goals would then follow that help you focus on what it will take to reach your potential. You understand that becoming the best runner you can be will require dedicating a large part of your life to the task. You recognize that it is a lofty goal, but trust that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to with discipline and hard work. 

Dylan's passion for running was fueled by his first 5k event in the spring of 2021–his first semester at the university–at the Hornet Open, which, in Dylan's words, "was the worst race of my life." His time was slower than any time he had ever run in high school.

Frustrated with his performance, especially because he had been training harder than ever, he discussed the race and training tactics with coach Chandler. After the meeting, the two understood one another better and laid out a plan for future training. Working together, the two eventually figured out what worked best for Dylan. This individualized approach to training is one of the many reasons Dylan loves Southern Virginia.

A month later, at the Dennis Craddock Coaches Classic, May ran a sub-15 5K, shaving off over a minute and a half from his Hornet Open time and proving to others—but more importantly himself—that he could be successful.

The confidence gained from the sub-15 5k propelled Dylan to his first individual conference championship in a Knight uniform, winning the 5k by almost ten seconds at the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Championship.

After a longer-than-expected recovery process, the first competition since your surgery is just around the corner. There is added pressure since you won this event the previous year. 

Despite not being 100% quite yet, you win the EMU Heritage Invitational for the second straight year, blowing away the competition with a 25-second gap between you and the next competitor. 

After two solid performances against talented competitors in the next two meets, you head to the Roanoke Invitational in the final event before the conference championship. After battling with Hilary Toroitich of Fayetteville State for the entirety of the race, you pull away in the last few hundred meters to secure your second victory of the season. 

Two weeks later, you go through your usual routine of running the entire race in your head the night before the USA South conference championship, getting a feel for the course, and mentally preparing. This time, however, you also shave your head in what has become a conference championship tradition. Your teammates affectionately call you the "bald bandit."

You execute your race plan perfectly, winning the conference championship for the second straight season, this time with a margin of victory of almost 45 seconds. Despite finishing slower than you hoped and not having your fastest time of the year, you are ecstatic to be a back-to-back conference champ and USA South runner of the year. 

Next up was the NCAA South Regional Championship. Leading up to the race, you are the most confident you have felt all season. The week of the race, you have one of your best workouts of the year and feel primed to book a spot at the National Championship. The race itself, however, goes differently than planned. Course and weather conditions make it hard to keep your planned pace, and you run out of gas earlier than expected. Although you do not finish with your expected time, neither does everyone else, and your eighth-place finish is good enough to send you to the National Championship for the second straight year.

Humbled from the previous race, you head to Lansing, Michigan, for the cross country National Championship. The weather was not ideal for the second race in a row, with freezing temperatures and snow forecasted for the start time. Again, you do not live up to your lofty goals but still cap off an excellent first season back from injury with a second consecutive top-100 finish out of almost 300 runners.
 

Before coming to SVU, Dylan ran to please others—his parents, coaches, and teammates. This caused unwanted pressure, leading him to despise what he had become so good at.

Now his mindset has changed; he laces up his Nike shoes daily because he loves what he is doing. He still runs for the people he cares about, especially his teammates, but he mostly runs because it is now a part of who he is. "Running is the purest form of myself," Dylan expressed.

After two individual and team cross country conference championships in two seasons, Dylan will look to continue his dominance in the upcoming 2023 season as he continues to work towards his ultimate goal of becoming a national champion.