Last spring, Dan Michalski, a 29-year-old airplane mechanic and professional runner whose running career had plateaued, loaded up a U-Haul and moved his wife and three children, his dog, and 15 chickens from Colorado to Utah to train with coach Ed Eyestone’s pro team at BYU.
After years of moving from town to town and job to job and coach to coach to succeed as a professional runner, he would try once more.
The results have been spectacular; Michalski has been a runner reborn. He has cut his personal record time in the steeplechase by a whopping seven seconds, placed a close second in the U.S. championships — just .19 seconds behind training partner/Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks — and qualified to represent the U.S. team in the world track and field championships, set for Tokyo Sept. 13–21.
Michalski completed the first step in making the U.S. team by finishing among the top three at the national championships a month ago, but he still hadn’t met the stiff world championships automatic qualifying time of 8:15.00. Two weeks later, Rooks and Michalski flew to the Bahamas to compete in the North American Central American Caribbean championships, seeking a qualifier. With Rooks sacrificing his race to act as his teammate’s pacesetter, Michalski won the race with a personal-record time of 8:14.07, despite hot, humid conditions.
Peaking at the right time
Michalski, who will turn 30 during the world championships, is running better than ever since moving to Provo, where he trains with four Olympians — Conner Mantz, Clayton Young, James Corrigan and Rooks (five, if you count coach Ed Eyestone), as well as record-setting road racer Casey Clinger, among others.
All are BYU alum who run professionally.
“I was looking to overhaul my approach to the sport,” says Michalski of his move to Provo. “It’s not like the training or the fitness is so different; it’s the support — the structure, the community, the facilities, the collaborative effort.
“I’m getting to train with two-thirds of the Olympic (steeplechase) team (Rooks and Corrigan), under a two-time Olympian (Eyestone), as well as with the likes of (Olympic marathoners) Clayton and Conner at every workout. It inspires you to work harder. It’s contagious.”
Carving out a living
Provo is the latest stop in his attempt to cobble together a living and raise a family while pursuing a pro running career, which he began after a rather modest collegiate career. After earning four Division II All-America certificates at Cedarville (Ohio) University, he transferred to Indiana for his senior year and, in his final collegiate race, he fell on the final water jump of the NCAA championships to finish seventh.
He began his post-collegiate career by finishing 11th in the 2019 U.S. national championships. In 2021 he placed fourth in the U.S. Olympic trials, one place short of qualifying for the team that would compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games. “The tragic fourth place,” he calls it.
At the 2022 U.S. championships, he fell in the middle of the race and finished 13th. In the 2023 U.S. championships, he placed 13th again, but he went on to claim a silver medal in the Pan Am Games.
It was a constant struggle to stay in the sport. He moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, where he worked as a mechanic in a bike shop, sold ASICS shoes and worked as a brick-staining contractor.
In January 2020, he moved to Indianapolis, taking work as a real estate acquisitions analyst while also taking online grocery orders for Walmart. In the fall, he moved to Longview, Texas, where he was head cross-country coach and assistant track coach at LeTourneau University.
In May 2022, he moved to Colorado Springs and worked as a volunteer assistant coach at UC-Colorado Springs and an assistant high school track coach. He also joined the U.S. Air Force. Following basic training, he qualified as an aircraft hydraulics systems specialist. The Air Force waived his regular duties and provided support for his track career through its U.S. Air Force World Class Athlete Program.
“My job is to be a pro athlete,” he says. “I’m very grateful for that.”
He and his wife Abby had started a family by then — they have three children under the age of 5.
Bottoming out
Meanwhile, his running career was nosediving. In 2024, he seemed to bottom out, placing 10th in his semifinal heat at the U.S. championships and failing to advance to the final. His personal record was 8:20.96 — from 2021.
At the end of the season, he caught a break, although he didn’t know at the time what it would ultimately lead to. When Corrigan, the runner-up in the Olympic trials, needed a qualifying mark to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games, Rooks suggested Michalski as a pacer for the effort because of his ability to set a fast, even pace.
In a specially arranged race in Philadelphia tailor-made for Corrigan, Michalski led the way for 2,000 meters and played a key role in Corrigan shaving 7.5 seconds off his best time to qualify for Paris.
That cooperative effort forged a personal connection with the BYU training group. Like everyone else in the sport, Michalski had seen the success of current and former BYU distance runners — four NCAA team cross-country championships and three individual NCAA titles in the last five years and seven Olympic track and field berths in 2024.
They have been especially strong in the steeplechase, where, since 2022, they have won three NCAA championships, one runner-up title, three U.S. championships, three Olympic berths and an Olympic silver medal.
Invite to Provo
In January, Michalski was invited to Provo in a belated celebration of their effort in Philadelphia. He got a firsthand look at the team and completed a few workouts with the team.
“I saw what a committed and collaborative effort it all is,” he recalls. “I knew that it was special. Maybe it’s the key to their success more than just the workout program.”
He and Eyestone discussed the possibility of training with the team remotely, occasionally flying to Provo to run with the team. Eyestone said he could do that, but with this caveat: “Our recipe is a full-time thing.”
In other words, the in-person, collaborative effort would be missing with phone-in workouts. That’s why so many BYU distance runners remain in Provo to continue to train under Eyestone after their collegiate eligibility is complete, rather than move to train with their pro clubs and pro coaches. Michalski made the move.
“It was a good move,” says Eyestone. “It shows what happens when you get in the right system. Sometimes change is good.”
“It’s been awesome having Dan join our training group, and he has become a good friend,” says Rooks. “ … We are all different athletes with different personalities and strengths, which helps us push each other during training and have fun while doing it. It has been fun to watch each other’s journeys and be inspired by them, especially Dan’s this year with the trajectory he has been on."
Rooks noted that on the final lap of the national championships, he looked on the jumbotron for his teammates “and I thought, oh, good, Dan is going to make the team.”
Keeping pace
In an ironic twist, when Michalski needed a pacesetter in his attempt to obtain a qualifying time for the world championships, Rooks accepted the job, just as Michalski had done a year earlier for Corrigan. Eyeing the extreme heat and humidity that awaited them in the Bahamas, they had second thoughts about whether they could meet the standard of 8:15.00 — three and a half seconds faster than his best time.
As a backup plan, Michalski also booked a flight for a race in Europe a few days later, but that turned out to be unnecessary. Rooks, who normally runs from the back of the pack and moves up for the last 1K of the race, took the lead 200 meters into the race and held it until the final 200 meters.
“I kept thanking him after the race,” says Michalski. “I couldn’t thank him enough for what he did for me.”
Michalski was a natural fit for Eyestone’s training group, a talented runner and family man — and chicken owner.
“Our kids have become friends,” he says. “And the wives and kids come to the track for some of the workouts.” A few years ago, he acquired a couple of chickens from a friend, and they became 15 chickens. He packed them away in totes and stacked them on the passenger seat of the U-Haul for the move from Colorado.
“My wife and our kids love them,” he explains. “And we all love the eggs.”
It turns out that Rooks has eight chickens himself and BYU assistant coach Ryan Waite has chickens, as well.
“My wife is considering it,” says Eyestone with a laugh.
Eyestone continues: “Dan has been a great addition to the group. He fits in very well. He has been very willing to do (our training program). You want a new member to buy in. He can ask questions, but we don’t necessarily want to do things differently.”
At 6-foot-3 and almost 180 pounds, Michalski is a towering presence in a field of mostly smallish distance runners (Eyestone calls him “Beast Mode”). He has a smooth, efficient running style and good speed.
“He certainly has the tools to be world class,” Eyestone says. “He moves well late in the race, and that’s what you’ve got to be able to do in international races. He’s someone to watch.”
