Concord senior Josiah Conley has been one of the most competitive cross country runners in the state this year, and recently finished third at the Division I state championship.
He followed that up with a sixth-place finish at the Meet of Champions, alongside his teammate, sophomore Spencer Clemans (24th, 16:19), who both qualified individually for Concord.
Last year, he was given the Monitor’s Player of the Season award for winning the 47th Capital Area Cross Country Championship crown, a fourth-place finish at the Meet of Champions and a 15th-place finish at New Englands.
He raised the level for his entire team last season, and again this year. With the New England Championships happening this weekend, Conley reflected on his time as a runner for Concord cross country, his success and his passion for the sport.
Q: What are your three favorite sports to play or watch, and why?
A: I only really watch basketball and unsurprisingly pro track but I love the 1500m specifically and it’s a great time to be a fan because the US is super dominant in mid d right now.
Q: How do you strike a balance between school and sports?
A: Fortunately, running isn’t as time-consuming as a lot of other sports, because you can only really train so much so managing academics isn’t too much of an issue for me, but if anything helps I’d say it’s having a consistent routine.
Q: What kind of music helps you focus for a big event?
A: I think music is huge for training and racing. Pearl Jam is my favorite band but this season (and I’ll probably be detested for this) my training has been 100% fueled by Gracie Abrams and Olivia Rodrigo.
Q: Do you have any pre-meet traditions, superstitions or good luck charms?
A: Unfortunately, pre/post meet traditions are reserved exclusively for Concord XCTF. Regarding superstitions, I’m extremely superstitious and do my best not to mess with luck. It’s never anything large, just small things like paying close attention to the routes I run on what days and what points I allow myself to check my watch.
Concord’s Josiah Conley runs with a big lead at the 47th Capital Area Cross Country Championship on Thursday. Conley won the title with a time of 15:48. Credit: DAVIO DELUCA / NHXCTF
Q: What’s your favorite part about the cross country and track and field teams at Concord High?
A: My favorite part of XC and Track at Concord High is playing basketball every practice and running up to the quarries.
Q: Who is your biggest inspiration?
A: Again, another generic response but my biggest inspiration is Jakob Ingebritsen. His approach to training and the Norwegian model in general influences a lot of how I train and his attitude and racing style is admirable.
Q: Who are some of your favorite athletes? Why?
A: My favorite runners are Jakob, Sifan Hassan for her range, Jack Kuenzle for his efforts locally in the whites, Mo Katir for his aura, and Beatrice Chebet for her dominance.
Q: Who are some of your mentors, and how have they helped you?
A: My mentors are my coach, Coach (Procek), who has selflessly dedicated an unbelievable amount of time and effort to Concord running and has taken me through 4 years of cross country. He’s taught me greatly of patience and controlling effort and I’m very grateful for all he’s done, my parents who help me with balance, dealing with bad races and are super supportive, my two siblings Oliver and Corinne, and my teammates Spencer, Conor, Will, Max, Stefan, Alique and Ethan (and everyone else) who make practice super enjoyable.
Q: What’s your favorite food, and what’s your go-to game-day meal?
A: My favorite food, which is also my go-to game day meal, is yogurt or Chipotle post-race.
Q: What’s your favorite memory of playing sports?
A: I don’t know if this counts but hiking up Huntington this summer during a swan song with my friend.
Q: If you could play professional sports for any team or in any discipline, what would you choose?
A: Swoosh Track Club in Flagstaff or OAC in Boulder.
Q: How does running help you in other facets of life?
A: Running is probably the easiest sport, and I love running so much so it really just makes life in general much more enjoyable and it gives me confidence in my identity in and out of sport. Furthermore, it obviously helps in all the attributes being fairly dedicated to anything does like discipline and response to failure, but overall it’s just a lot easier to work hard at other things when I know I have a run coming up later in the day.
Concord’s Josiah Conley races towards the finish line second in the Boys Large School race at the 51st Manchester Invitational at Derryfield Park on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. Credit: DAN ATTORRI / Monitor
Q: As you look ahead to the New England Championships, what’s your goal and how can you run your best then
A: New England’s will be my last time competing for Concord XC, so my overarching goal is to make it as memorable an experience as possible. My teammate Spencer will also be racing, and I know a lot of the rest of the team plans to come up there and support us, so I really can’t think of a better way to end my time with the team. As for a result, I’d love to compete honorably up front on Thetford’s difficult course, hopefully improving my placement from last year and set myself up well for NXR 2 weeks after.
Q: What have been some of your favorite highlights of your high school cross country career as you reflect back?
A: I’ve had a lot of great memories over the last 4 years, most recently finding out that my teammates and I all qualified for MOCs. In general, though, since I train alone for a big portion of the year the magnitude of being on a team is really highlighted for me so I would say the greatest highlight has been being a member of a team of 50+ people for 4 years and all that comes along with that.
Q: If you had to give some advice to younger runners, what would you tell them?
A: To younger runners I’d say about training: Reflect a lot on every season/ training block because this is where the majority of your progress will come from. Building upon that, train with strictly the future in mind and run/race with strictly the current moment in mind. In addition, if you want to be great, don’t be afraid to believe in yourself a stupid and arrogant amount because ultimately that’s what it takes to become better. Most importantly though, I’d say just to never take a run or workout for granted because it’s so much fun.
