Fernando Cabada Jr. is an American distance runner. He first established himself in the national running scene while in high school when he was ranked among the ten fastest high school boys in the 3200 meters in the United States. Having developed a reputation as an elite prospect, he accepted a scholarship from University of Arkansas, but became disenchanted with school and attended a total of four different colleges before quitting running altogether and pursuing manual labor jobs in the early 2000s. Cabada then returned to competitive running with Virginia Intermont College coach Scott Simmons, who helped Cabada prepare for his 2006 marathon debut in Fukuoka, Japan, which he ran in 2:12:27. Since then, Cabada established himself primarily as a marathoner.
Running career
High school
Cabada attended and ran with Buchanan High School of Clovis, California until he graduated in 2000. At Buchanan, Cabada ran cross country and track and established himself as one of the most formidable high school distance runners in the state of California. In cross country, he recorded 15:42 in the 5K as a junior at the 1998 CIF Cross Country Championships. He recorded a personal best 3200-meter time of 8:59.02 in his junior year at the Golden West track meet on June 11, 1999, after which he was ranked seventh in the high school boys' 3200 meters in the entire United States. In his final outdoor track season as a high school senior, he recorded a personal best time of 4:17.28 in the 1600 meters.
Collegiate
Upon finishing high school, Cabada took up an offer from Arkansas to attend school with an athletic scholarship. At the time, the Arkansas Razorbacks' prestigious cross country and track programs were headed by experienced coach John McDonnell. Cabada quickly grew disenchanted with the pressures at Arkansas and returned to his hometown to attend Fresno State. At Fresno, the cross country and track programs folded due to financial reasons, and Cabada attempted to walk-on at Arkansas, this time without a scholarship. Eventually he dropped running and, in 2003, dropped school altogether to work as a tile setter for $8 an hour. While working various labor jobs, Cabada allegedly applied to Minot State University after contacting their coach, Scott Simmons, on the internet. Simmons, however, moved to Virginia Intermont and Cabada left Fresno to follow him. The move to Virginia ultimately saved Cabada's running career; at Virginia Intermont College, he won 7 NAIA titles.
Cadaba ran in the 2008 Twin Cities Marathon, which served as the United States National Marathon Championship for the year. He won in a time of 2:16:32.
