The sound of feet clamoring, coaches yelling, runners panting and his family cheering for him from the sidelines – these are all sounds that Jayden Salo hears every race, but when he looks towards his family, he knows someone is missing. That is his twin, Craig Salo, who is coming up behind him. These two brothers have been competing with each other ever since they started running.

“It’s kind of challenging mentally,” Craig said. “You compare yourself to one another skill wise. You’re not trying to be better, you’re just trying to be equivalent in my case. Jayden is the better runner, and I am trying to get up there with him.”

Like any sibling relationship, there are times of tension between the pair of brothers. Constant competition can strengthen this tension, and they say it can carry over to the sport itself.

“Sometimes it does,” Jayden said. “When I want to do stuff with my friends and he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, I can’t do it because he will tell our parents. When one of us gets mad at each other, it’s easy to tell. The whole team can tell if he’s mad at me or when I’m mad at him because of the air and the vibe.”

Arguments are nothing new for the Salo brothers, like most brothers. There are ups and downs in their bond – both moments of great disagreement and moments of mutual respect.

“Sometimes whenever we get into arguments, we throw [our strengths over the other] at each other,” Craig said. “I usually say that I’m smarter because that’s kind of how that works and he would say that at least I’m on varsity or something like that. It’s a real slap in the face sometimes. Other times he and his times are kind of like a role model.”

Spending so much time with one another, whether it is on the roads at Cross Country practice, the terrain of a meet or the carpets of their own home, is something that the pair is familiar with; however, even they can recognize how it could be hard to fathom for other siblings.

“We live in the same house. Being on the same sports team is a little weird. It’s fun being around my brother, though. It makes it stronger because we’re with each other all the time now that we go to the same school, and we do the same sports,” Jayden said. “It just strengthens our bond and our relationship as brothers.”

Even though these two are trying to beat each other at every race, they say they still want to see each other getting better. Selflessness and compassion for one another defines their attitudes and actions on the course.

“During the winter and track we train together, ” Craig said. “Last year, we were in a race in the mile and our dad wanted him to slow down with me and he was coming off an injury. I was trying to stay up with him and he was just trying to stay ahead of me and in the end I started kicking in front of him. Then, he was kicking in front of me and it was like a battle.”

But the battles don’t happen often. Craig said their bond affects every morning in a good way.

“When I wake up he’s right there,” Craig said . “We sometimes give emotional support to each other. We always have each other even though we run different races. We wish each other good luck.”

Jayden finds all of the work Craig puts into running inspiring, and Craig feels the same way about all of the effort Jayden is putting in.

“We just push each other to be the best that we can,” Jayden said. “It’s cool to have someone there to help push you and work with you.”

This story was originally published on Trojaneer on October 27, 2023.