Friday Features: Shoeless Joe dosReis

To say bad luck comes in threes doesn't quite apply to Joe dosReis. But before the story of him losing his shoe in a cross country race, an unusual but not uncommon occurrence, you have to understand what dosReis has been through to get back on the trails in the first place.

His self-proclaimed "streak of bad luck" began in August of 2019. dosReis had just completed the Bobby Doyle Summer Classic, a local road race outside his hometown of Cumberland, R.I. During the cool down with some of his friends he inadvertently stepped into a pothole, tweaking his knee. He finished the cool down, but awoke the next morning to a stiff and swollen leg. Something was wrong.

dosReis had surgery that September to try and save his meniscus. Stitches were put in place to hold everything together. He was told the procedure had a 75-percent efficacy. Good odds.

He healed from surgery and worked his way back, ready to compete for the Wildcats at the 2020 outdoor track opener at Charlotte on Mar. 20. We all know what happened next.

The day after one of his best track workouts ever, the world shut down for COVID-19.

Upon returning from a run with his teammates, dosReis and his group were informed of the decision that campus would close and the season was in jeopardy.

"I didn't even have any words because I was working so hard just to get back," he said. "I didn't come into college expecting any of this to happen."

He returned home and did what any runner would do. He ran.

"I really didn't know how to handle it for about like a week or so, but I just focused on 'I can run now. I can train. That's all I can do for now.' Running was my sanity," he said.

He returned to campus in August, ready for an uncertain semester of competition, but it didn't matter. He was ready. But a year after his meniscus procedure, while on a long run at Davidson, his meniscus gave way completely. That 75 percent efficacy? He was in the other 25 percent. Go figure.

He knew what it was right when it happened. But because the team was on pause and he'd gone through it before, he was ready to deal with it and process it better the second time around. dosReis went back under the knife and had 40-percent of his meniscus removed altogether. It sounds worse than it was. He recovered quicker this time, and was ready to get working again six weeks later.

Then the day finally came! Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. dosReis was going to pull on his Davidson racing gear, toe the line, and battle with his teammates for the first time. But as is the case with dosReis, racing the nearly five-mile course at Pole Green Park wasn't going to be hard enough. Not for Joe.

Just over a mile into the race he was clipped by a competitor, dislodging his right spike. He went on for another 400 to 800 meters with it hanging on to his heel before a spot of mud claimed it for good.

Rather than give up and live to fight another day, his immediate thought went to his team. Knowing they needed all five guys to cross the finish line, dosReis powered through.

A photo of Joe dosReis — **dosReis' mom Nancy provided the finishing shot**

"We've trained pretty hard, so to come all the way out there, travel almost five hours to Richmond and not have a team that scores was something that I wanted to avoid," he said.

The second thought that crossed his mind in his state of flux was knowing it had been almost two years since he had last raced.

He figured "I've made it this far. I'm already here. I might as well finish this race whether it's pretty or not."

It went pretty well, all things considered. dosReis traversed the 8k course in 26:00.4, the third 'Cat to enter the chute and 12th finisher overall.

What did his coach think when he realized dosReis' predicament?

"That's Joe. He's not deterred by much. He's always going to make the best of the situation," said Renny Waldron.

Finishing in itself meant more to the second-year runner who had laced up his spikes for the first time as a Wildcat.

"Running is my sanity," dosReis repeated his mantra. "Running has gotten me through so much … It's something that I still love to do, so just being able to do it again, go out and compete … I love the feeling of competition."

With the past in the past, dosReis is looking forward. He hopes to get back to where he was physically and mentally during his senior year at La Salle Academy, and to help the team improve on their fourth-place finish from the 2020 Atlantic 10 Indoor Championship.

Waldron knows having dosReis around will have a positive impact on his squad.

"When you have a kid on the team who is in a good mood … who has clearly had some really bad luck … He never complains. He never feels sorry for himself. And he always brings his best … That behavior becomes contagious," said Waldron.

There's one thing Davidson can count on, with Joe dosReis in the field, he's going to give his best until the clock stops and he runs out of laps. And shoes.

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Friday Features: Shoeless Joe dosReis

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