Prince William police officer Jason Van Horn won three running medals this week at the 2015 World Police and Fire Games.
Van Horn, who has been with the department for 13-years, is currently an instructor at the Prince William police academy.
During the running portion of the games this week, Van Horn received a bronze medal for the 5,000 meter track race, a silver medal for the 3,000 meter steeple chase and a gold medal for the half-marathon.
According to Van Horn, running has always been a part of his life.
“I’ve been running off and on for the last 25 plus years, following in my older brother and older sister’s footsteps – they were both very competitive runners. And it’s something that’s just been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” said Van Horn.
This was his first time in the games, and because of their close proximity to Prince William, he wanted to make sure he competed.
“This was an opportunity that I didn’t want to let slip by, because it was basically right next door to us,” said Van Horn.
In order to get ready to compete in the games, he trained by himself with a rigorous training plan.
“Unfortunately I had to do all of the training by myself. My brother-in-law, who is a teacher for the county – he’s a very accomplished coach. And he was able to put me on a training schedule that helped get me ready…there weren’t any [other runners] from our department,” Van Horn commented.
For Van Horn, it was an honor to be able to represent Prince William police, as well as the United States.
“I was very happy to represent the department – and in essence, the country in those races. I was really more shocked than anything that I was able to medal in those events, just because of the competition – I mean its international competition,” said Van Horn.
