The former Nowra Athletics Club member had to show remarkable resilience to return to the sport.

Jye's steely determination, as his body was letting him down, was the thing that kept him going.

A torn achilles, a knee issue and stress fracture to his right femur blunted Jye's promising career.

However, things did look better for Jye and on Saturday, when he turned in an eye-catching effort to come second at the NSW Cross Country Championships at Willandra in the open men's section.

His achilles is still not 100 per cent and he was sore after the day at the race.

As a 21-year-old, he has time on his side.

It was March 2017 was when things started to go wrong for champion runners who would not have looked out of place in a Commonwealth or even Olympic Games uniform - he was that good.

In February 2017, he was in peak form and recorded the seventh fastest 1500m time in Australian history at the NSW Juniors Sydney Invitational in a time of 3:41.69.

The nightmare started a few weeks later.

Leading into the national track titles in March, Jye's right achilles started to play up but he wanted to run.

"I was running well and pushed through the pain - silly me," he said.

It soon became apparent that his right achilles needed treatment.

However, it took seven months of frustration, visits to four different physiotherapists before he was diagnosed with a torn achilles and surgery was the only way to fix it the problem.

It was a frustrating time for Jye.

He had surgery in October 2017 and the operation went well.

"I was making slow but gradual progress," he said.

He started training in March 2018, only to be hit with a knee injury in July which meant another six to eight weeks on the sideline.

"I had to start all over again," he said.

He thinks the knee problem was related to the initial injury because he might have been nursing the achilles and putting pressure on other parts of his body.

To cap off his nightmare with injury, he suffered a stress fracture to his right femur and yes, it was another six to eight weeks on the sideline.

The injuries took a toll on the promising runner who just wanted to get back to the sport he loves.

"It was a confusing and frustrating time, " he said.

"Many people were telling me I should give up or try another sport."

Jye knew his run with injuries would end and there was only one person's voice he needed to listen too - his own.

He had things to achieve in his sport.

Jye starting running early this year and in March returned to full training with his Canberra based running group.

"Getting back to full training was just unreal," he said.

"The achilles feels good but I think it will be a good couple of years before it's 100 per cent.

"It has been tough and I have had a few roughs years."

Time proved to be a great healer and Jye made a successful return to a track he knows so well on Saturday.

"I have not run at Willandra for three years and it was unreal to return to a place that I have so many good memories from, starting from the junior ranks," he said.

"I know the track like the back of my hand and it will always have a special place in my heart.

"It was so good to be back."

Jye to his own surprise came second.

"I knew I was in with a chance to be with the leading pack as I had been ticking along well at training, but the result was a surprise," he said.

Saturday's event was a 10 kilometre run on a testing course.

"I had not raced over four or five kilometres for a while, so Saturday event was a big step up," Jye said

He now runs for the Bankstown Club and added leaving Nowra was hard.

"Nowra is an awesome club and it was tough to make the move. I will always appreciate what the Nowra club did for me," he said.

As many of his training partners are with the Bankstown club, Jye said making the switch made sense.

Jye now wants to have a solid winter season and then a consistent track season.

"I just want to run as well as I can, with a goal of re-setting my personal best times," he said.

The desire to represent Australia is still strong.

Jye has ambitions of testing himself against the world's best and we have not heard the last of - that is for sure.

When he is not running or training Jye studies sport and exercise science in Canberra.

Meanwhile, former Shoalhaven High School student Arron Parker is also well on the comeback trail.

Arron also had achilles and knee issues, along with a bout of ill health.

He was third at the NSW Cross Country Championships on Saturday and is another runner ready to live up to his potential.

Arron also now runs for Bankstown.

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