If you’ve ever run laps at Washington Park and were passed by a runner who makes it look way too easy, there’s a chance it was Jeff Tissue.

Tissue is known to his students and colleagues as a math teacher at Cole High School. But he’s also a competitive distance runner who recently ran in his sixth Boston Marathon. And his status as a top-level athlete has led to opportunities he never dreamed of like working with Nike on product development, having a full-time coach, and writing shoe reviews for the outdoor website gearinstitute.com.

“Elite is a strong word,” Jeff said. “If you ask my students, they would say that finishing in the top 200 is child’s play! For them, if I don’t come back to Cole with a “W,” then I should just stay in Boston.”

Tissue started as a runner in middle school, but when he moved to Colorado in 2014, his training and results reached new heights. While he says he is an “extremely competitive” person, he also credits his students for providing extra motivation to continue pushing himself.

“The students I have taught over the years have absolutely motivated me,” he said. “I see how they work, persevere, and continue to re-imagine their personal best, day after day. When I am running marathons, I spend a lot of time thinking about them and making them proud.”

And they should be. Tissue’s best finish at the Boston Marathon is 153 out of 26,400 runners. This year, in rough conditions, he was 308th overall.

While the personal bests and marathon medals are fun, Tissue said lessons he’s learned as he trains are providing tools and experiences that come in handy as a teacher.

“I have put thousands of hours and miles into this sport, and I still may never be satisfied,” he said. “I think about students who study their butts off for exams, work endlessly on applications for summer programs and colleges, and they will still have some disappointment. Sharing that experience with my students connects me in a way to their experience that is really beautiful.”