Fernando Cabada Jr. (born April 22, 1982) is an American distance runner. He first established himself in the national running scene while in high school when he was ranked among the ten fastest high school boys in the 3200 meters in the United States. Having developed a reputation as an elite prospect, he accepted a scholarship from University of Arkansas, but became disenchanted with school and attended a total of four different colleges before quitting running altogether and pursuing manual labor jobs in the early 2000s. Cabada then returned to competitive running with Virginia Intermont College coach Scott Simmons, who helped Cabada prepare for his 2006 marathon debut in Fukuoka, Japan, which he ran in 2:12:27. Since then, Cabada established himself primarily as a marathoner.