May 27th, 2006 Outdoor Track Nationals Lisle, Illinois
It turned out that my College running career wasn’t over yet. Despite not improving my time at ECAC’s I qualified for nationals as the 17th and final runner admitted in the 5K. I flew out to Lisle, Illinois with the team two days after classes ended feeling light. School was over, running would soon be over, and I hadn’t even expected to be going to nationals. I had nothing to lose and nothing to prove. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the races, jumps, and throws on Thursday and Friday before my race on Saturday. When Saturday came around I ran my race and that was that.
This race has been finished for some time now. It was over the morning of the 27th not because I had already run but because the running is a formality, a painful ritual designed to reveal who the winner is. My training was all behind me. Everything I could have done I had done. In the race I would run as I always had and make the decisions that had to be made.
I stepped to the line feeling light without the burden of a race to run because it was already over. Of course, I still had to survive the heat.
Bam. With the gun I’m moving cleanly off the line and I settle towards the front of the pack. One lap elapses and my mouth is already cottony. The water I poured on my head moments before the start has evaporated. There is a headwind on the backstretch where race helpers are holding out cups of water. Even the wind feels hot but we all ignore the water for now.
The race lasts such a short time. I can hardly remember more than fragments. Someone moved to get water at some point and a handful of others, moved by the power of suggestion, followed suit. I threw the water into my face and choked down any that landed in my mouth.
I didn’t hear any splits as we went around and I didn’t care. The times would end up slow, but this was nationals and the heat was killing us. Eventually a gap formed between the leaders and my own group. I moved closer to the front in the chase pack and I counted. Ahead of me seven runners pushed around the track. I was in the last All-American spot. Plenty of race remained, however, and the leaders’ lead wasn’t growing. Some of them would come back to us.
At some later point I grabbed another cup of water. The weight of my soaked jersey was soon forgotten because the weight was soon gone. The water burned away at both ends from body heat and the sun. I couldn’t sweat fast enough to keep it wet.
With a mile, or perhaps three laps, remaining everything changed. Attrition gave way to head-to-head fights. Someone in my group initiated the move. I covered it and felt other runners rise to the challenge behind me.
I was already holding on, merely holding on, to the pace. Pete saw the signs though I wouldn’t have admitted them at the time. My feet weren’t light. I’d been consciously injecting pep into my stride for a number of laps now. Nonetheless I felt the presence of another gear within my reach. I felt fresh tissue, parallel to and intertwined with the fatigued muscle, ready to be used.
The pace accelerated so I held on harder. The leaders also moved and their group strung out revealing some runners who had gone out too hard or were now dehydrated and overheating. The last two laps are a blur. The other kickers and I passed someone from the lead group. I felt a flicker of excitement when I realized that I could gut my way through to the finish at this point. Others kept accelerating and I just kept matching the pace. Into the last 200 we were all kicking. I’d had twelve laps to figure out that the homestretch had a tailwind, though it felt like dead air since we were moving with the wind. This meant there was no reason to stay close to another runner. I swung into the outside of the second lane and engaged every muscle I could utilize for forward motion. Every ounce of effort produced nearly imperceptible changes as the other runners and I drifted slowly in relation to each other like planets. Only the track was rushing by, but I had eyes only for my competitors.
I crossed the line, I suppose. It didn’t register on my brain. I vaguely recall shuffling around like a zombie before finding a highly unstable pole to lean against. Then someone grabbed me, poured water on me, I tried to communicate my desire to drink some of it. Everything hurt. My head and my feet were on fire. Drinking a lot of water and a little Powerade upset my stomach but it eventually calmed down. Dowsing myself at regular intervals restored my temperature. I was amazed at how quickly the water evaporated. Though my conception of time was highly untrustworthy I would estimate that my hair dried out every three minutes.
Eventually someone told me I placed fifth. Pete had talked to me beforehand about aiming for the goal of a solid All-American placing and I agreed that this should be my goal. I secretly hoped to surprise him one last time and blow away all expectations like at Cross Country nationals this year, but considering how my training has suffered from my injury I think 5th is no small miracle (and I have a minor history of crashing in the heat).
My teammates were all immensely supportive during my race as were my parents and a contingent of non-qualifying teammates who came out to the meet solely to watch and cheer. Also in attendance were last year’s assistant coaches, now Luther head coaches, Steve Pasche and Yarrow Mensch.
There were many other phenomenal events of the meet. Dan Austin won the Discus and captured All-American in both the shot and hammer. Our jumpers Brandon Mirach, Caroline Doctor, and Kristen Moss also placed in the top 8. Chris Beeler just missed qualifying for finals in the 800. Tyler Gray also raced in this event, but did not make it to finals. In the women’s 1500 Lissy Robie ran a tough race, but missed finals. In the men’s 1500, however, Mike Davitian did a heroic job beating up the notion that one has to always sit and kick in this race. A few of my teammates recount the trials and final of the 1500:
Just got off the phone with andy who gave me the play-by-play during mike's 1500m trials race.
He led from the gun. 60.x at the quarter, 2:04, (2:52 at the bell), 3:07 at 1200. had about 5 meters on the field most of the race, but everyone else was still in it. defending national champ nick symmonds started off in the back, but made a charge to catch up to mike on the last lap. Keep in mind, this guy has won the 800 at nationals 3 years in a row and the 1500 as a frosh and junior and sports pr's of 48, 1:47, and 3:45.
Mike held him off, though, finishing first in the heat with a 2 second PR of 3:50.6 (I'm pretty sure about the time). this is the first time all season that symmonds has lost a race at any distance. cross him off the list. very similar to 2004 when matt winkler also won his trials heat en route to his national championship. fun fact: that 1500m was the only time in the past 3 years that anyone other than symmonds won the 8 or 15 at outdoor nationals. why do i know this?
later mates,
-Sean Hyland
And another recounting:
Just talked to the man himself on the phone, and he is claiming much faster opening splits: he heard (and pete got him at) :58 for the opening lap, then 2:02. He said that both he and Symmonds were relaxed on the last straight, but that Mike was hoping he didn't go too crazy, and he put in a little spurt and lean to get that 0.01s on him. I told him he could borrow my pen if he needed (why?) TO CROSS SYMMONDS OFF HIS LIST.
He was also pumped about all the other awesome performances from ephs, including Brandon Mirach 8th in the long jump, picking up an AA. Caroline blew away the field by 300m in the 10k, and Liz also got up for AA in 8th place. Katie Fulton qualified in the 200m with 24.65, and the women's 4x4 ran a huge best time of 3:48 with Maddie running 58, V and Katie each ran 56, and Carrie ran a 57. Also, DAN AUSTIN won by a big ol' margin of 18 feet, though I heard that he did not break his record from last year.
As the anonymously evil coach from Mighty Ducks said: no point winning if you can't win big.
-Century
p.s. results at http://www.raceberryjam.com/ncoutmenevt.htm
And then in the finals:
play-by-play from the 1500m final:
Everyone got out SLOW from the gun. no one wants to take it, so mikey decides to take charge. through the quarter in 64 and the 800 in 2:08 (why couldn't he have run this pace in the freaking races i was in?!).
Defending champ nick symmonds on his shoulder, indoor mile champ will leer in the middle of the pack. mike hits the bell still leading and "goes into another gear down the backstretch". STILL in front with 200 to go, but leer is moving fast and symmonds is still right there. those two go by him in the homestretch, but mike holds on gamely for 3rd. symmonds first unofficially in 3:49.x, leer 2nd, mike 3:51 maybe. i think they were through 700 in about 1;53, so his last 800 was under 2 minutes.
FANTASTIC JOB, DAAAAAAAAAAAAVITIAN!!!!!!!
-Sean Hyland
As mentioned above Caroline Cretti blew away the field in the 10K after the race started with an abysmally slow 90 second first quarter. Caroline took the lead about a mile in and continued distancing the pack through the finish. Then she returned two days later to win the 5K, again slowly distancing the rest of the field. These two national titles come on the heels of her first National title in the Indoor 5K earlier this year.
Also in both races Sophomore Liz Gleason led for a while in the 10K to break the runners out of their malaise. She was eventually passed but held on and kicked it in for 8th despite an Amherst girl drafting off of her nearly the entire race. Liz then returned to pick up another All-American with her 8th place finish in the 5K. Mallory Harlin also raced for Williams in the 5K, but did not have a stellar race and was, I think, beaten up by the heat.
Finally, I must mention the historic accomplishment achieved at this meet. Macharia Yuot of Widener qualified, raced in, and won on consecutive days the 10K, the steeple chase, and the 5K; the most grueling trio of races possible.
Watch on Google Video here.
Video of this race can be downloaded here.
The Williams College Record report of this meet for the men: Men finish 4th at NCAA Championship Meet.
And for the women: Ephs 2nd at NCAAs; Cretti takes 5K/10K Double Win.
