A 5K and a relay at CSU

50

I coached a high-school track meet in Del Norte, in the San Luis Valley, the Friday afternoon before Harrison’s second track meet at CSU-Fort Collins. The high school meet ended under the lights, and I headed for Leadville, arriving late in the evening. I quickly straightened up Harrison’s room, made sure his uniform, shoes and gear were ready to go and got coffee ready for the morning. We would be leaving in the dark. Fort Collins is 160 miles across two major mountain passes from Leadville.

When the alarm went off. I rolled out of bed and got the coffee going, and also made instant oatmeal using the coffeemaker to heat water. Outside it was cold with a lightly sifting snowfall. Harrison sleepily got into his uniform and then pulled his warm-up pants and hoodie over this. He met the rest of the team downstairs while I warmed up my truck and swept the snow off the windows.

Soon I was following the CMC bus driven by Darren down the hill and into Leadville. The town was quiet and Darren went through quickly, but I got held up by a traffic light. It was short and I could see the bus taillights up ahead. I pushed my speed a little trying to catch up. However, north of town the roads were snow-packed and I slowed down. The taillights of the bus gradually slipped away into the darkness as we climbed Fremont Pass and eventually topped out at 11,318 feet.

On the downhill side of the pass I found a long stretch of icy pavement. The slick road glistened in the headlights. I actually pulled over to let some vehicles pass. And then I crept down the last straight-away. My right wheels found more traction in the snow at the edge of the highway. Darren was far more used to driving in these conditions and by the time I reached I-70 at Copper Mountain, the bus was miles ahead. I knew I would not catch up until reaching Fort Collins.

Colorado State University in Fort Collins is the second largest college in Colorado. I located the Jack Christiansen Track near the campus and found a parking spot not far from where the team had set up camp. I had never seen such a complex. It had an Olympic-style track, bleachers, and facilities for field events on the infield.

Track is brutal. Unlike cross-country where all athletes run the same distance over the same course, track allows runners to specialize in various distances and compete in more than one event over the course of the meet. Part of the game is enduring the long day, warming up and cooling down, all while staying hydrated and timing eating for optimal performance. Luckily Harrison was entered in only the 5K and it was a morning event.

Not long after I had found the team, Darren was ready to take the men’s 5K runners on a warmup run. He had competed on this track regularly as an athlete at University of Northern Colorado, and knew his way around. Soon we were jogging a route around the CSU campus. I noted tufts of green grass and daffodils popping up in flower beds here at 5,000 feet altitude. Trees were budding out. It was an entirely different world than the snowy mountain passes I had just driven over.

We got back in time to watch the women’s 5K race with Zoe and Anne running for CMC. Then it was time for the men to take to the track. I helped Harrison into his spikes, then stood back for the start.

There were only six men entered in the 5K and three of them were Harrison, Kenneth and Ben. The others were two runners from University of Wyoming and one from University of Northern Colorado. There was little question our guys were going to get thrashed. Still, the opportunity to compete at this level and on this track was enough to have them pumped for the race.

The 5K on a track is sort of an odd event at 12.5 laps. It lines up where the 200-meter dash typically starts, opposite the finish. Since there were only six guys the refs just lined them up and they were allowed an immediate cut-in to the inside lane. The UW and UNC guys quickly got out ahead, and Harrison led the CMC guys through the first 200 meters before dropping back behind Ben and Kenneth.

This order remained for the rest of the race, with Harrison falling behind then trying his best to regain ground in the last couple laps. The CMC trio finished all within 17 seconds of each other. Harrison had a brief meltdown over finishing last. Kenneth helped him back to the other side of the track. There I got him calmed down and changed out of his spikes for a cooldown.

There were still events ahead for other CMC runners, including Korben in the 1500 meters, Lexi and Brooklyn in the 800 and 1500, and Paulo in the 800. Both the women and men also had teams entered in the 4x400 relay. Most of the runners rested under the tent or nearby in the sunshine waiting for their events. Korben did not seem to be feeling well. There was a lull in activity and I decided to take the opportunity to go for a short run. I headed out on Mason Trail near the stadium, figuring I could get back in time to watch the relays.

I was not that far out when my phone rang. It was Harrison. “These guys want me to run in a relay,” he said. “Korben is sick and can’t do it. Do you think that’s OK?”

“Well, sure that’s fine. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said. As I turned around I realized the 400 meters might be Harrison’s worst track event, but this was a tremendous psychological opportunity for him.

Harrison had run in quite a few relays of various distances in high school but I thought it would be best to review some basics like exchange zones and handing off. I wanted to make sure he warmed up again, maybe practiced some baton exchanges, and got back into his spikes for the race.

By the time I got there the guys were excitedly warming up and practicing with the baton. With Korben out, Darren had rearranged the order with Harrison, oddly, as the anchor. It really didn’t matter since the only other team in the event was CSU and they had a team of four 400-meter specialists who were going to run away with it.

Nobody cared. This was the first time in history CMC had fielded a men’s relay team and they were fired up. So long as nobody dropped the baton they were going to be in the school record books. Paulo led off, passing off to Ben. By the time Ben got the baton to Kenneth, CSU was already half a lap ahead. Harrison grabbed the stick and took it to the finish. CSU had won the race but these guys had won at something else entirely.

It was an uplifting ending to a long day. Not a single runner from CMC had finished ahead of a runner from another school. In a few years their places and times would not matter. The only thing that would was the experience they had shared.

Notes from The Blur

Running the 5K was quite an adjustment in pacing after running the 10K in the first meet. When the race started, I stayed with Ben for a while, then he and Kenneth got a little ways ahead of me. I felt like I had time to pace myself and then catch back up and so I just focused on maintaining my pace. A few laps in I was photographed doing my impersonation of (Broncos Quarterback) John Elway — running with my tongue out, which I sometimes do when I am focusing.

As it turned out I didn’t have enough distance to catch back up. Ben and Kenneth finished before me. I had a meltdown after crossing the finish line because I was disappointed to finish behind them. It felt like a long time before I could get myself calm enough to go cool down.

After the cool-down, my dad took me to a coffee shop not too far away from the track to get a sandwich and coffee. Later I was asked to run in the 4x400 meter relay because Korben was feeling sick. This quickly turned my mood around and I was excited for another chance to compete.

Soon we were practicing relay handoffs in the parking lot. Before the race started, Zoe gave me a pep talk about how to go about the relay. After that, I felt more prepared for it. Finally we got on the track and the relay began and I waited for my leg of the race. When I received the baton from Kenneth, I ran all-out despite the 400-meters not being my best event.

I was disappointed with my 5K effort but it was not exactly my event, and neither was the 4x400. I gave both races my best despite the challenges going on in my mind.

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