Fast Times and Good Times
Finishing the School Year Strong
Late April is one of my favorite times of the year. The pollen has (mostly) abated, the mornings are still frosty, and afternoon runs are consistently warm enough for short sleeve shirts and 3” shorts1.
April is also the most difficult portion of the semester (at least here at W&M, anyway). Though this is my last semester and I spent my entire college career planning to make this year’s course load the lightest, I have still been absolutely swamped with schoolwork (anybody wanna read a 20-page research paper on Christian Anarchism?). As such, this week’s edition will be somewhat abridged. I do apologize, but there are, as the saying goes, only so many hours in the day. I promise I’ll make it up to you this summer.
That being said, there’s plenty more happening in the club running world than just my academic agony! Club teams around the country hit the track last week to close out their seasons, whether they were there for a fast time or just a good time. Here’s some of the highlights from the past week:
Up & Over
Peter Goffen, the 2022 NIRCA champion over the 400m hurdles, kept things rolling last Friday, taking third overall at the Oregon relays (yep, those Oregon relays) and dropping his season best to 55.24. OU Club runner Brock Nelson finished close behind in 4th with 57.84.
OU sprinter Brian Limage also took 7th in both the 200m and the 400m in 22.57 and 51.73, respectively.
Masters of the Metric System
There were plenty of 1500s run over the last week, and while I still struggle somewhat to convert 1500m times in my head (what’s the mile conversion again?), I know fast when I see it.
South Carolina runner Christian Geils took first in his heat with a blistering 4:05 at the USC Open last Saturday. Meanwhile, up in PA, Pitt’s club team was putting down some fast times. In the 1500, Nolan Pernia ran 4:09 for a big PR (and finishing just ahead of one of Pitt’s varsity runners). Ahead of him, however, was senior Jacob Montgomery, however, who broke 4 for the first time to run 3:59.46. I would argue that, on the club level, a sub-4 1500m roughly equates to a sub-3:58 mile in the NCAA, in terms of the competitive level it puts you at in the league. I have no math to back this up, so if someone actually wants to crunch the numbers — be my guest! Pernia also won the 3000m in a time of 9:30.
Pitt had several athletes run fast 5ks at the same meet. Sean McDonald ran 14:59 to break 15 for the first time, and Tim Purcell just snuck under 15:30. Speaking of 5ks: Cincinnatti’s Nicky Alexander (who you may remember for his juggernaut performances during the indoor season) ran 14:48.25 on Saturday at the Jesse Owens Track Classic. Alexander took 15th overall, and considering the race was won by VNTC pro Ben Flanagan, that’s no slouch performance!
First Annual Reasonably Speedy Denim Distance Classic
This is more personal news than anything, but I ran a jean mile yesterday and set a new de facto club record. I mention this not to brag but because it gave me an idea. Hear me out: a track meet run entirely in jeans. I want to watch several heats of a jean mile. I want to watch a jean steeple. I want to watch a DMR where every leg has a different length of jorts (a denim medly relay?). Perhaps one day we’ll make this happen, but in the meantime, keep an eye out for me jogging around your local track in my Levis. I’ll be training.
3” is by far the most perfect length for running shorts. I will not budge on this.