This is it. The Big Dance in Eugene. Going into this season I didn’t know what to expect would happen, but I didn’t think it would end up with my first shot at a US Olympic Team. It felt good to be back on a racing schedule that wasn’t one race every 5 weeks, and coming off of my race in Stumptown, I was ready to come to Eugene and have another strong performance.

I arrived in Eugene on Friday evening, and the next morning went down to get my credentials, do my uniform check, and get the lay of the land. The new stadium at Hayward Field is absolutely beautiful. They did a fantastic job building it, and I can’t wait to be back here for even more races. I found out where I’d be able to do my warmup, where the bathrooms were, hurdles, and everything else I would need to make sure I had a good warmup. After that I sat down and was able to watch some world class track and field athletes. It was a bit surreal knowing that in two days I would be down on the track and everyone in the stands would be watching me race at that time, and that only fueled the fire even more.

Come Monday morning, it was hot in Eugene. The high for the day was slated to be 95ºF at 4pm. My race was scheduled to start at 4:29pm. Not ideal conditions, but anyone who remembers my 2015 Junior Nationals race will remember that it was also 95ºF at race time. If anything, compared to the rest of the field I had the advantage of already having run in this heat on this track in a similar race environment. I was a little nervous throughout the day but was able to keep myself and my mind occupied. I had the classic three pieces of peanut butter toast after a short shakeout run at 9am, and then just hung out until I left for the track at 2:15pm.

Getting to the track was very easy, they had a dedicated athlete drop off zone, which allowed me to pull all the way up to the gate and avoid having to spend too much time walking around in the afternoon sun. I did my check in, had some very helpful people at athlete hospitality inform me that there were no air conditioned areas for the athletes to sit in before their warmups, but the portable bathrooms had AC in them. When I would start to feel a little too warm, I would go cool down in the bathroom for a few minutes, drink some water, and make sure I wasn’t losing too much fluids. It worked very well in my opinion. At 3:39pm I went out for my 20 minute warmup and finished that right as they called us over the the first tent. They took the first heat under the track and shortly thereafter took us under. Unlike every other race where the athletes usually can go on the infield, Hayward has an underground track below the stadium. They have a 5 lane 110m runway with hurdles, bathrooms, and water for the athletes to use before their races. It was cooler being down there than up on the surface in the sun, and I was glad to have a cooler location to do my warmups, strides, and hurdles. Right when the first heat had finished running, they took us out onto the track.

Walking out into Hayward Field is a feeling I hope that I never forget. It’s the largest track stadium I’ve ever had the chance to run in, and the atmosphere was electric. The heat on the track was nothing, I knew with this crowd that we could overcome anything. The Aggies cheering section was at the start of the 1500, and I gave Joe a fist bump before the race. We both knew I was ready to be out here.

After introductions on the line, we got on the line. Apparently some of these runners never learned that they can’t put their foot on the start line and we were told to stand up. The second start was clean, and we were off to the races. I got out well, not in the very front, but in the middle of the pack on the outside to keep myself from getting boxed in. We went through the first 200ish meters in 38 seconds and the first lap in a 68, and I stayed towards the back of the pack still on the outside. On the first water jump, I got a bit too much air and landed a bit harder than I would have liked, but it didn’t kill my momentum and I kept on going. Still on the outside of lane one, close to lane two, I continued rolling though two laps in a 69, which was fine. I knew we were going slower than the first heat, but with the temperature I didn’t want to push the pace and risk dying at the end. I kept making sure I was in a good position that was never too far off the pack and focused on maintaining my place. Coming off the water jump in the start of the third lap, a runner moved in front of me and I had to do a little dance to avoid tripping him up. I left a little room between me and the runner in front of me going down the home stretch and came through that lap in a 70, which still only put me 1 second off the leader at the front. I told myself to relax 50m into that lap. As we went into the second barrier at the 100m mark, I didn’t get my lead leg high enough and it went straight into the barrier. I was able to somewhat stop the fall with my trail leg, and didn’t crash into the ground, but did full roll on the track, and got back up as fast as I could. Nothing hurt, which was a good sign, but I was now in last place in the race and the lead pack had pulled away quite a bit. Mentally I just focused on the guys in front of me and kept working to not lose ground. Even with the fall, I came through the next lap in 71. The next 3 laps were tough, running in no mans land made the heat feel hotter, the wind feel stronger, and was mentally much harder. I never quit in the race and just kept consistent the next two laps running a 72 and 71. My barriers and water jumps were good and I kept trying to attack the water pit each lap. Knowing that qualifying for the finals on place or time were both out of the question, I picked it up just a little to finish out the race, but didn’t do a full kick. I finished in 10th in my heat out of 14, 22nd between the two heads combined in a time of 8:49.

This wasn’t the outcome that I wanted to have and I am disappointed, but I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Trials in my first real season out of college. It was an amazing experience to be back at Hayward, to hear the roar of such a large crowd, and to get into such an elite field of steeplers. I will be back next year with a fire in my belly and a national team to qualify for. Bruce imparted some wisdom I’ll be taking into my races from now on, “You can look, but you better not touch”

As the US starts to reopen, I hope that I’ll be able to race more in the fall and again next spring and hopefully see more friends and family in person. Stay safe, and I’ll be back soon.

-Craig

*Photo Credits: Will Geiken

I didn’t expect to be back this quickly with another steeple, but here we are. The same organizers of the Portland Track Festival also put on a race every year called the Stumptown Twilight meet. So how was this race not on my radar? You see, when I had entered PTF, I had a PR of 8:47, and I only needed 8:50 to get in, but I needed an 8:45 to enter Stumptown. So, I never entered the race. Fast forward to last Friday and I run 8:36. Well under the entry mark. For the rest of the week, with the help of Joe Rubio, Dave Frank, race director Tate Schienbein, Aunt Lori, Uncle Nelson, Aunt Sue, my parents, Phil Reid, Kevin and Noreen Searls, Mark DeBettencourt, The Aggies, and the entire HOKA organization, I was able to get into this race. Not only that, but Kevin and Noreen Searls, over the holiday weekend, were able to secure a pair of prototype HOKA spikes, since I had broken mine, and arranged for them to be overnighted to me in Portland for my race. There is no possible way that this race would have happened without all of these amazing people supporting me and making it work.

On Wednesday, Aunt Sue and I made the drive down from Seattle to Portland. It was a beautiful drive with lots of greenery and we were able to avoid most of the traffic along the way. We made a quick stop to pickup the spikes Hoka had shipped up here, checked into the hotel, and then went out to find some pasta at a nearby restaurant. The rest of the night I spent talking with my girlfriend and trying not to be too nervous about the race.

The next morning I woke up and did a little 10 minute shakeout at 7am, and due to COVID was unable to use a toaster, and had three pieces of peanut butter bread for breakfast. It was much hotter in Oregon than it was last week, so I tried to stay in the hotel room as much as possible and out of the sun. I watched Chopped to keep me distracted, because cooking shows have a very calming effect on me and the actual food distracts me. At 2pm, we made our way over to track. After being here last week, the checking process was smooth and I was just waiting in the stands until it was time to head out for my warmup. I was in heat 1 on the steeplechase, which was slated to go off at 4:15. I knew that I needed to run the same race as last week and just focus on having better water jumps and I would hit the time. There was a little breeze that cooled off the surface and the temperature was just a few degrees warmer than last week. I went through my drills, and as I was putting on my spikes, the right tongue of the shoe detached itself. I sat there with Coach Wick echoing in my head, “Don’t worry about the things you can’t control” So I set the tongue as flat as I could on my foot, and laced my shoe just a little tighter hoping it wouldn’t move around. I did some strides and a few test barrier jumps and then it was time to go.

The race got out fast. I was on the inside of the track and did a decent job getting out and not getting boxed in early on. We rounded the 200 and I was firmly midpack, and we were just starting to string out into the first barrier. On the first jump, the spike on my lead leg got snagged on the trail leg of the guy ahead of me for just long enough to through off my stride when I landed. I stumbled and did a little hop to avoid stepping on the rail and going down. I decided to settle in the back of the pack, literally in last place, for the start of the race while things strung out. Our first lap was 67 seconds, which was perfect. My first water pit was good, and I was able to move up a few spots but still hung onto the back of the pack. The next lap was also clean, I was able to have good jumps without too many people in front of me, and good water jump, and clipped off the 69 second lap that I needed. I moved up another spot going into the third lap, but this time a runner jumped right in front of me going into the water, so I two footed the landing. This was my worst water pit of the day, but not something that I could worry about right then. I recovered, made my way up to the pack again, and started looking for a way to move up. Unfortunately, just before the mile mark, the leader of the race went down and the front group slowed up a little to avoid getting tangled. We went through the mile at 4:37, and I was able to move into 5th place because of the slowdown. The pace had started to dip ever so slightly at the front. I moved into 3rd place with 1k to go and had a good water pit once again putting me in a good position for 2nd. At the finish line, I came up quick on the runner in first and around 700 meters, I passed him and went into the lead. I had done the math in my head and if we had run another 68-69, we would be cutting it very close to missing the standard. Lagat in second waved me forward and I took the lead. I had a good water jump and had some separation going into final lap. I jumped the first barrier and then started to push the pace after seeing the time at 7:27. I had to run a 65 last lap to qualify for the trials. Travis Mahoney, another HOKA athlete started to challenge me on the backstretch and I went with him over the second hurdle and tried to hold him off going into the curve. He was able to pull ahead of me going into the water jump. I swung wide on the turn and took the outside of the pit. Like last week I had picked it up a fair amount on the last lap, and threw a big surge going into the water pit and hurdled the last water jump. I landed a little further back in the pit than Mahoney, but instead of having to plant my foot, jump, and push off, I was able to use the momentum of a single jump to carry me forward faster out of the pit and I was able to get a stride ahead of Mahoney, and take back first place. I pushed hard out the sharp left turn, stuttered a little on the last barrier and just had to get over it and then pushed as hard as I could to hold onto my lead. I couldn’t believe it when I ran through that tape at the finish line. Not really comprehending what had just happened.

My last lap was a 62 second lap, which was not only faster than last week’s final lap but also meant that I finished with a time of 8:30.33. Which means, I’m going to the US Olympic Trials in Track and Field. It feels surreal to say that, and I am so very excited to have the chance to race on the national level at such a big event. After my race last week I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to find another race or even get back down to Stumptown to be able to run the race. My grandfather always told us, “You’ve got to be lucky” and I was very lucky that everything came together and I had such an amazing team of people supporting me to make this happen. The Trials start on June 18th, with the first round of the steeplechase scheduled for June 21st, and the final round scheduled for June 25th. I can’t wait to be right back here writing about the results, and I’m looking to cut some more time off my time and break into the 8:20’s.

A huge, huge, shoutout to my aunt and coach for the weekend. Without her, I wouldn’t have had a ride to Portland, someone to keep me calm, cool, and collected, and just such an amazing person to be with. I am forever grateful to everyone who helped me with the race, and knowing I have this support only fuels my drive even more.

Just like Guy Fieri, we’re rolling out to Portland for another shot at the steeplechase. This time is at the Portland Track Festival. Some of you may recall that I’ve run this race once before in 2017, where I got 3rd place and ran 8:50, a personal best at the time. I was hoping to recreate some of that Portland magic once again this year and not have a repeat of the Kansas race. I flew up to Portland on Thursday after a quick stopover in Seattle. The weather was windy and rainy but the forecast of the race was due to be clear and for once I hoped the meteorologists’ got it right. Once I got to the hotel, I went for a quick shakeout to loosen up my legs from a long day of travel, made some pasta with the team, and called it a night.

The next morning started with a “breakfast” from the hotel, which consisted of a choice of yogurt and 6 different nature valley bars. The Marriott really knows how to serve a good breakfast. I had a yogurt, one granola bar, and a banana, with the peanut butter toast being saved for the pre-race lunch. I went for an easy 10 minute shakeout around 11am and my legs felt ready to race. I left for the two hours before my 6:30 start time to give myself enough to check in with enhanced the safety protocol and also find a good place to leave my bag. The weather was perfect, with temperatures in the mid 60’s and a very gentle breeze. It couldn’t have been a more different day compared to Thursday. After a full playlist of Bruce and 50 minutes before the race I headed out for my warmup. In Kansas when I went for my warmup, I was very nervous and had to keep calming myself down. But today, I was calm, cool, and collected.

The gun went off and I got out well. I stayed in lane one, but towards the outside to make sure I didn’t get boxed in early on in case the pace didn’t go out quick. Luckily the runner at the front took us through at a good clip passing though the finish line at 36 seconds. We maintained a good pack up front, but never really had too many people bunched up like the Kansas race. My hurdles on the first lap were smooth and I put myself in about 6th place, my favorite place to hang out in the early stages of the race. It gives me time to react if the paces slows and gives me the opportunity to have a little space for the hurdles and water pits. I can say that today form wise was probably one of the ugliest races I’ve had. I had maybe 2 clean water jumps, my barriers were a bit of a mess, and some of them I definitely just hopped over instead of hurdling. I maintained my position though the first 3 laps when a small gap started to open up. I put in a surge and caught up to the the smaller of the two front groups and held onto them. We came though the mile at 4:39, which was a little slow to get a Trails qualifier time, but still on pace for a nice personal best. With 3 laps to go, I started to push a little bit and catch up to the front runners and we put in a 69 second lap. I two footed this water jump, which put me back a half step so I worked to get back up to them. With two laps to go we had picked up one of the front runners to make us a pack of 4, with only the leader about 15 meters ahead of us. The whole race I’d kept an eye on the clock and knew we we’re running faster than 70 seconds per lap, and with a lap to go, I saw 7:28 on the clock just before I hit the line. In reality I was a few seconds off and my actual split with one lap to go was 7:31, but I still pushed hard and gave everything I had left to tackle that last lap. I quickly moved from 5th to 2nd with the runner in third matching my move. My form over the barriers was more survival than form. I only though about beating the people behind me and I knew if I messed up I would lose three places very quickly. I got to the water jump and knew that my legs didn’t have it in me to hop onto the barrier, push off, and not do a two footed landing. So, I made a split second decision to hurdle the last water jump. I cleared it and stumbled just a little, as my foot was expecting to come down a half second sooner, and was blessed with the beautiful photo above. I didn’t have to restart my stride, and came out of the water pit neck and neck in a battle for 2nd. I was pushed into lane two due to the sharp left turn coming out of the water pit, and going over the last hurdle, we were still neck and neck. I threw in a surge and got a hair in front of the other runner, and then he surged past me and my legs were doing all they could to hold on.

As history repeats itself, I placed 3rd in my heat and ran 8:36.5 with the guy in 2nd running 8:36.4. This is an 11 second personal record from my time in 2019, and it puts me 4 seconds away from hitting the 8:32 Olympic trials qualifier. I’m not sure where my next race will be, but I’m looking for a race soon before the trials. I know if I can clean up some of my form, that I can find that 4 seconds alone on the water jump. This was a huge jump in my racing and I know the training I’ve put in over the last year has made a huge difference. I’m excited to keep racing and I should be back soon.

For the first time in nearly two years I’m back to run the steeplechase. This race had been in the books for over a month and I was more than ready to go out there and run a solid time and use the fitness I’ve been working hard for, but I was very nervous. I knew this would be a really solid heat with good competition and I was using this race as a pseudo rust buster but I also needed to run fast. Let’s get into it.

I drove down to Orange County on Thursday and got to see my parents for the first time since September and I’ve missed them a lot. I got in a shakeout before I left for the airport. My flight to Kansas left at 11am on Friday and got in 6pm Kansas time. This gave me plenty of time to do a nice shakeout to get rid of the stiffness and find a local Italian joint across the street from my hotel for dinner. I spent the rest of the night going through the race with my parents, coaches, and other friends.

The next day I woke up around 7am, and just hung out in my hotel room all day. It was relaxing but also a little nerve wracking just waiting for the time I could leave and actually race. My race was slated to go off at 8:15pm, which gave me plenty of time to sit in my hotel room. I spent the large majority of my day on the phone with my girlfriend who did a very, very good job at keeping me calm and helping me keep my mind focused on the positives and that I’m ready to run. I would have been much more nervous the entire day without her. I had my 3pm lunch of three pieces of peanut butter bread and a banana to go with it. Later, I listed to Bruce tell me take one moment in my hands and find the promised land. That promised land being an Olympic trials time of 8:32

Around 6pm, I headed over the track and meet up with some of the other Aggies at Saint Mary’s University in Leavenworth. The weather was a good temperature, cloudy and cool, but the winds were strong the whole day. I left for my warmup an hour before my race and my body felt good. I did my drills out of the wind and some hurdle drills and then headed to the infield to spike up and test a barrier jump. HOKA has outdone themselves with their new spikes, the Cielo LD. It’s a carbon plated spike, with good padding in the back, a four spike plate, and my favorite part, the entire upper is mesh. This shoe drains water so easily, and I had no blisters or hotspots the whole race. With the spikes laced up and tucked in, I was ready to hit the starting line.

The race went out quick, about 34 through the first split (220ish meters), but we were very bunched up at the first barrier as the leader slowed before they hit it. This went on at the water jump too, and I nearly stepped on the inside line as I tried to avoid another runner. Each home stretch was straight into the wind so we’d slow up there too, and I started to get impatient. The second lap I moved towards lane 2 to get out of the box I was in, and stayed there most of the lap. After the water jump one of the runners directly in front of me was clipped and I got lucky that my stride was already open enough for him to pass through my legs. We came through two laps 2:18, which is exactly where I wanted to be, but again the bunching up was something I wanted to change, and was going to make my move if things didn’t string out by the end of this 3rd lap. But before I could make this happen, a runner behind me clipped me twice and then to keep himself from falling he pushed me down. I did a Superman dive to the track on rolled onto my left side before I hit the ground. My momentum and the turn made me roll from my stomach onto my back and my left shin hit one of the bricks that was lining the track in place of a metal rail. I got up and got back into the race as best as I could, but I was too far off the lead pack to ever make it really back into the race. I had 4 laps to go after I finished that lap and saw my time. I figured with the time I saw, how my body felt, and how my lap times looked I could still go sub 9:00 in the race and just focused on that. A few runners came back to me in the last laps. Knowing that an Olympic qualifier was out of the question, I just tried to focus on having better water jumps, as half mine were 2 foot landings. And just trying to pick up the pace the latter half of the race.

I finished in 8th with a time of 8:56. It wasn’t the time or place that I wanted, but being 8 seconds off my personal best with a hard fall meant I was on pace to run fast. I’m happy with my performance. We always want every race to have a magical ending with an earth shattering performance, but the fact of the steeple is that someone’s going to fall in the race. Unfortunately, it was my turn in this race and I can work on my tactics a bit more not to get so boxed in early on. My next steeple is in Portland at the Portland Track Festival on May 28th, but I’m going to see if I can find another steeple to do in the meantime and get a little more practice.

Man it’s good to be back.

Here’s a link to the race if you’d like to watch it. Skip to 2:04:05 to get to my event. https://youtu.be/d3D8dkhGlJM

I am so happy to report that track is back! My last official race on the track, was May 24th, 2019. That makes 1 year and 10 months since I’ve laced up my spikes and had my pre race nerves and had the opportunity to get on the track. This race did have a different feel than any other race with temperature checks, contact tracing forms, and masks being worn unless you were racing. It eased my nerves about the precautions put in place to keep everyone healthy and safe and it gives me hope for a safe continuation of my season.

Sunday’s race was at a rattlesnake speedway in the Arizona desert. To be more precise, Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale, AZ. I entered the 5k as there was no steeple here, which was slated to go off at 6:55pm. Mark, running the 10k, flew with me into Phoenix on Saturday and we did a shakeout run in heat we were very unaccustomed to. The rest of the day we spent relaxing and planning out our course of attack for the races. Sunday started with a natural wake up and a breakfast of oats, yogurt, and some fruit. The classic three pieces of peanut butter toast was brought out for lunch while watching some shows and keeping my mind occupied. We heading out for the track at 5:15pm, and Bruce reminded me I was Born to Run and those pre-race nerves I had been trying to fight off came out in full. I left for my warmup an hour before my race and was able to calm myself, because I knew what needed to be done.

The race had a pacer to take us through 1600m. From the gun, I went straight to the front sitting on the inside of the pacer and let him take us though. We went though 33 for the first 200 and then we had our first real experience with how windy it was on the back stretch and went though 400 at 70, much slower than the 67/68’s we needed to go sub 14. The next lap was a 68 and the pacer started to pick it up, coming through at 67 for the third and fourth laps. He stepped off the track right at a mile going though at 4:33. I took the lead for the next two laps when another runner passed me. He led for about half a lap, and I took back the lead 300 meters into lap 7. He passed me about 200 meters later on the home stretch as we just started lap 7. He dropped a lap that was probably 65/66 and I continued my 67/68 second laps so a gap opened between us that I was unable to close. Rolling up to two miles I was at 9:07, and I was just focused on keeping my form relaxed and pushing each lap. There was no one behind me after lap 8, which placed me out in no-mans-land. I tried to catch the runner ahead of me who had about 7-8 meters on and extended up at 10 at worst, but each backstretch we’d hit the wind and it was tough to fight against it and keep making up ground. We came through 10 laps I knew sub 14:00 was out of the question but I dug deep and just tried to close the gap. With a lap and a half I worked on finding another gear, working my arms and trying to catch the runner in front. I managed to get within two seconds of him, but he was able to hold me off with his kick down the home stretch.

I finished the race in second with a time of 14:12. Tactically this was one of the better races I’ve run and the first 5k I’ve managed to stay in my feet the entire race. The weather and wind wasn’t in my favor, but I still came out, busted some rust, and walked away with a 6 second personal best. It’s not the ideal start I wanted to my season, but I have to be patient and I know that more is coming down the line. I can’t wait to get out there and steeple again and be writing more this year. See you back here soon!

We’re back on the track for the one and only track race of 2020, so lets get into it. The race was a 5k intrasquad race at an undisclosed location in San Luis Obispo. I’ve been having good training leading up to the race and coming off a strong 10k, I had high hopes for the race. In the Wednesday workout before the race though, my teammates and I realized the task of running 14 flat was going to be much harder than we had anticipated. We adjusted slightly and were now aiming to run 14:15, which is about 68 second’s per lap. We got extremely lucky on Sunday morning with clear skies, a gentle breeze, and cool weather.

The race was slated to start at 8am, which drifted into 8:10am. I woke up at home to a sweet serenade from Springsteen, as always, and made the classic three pieces of peanut butter toast. The Aggies met at the track and did a 3 mile warmup and then got into race mode. I got to wear spikes for the first time since May of 2019, and these Hoka spikes felt pretty great to be in.

When the gun went off, I got out well and took us thought the first 200 smoothly, rolling though the lap in 67. We had a pacer who was going to pace us through the first 3k, which became a little bit of an issue when the second lap, our slowest on the day, was a 71. This was too far off the pace, so the pacer pulled off, and Mark, Phil and myself passed him and started taking on lead duties. We clipped off the next few laps consistently right around 69’s, coming through the first mile at 4:37. At lap 6, I took the lead from Mark to take on pacing duties and kept the pace about the same, right around 69. I led for two laps taking us though two miles at 9:17 (4:39 mile) when Phil made a move going into lap 9 and took the lead. I gave Mark room on the inside to cover the move, and then covered the move myself. Phil took us though that lap at 67, which was what we needed to really get into a race for the last mile. Mark took back the lead with over two laps to go, and we all started pushing the pace. With 700m to go, Phil made a move on the outside and pushed up to the front. Mark and I both covered it and came thought the third mile at 13:49 (4:31 mile). At 200m to go Mark and I both made a move to pass Phil, and I was gunning for Mark. He was able to hold me off on the outside of the turn. We both caught Phil and barely nudged in front of him with 50m to go, and Mark was able to get just enough space on me to hold a lead on me. I ran out of track to catch Mark and he was just ahead of me at the finish.

Mark, myself, and Phil all ran 14:19, and were separated by less than half of one second. Mark with 14:19.50, myself with 14:19.68, and Phil with 14:19.93. Overall it was a very fun race with some surprising moves in the middle, some awesome teamwork, and a photo finish I don’t think anyone expected to go down. 14:19, is one second off of my 5k personal best. But when I take a second to think about that, I haven’t done any track or speed training, haven’t worn spikes in over a year and a half, and have just been running on base and strength training. Despite all of that, running within 1 second of my best, is something I’m very very happy with. I know it’s not 14 flat, but that doesn’t mean in the upcoming year it won’t be, and it also makes me so excited to start steeplechasing again to see what I can really do.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday season, a happy and healthy New Year, and I’ll hopefully be able to race with some spectators in the coming year and see more of you in person.

Stay safe and be well,

Craig

Photo Credit 📸: Courtney Moore