Tuesday, January 8, 2008

07 Top 10 List

Alright,drum roll please,after a season of 49 races I narrowed the list down to fill out my top ten.
10 Swarthmore Indoor 800m
All great journeys start somewhere and where better to kick off the 07 season than my opening indoor race of the year.Due to scheduling conflicts I arrived at Swarthmore too late to run the mile which meant for a change of pace I could run the 800m fresh....and how!!!
2.03.88 a then indoor pr for me and a second place finish,who knew what the next 11 months would bring.
9 Brandywine 5K XC
Tempted as I was to make this an all track top 10 credit where credit's due this was one of my best xc performances ever.
In a season that saw me embrace xc as my "off season" bridge between outdoor and indoor track I ran my best ever Brandywine race to finish 8th overall and set a course record for me 19.10.66,a far cry from my 2 prior races here,a testimony to my new found attitude towards xc.
8 NJ C'Ships 1,500m
My pre Nationals 1,500m race,a chance to run a decent time to put myself up there amongst the top ranked runners at Nationals in a months time.
4th overall,1st Masters in a new pr and new club record 4.15.74 but also a confidence booster at a distance I hadn,t had much exposure at.
7 Indoor Nationals 800m
Following the heartache of the previous days dnf{a first ever in 31 years}in the mile I bounced back w/ avengence in the 800m to salvage a medal.
2.04.58 and 4th are hardly noteworthy in a season of faster times and higher place finishes but to pick myself up from the floor some 20 hours after the lowpoint of my entire career and leave Nationals w/ a bronze thanks to a non American runner in second was memorable.
6 Masters Indoor Invitational 800m.
Going into this race my hopes were for a sub 2.00 time,judging from the caliber of the field that was not unrealistic,I went into the race w/ the 6th fastest 800m time but surprized even myself by finishing 2nd in 2.02.75,setting a new indoor 800m pr but still awaiting that elusive sub 2.00.
5 Armory Indoor Mile
For me the night everything changed,having never ran faster than 4.39 for a mile, indoor,outdoor or on the road I could not have predicted what was about to unfold that night in January.
4.33.09 and a victory were one thing,but the pr and club record were the icing on the cake,looking back almost a year to the day I can,t help but feel the belife that I could become a top flight 800m/miler from sitting in the stands at Outdoor Nationals some four months earlier was coming to fruition.
4 Nationals 1,500m
I knew I had a shot at this,the 4.15.74 I,d ran a month prior convinced me I could live w/ the leaders and I almost had a unique 800m/1,500m double,as it was I had to contend w/ 3rd overall but a silver medal thanks to yet another Canadian runner.
I,m proudest most of all for the way I responded off the final turn to reclaim 3rd and the silver on my way to yet another pr and club record.
3 Hartshorne Memorial Indoor Mile
Continuing to cement my reputation as an indoor miler I finished second in a race I thought at best I might get third.
Almost as if on a continuous loop tape in my mind I,ve relived my epic battle off the final bend and up the home straight w/ Anselem Lebourne,4.29.46-4.29.59,yeah it was that close,and at the risk of repeating a theme in this list yes it was a pr and club record.
2 No #2 because I couldn,t seperate these two performances and thus went w/ a joint #1
1 Nationals 800m and 5th Avenue Mile
Going into Outdoor Nationals my targets were very much defined,bottom line to come away w/ 3 medals to round out my career tally at 100,slightly more ambitious was to win my first ever National Championship title.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think my first ever title would also yeild a sub 2.00 800m time but my 1.59.17 did just that,in one foul swoop I,d broken the magical 2.00 barrier,set a pr and club record and earnt my first ever individual gold,how sweet it was and maybe in any other year would,ve been the out right winner of race of the year..........................however
5th Avenue Mile
From the moment I,d crossed the finish line in the 1,500m in Maine I began to prepare for 5th Ave Mile,while some may,ve wound down their season I continued to focus and plot my all out assault on this the most prestigious of races.
While I always belived a pr/club record was there for the taking I don,t think I ever dreamt that I ,d win but it was one of those days where I got everything right from where I lined up on the starting line to how I attacked the first half of the race.It still defies beliefe that I won period but also in 4.25,another day when the tried and tested belife that an Irish miler can be King in New York City rang true.

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