The 2:18 Grind: Teamplayer

This weekend I had the most fun racing in a very long time. On the schedule this weekend was the Christmas Dash for Cash 10k in Chambersburg, PA. What made this race special was the chance to compete as a team with the other members of Keystone Elite and the chance to win a nice $1200 first prize to be split between the four members of the team. My team was composed of Jeremy Brady, Katie O'Regan, and Rosie Mascoli. Going into the race, we liked our chances, but knew there would be tough competition from Team Hydroworx who was led by two pretty talented runners in Brian Fuller and Mary Dell.

We got to the race early and warmed up together and talked strategy. It was a nice change to my typical prerace routine which involves warming up by myself and getting myself nervous about the race. This was different as all the talk about the team competition and who we needed to beat got me very amped up and ready to go out and race. Going into the race, we thought that if I could beat the number one runner from Hydroworx and if Katie and Rosie could keep it close to Mary Dell and beat Hydroworx' second girl we would pull out the win. As we stood at the starting line, I felt something that I have not really felt since running cross country or racing against Lehigh in the track dual meets - a sense that I could not let my team down.

The race started out as I expected it would. I went straight to the front with Matt Gillette, a fine runner from Shippensburg who I knew would be very tough to beat. He and I led the field through a very pedestrian first mile of 5:10. I had no idea what to expect from the course as the only description I had heard of it was "rolling." With no idea what was in store ahead on the road, I was content to keep the pace comfortable, surging a little to test the rest of the guys tucked in behind us. Everyone seemed to handle the slight surges easily, so I did not try and push anything too much early on in the race. We hit 2 miles in 10:12, coming down a hill into the Scotland School campus. This was where Gillette made a significant surge to try and break open the race. I have always been a poor downhill runner, and he seemed to gap me effortlessly.

It was at this time that Brian Fuller also went screaming by me. I realized these two were significantly better downhill runners than myself. I felt like I was going all out to even maintain the gap they had opened on me. As the gap opened, I began to feel a little down on myself and had some negative thoughts. I snapped myself out of it as I remembered the team competition. I would not give up and let the rest of my team who was working hard behind me down. I put my head down and went to work on the uphills that followed in the 3rd and 4th mile.

I gained on Fuller and passed him right around the 4 mile mark. My split between 2 and 4 was a very fast 9:44, and I felt that I was beginning to gain on Gillette ahead in first place. I worked hard on the uphills of the 5th mile and had the gap down to around 5 seconds. At this point, all that was on my mind was trying to put as much ground on the runners behind me to help out in the team competition. I was still trying hard to make up ground for the individual win, but just couldn't match Gillette's downhill running ability (the kid is 6'-6" so I don't really feel to bad about it). I closed the last 2k of the race in 6:01 to finish in 31:01. I really did not expect to be so close to breaking 31 for a road 10k as my track PR is only 30:48. Had I been paying more attention to my watch I would have sold out a little more for those 2 seconds.

I finished 30 seconds ahead of the Hydroworx leader, but the race for the team title was far from over. I turned into the biggest cheerleader in Chambersburg and started going crazy as I saw Jeremy come over the final hill several seconds ahead of the 2nd runner for Hydroworx. I was running around yelling and cheering him on as he kicked in for 33:51. I really felt proud of the fight he showed the whole race to bring in a solid #2 finish for our team. Our girls then clinched the victory for us with two really great races. Katie kept it very close with Mary Dell who is a national caliber runner and PR'ed by a ton to run 35:07. Rosic sealed the victory by beating the 2nd Hydroworx girl by over 30 seconds in 36:27, another very good time on a tough course.

As we added up the times, we knew we had won the race. It was great to celebrate the win on the cooldown together. I had forgotten how much of a boost running for a team gives you. Some of the biggest kicks I can remember while running came on the high school 4x8 relays. With that stick in your hand, you cannot accept defeat as easily as without. Running is such a solitary sport, and it can be selfish at times. What time did I run? What place did I get? Who did I beat? But when you run for a team, there is a totally different feeling. There's and extra fight in you and a refusal to be beat. It isn't about you, but rather the team. When I finished the race, I hardly cared that I had nearly broken my track PR on a hilly road course. All I wanted to do was cheer for my teammates and see how they finished.

I was really reminded what I first really loved about running. I started out in high school as a cross country runner only, and always ran my best in races where I knew I was counted on to help clinch the victory. I actually believe some of my gutsiest races came when I was just a mediocre #3 or #4 high school runner on a good team. In this position you just can't let the seniors down. In college, I just never really had that feeling. In a big invitational, I knew my team wasn't going to place very high and neither was I. It just didn't seem to matter as much, and I missed the pressure to win as a team. It just doesn't feel that important to fight for 120th or 140th place in a big time D-1 invitational. Even in a big road race when you are running by yourself doesn't feel the same. The "You are not beating me no matter what" feeling is a little harder to find (although the cash payout does help bring that out). Growing up playing team sports has wired me much differently than athletes who have primarily focused on individual sports. There is no describing the feeling of winning as a team. My all time favorite team moment came when my Lafayette College Leopards XC team finally exited the Patriot League basement my senior year. In a blizzard, our top three pushed each other the whole race and then turned to go crazy as the rest of our scoring runners fought to the line. Finally not finishing last as a team felt so good. Our pack ran so well that day because we knew what was a stake that day (the fact that there were Andre bottles in the fridge waiting to be popped after a good race might have motivated us a little bit too. Andre would have been pissed at us if we finished last, and you can never let Andre down.).

There is truly something special about racing as a team. Your time doesn't matter. All that matters is putting it all on the line for your teammates. I can't wait for the next time Keystone Elite toes the line together!