Thoughts on Race at Nike Midwest Regional- November 14, 2015
Dustin Horter
The day was beautiful. A warm 65-degree day and no winds; there could be no better conditions. My parents, my teammate Dan Leonard, my coach Adam Thomas, and I all headed up to Terre Haute, Indiana for a day on which I didn't know what to expect. Coach, Dan and I made our way to the magnificent course, ran the first mile, and walked the other parts of the course. I was really stoked for this meet because I knew I had some success last year as a freshman coming in 43rd, but definitely wanted to improve on that this time around. I warmed up a mile and a half with Dan, then stretched and did drills. All of this went the same way as a regular old race day; then all the runners lined up on the line and the commander shot the gun. Any fear I had immediately went away at the blast of the gun. I got out great and was right where I wanted to be, about the top ten or so. I maintained through the first mile, coming through in a 4:42, a mirror split from my past five races. Then I hung in there with the group of big dogs heading into the second mile and came through at about a 9:42 from what I've heard. From there I was just praying I had something left in the tank to finish off this beast of a course. I passed Gavin Gaynor at about the two-and-a-half-mile mark, and I guess you could say that's when I realized I was probably doing great, the course was just strenuous and made me feel slow. Then coming around the turn into the last 400 meters of the race, I just had to run as fast as physically possible. As my coach said, the person with the fastest kick is the one who is able to maintain and slow down the least on that last 400 meters. I was nearly passed by three other guys, but I held off two of them and the other one out leaned me. I came a few places short of Nationals and would've been ecstatic to go to Portland this year but that's what next year is for; that experience is one I will have to work for. Overall, I felt like Nike this year went by in a flash but was certainly more enjoyable than last year's twenty degree run. I ended up in 11th place of 375 runners, second team. I am very thankful God carried me through.
Special Moment: One of my special moments is more of a thank you to my teammate Dan Leonard, who was not required by any means to come down to Terre Haute and support me but did so anyway. He definitely made this year's Nike experience a lot more enjoyable for me without a team there. Another special moment came after the race, just seeing again all the sportsmanship and handshakes, people being kind to one another and coming together in such a great sport. Finally, I just want to say congratulations to the Centerville girls on winning their ticket to Portland. They all raced a phenomenal race and I wish them the best of luck at Nationals!
