Dustin Horter of Lakota East pushed the pace early in the 1 Mile at the recent UK Invite.
UK Invitational - 2/22/2017
It was a rainy day outside but it was very humid indoors. The infield was loaded with parents and runners all over the place as people prepared to run. My coach, Adam Thomas, and his father came down to watch me race: the first time my coach has seen me run indoors. I had a mile and a half warm up with stretching, strides, and then I was ready to run.
The gun blasted and I immediately hopped out to the front of the pack. I usually take this strategy every time I run, but this time it was especially important that I run a good first 800m. I came through the 400m mark at 1:01 in the lead, and I was feeling good. However, the middle portion of the race is the part when I really started to slide back. I ran a 1:05 split for my second 400m, and came through the 800m at 2:06, while I was hoping to come through around 2:04. I had to roll with it though, and I kept on. I was passed at the 1k mark or so by Yared Nuguse (3A XC state champion, Gatorade Runner of the Year) and he led the race from there on out. I closed in about 1:02, but the 3rd 400 wasn't exactly pretty. I ran a 4:14.78 1600m convert which was a small improvement from last week, but I was shooting to run around a 4:12. I wasn't extremely happy with the results of the race, after getting passed at the 1k mark, but I'll certainly be working to improve the middle portion of my race over the next few weeks leading up to the Ohio State Indoor Meet. I'll have some very good, honest competition in Andre, Ben, and Zack at State's, and I know we are all hoping to run around 4:10. It's going to come down to who really wants it in the end, and it should be a very interesting race.
Dustin Horter also ran the 800m at UK where he broke the elusive 2 minute barrier.
In the 800m, I was shooting to go sub two. It was my goal at Vanderbilt to go sub two, however I came up .06 seconds short of that goal. I had a little more recovery time to work with and a ran another one and a half to loosen my legs back up. By the time the race started, I was feeling pretty good. The first 400m was around a 57 and everything seemed to be going smoothly. After a bunch of pushing and near tripping around the curb, I managed to work my way up to about 5th, and with 600m to go, I was able to kick. I ran a 1:59.11 and I wasn't extremely impressed, but I was happy with the double.
Overall, I'd say I've been running well as of late, but I'm not satisfied yet. I still have a ton to improve on, but I have no doubt I'll be ready to nail it this outdoor season. All the Ohio boys are off to a great start so far this track season, and it should be fun to see how it translates to outdoor. It's still very early in the season, and taking that in, I believe with the help of my coach, my teammates, and most importantly God, I'll be able to achieve the goals I hope to reach this spring.
Dustin Horter is aiming for a state championship in the 1600m race on March 4th in Akron.
