Lakota East's Dustin Horter posted impressive times in the 1600m and 3200m races.
It was a somewhat rainy day with little to no winds. As our team arrived in the 65 degree weather, we were immediately escorted to the Winton Woods cafeteria. After about a 45 minute rain delay, we finally made it out to warm up and the weather was perfect from that point onward.
Bryan Moriarty and I began our mile and a half warm up, came back to stretching, drills and strides. I felt smooth going through these calisthenics and I felt good about the race coming up. The 1600m runners got on the line and the gun went off immediately. Today I was shooting to break the district record in the 1600m, a 4:11.90. For the first 400m split, I came out right where I wanted to be in 61. I didn't feel taxed by this lap, but I got very relaxed during lap two and I ended up running 64. Trying to get back on it, I felt like I made a nudge to put myself on track again and I ended up running my third lap in 64. By no means did I feel tired, I was just too relaxed in the middle of the race. The last lap always gets the adrenaline going, but I knew I made it harder for myself to get the record. However, it was not out of reach. A 62 would tie it, just under 62 would break it. I really made a push this time, and brought out the 'Horter Hands' with 300m to go. There's no doubt that my stride opened up and coming through the line, the announcer stated, '4:11.59 unofficial!' At that point there really was no doubt that I barely slid by, but I definitely made it interesting for myself and maybe gave my coach a scare in the process.
Dustin Horter broke the 1600m district record at the Division 1 District - Winton Woods meet.
Next was the 3200m and this race was looked at as a little more relaxed strategy wise. My coach and I just wanted to go out and if I was feeling good, take it hard, if I was feeling the 1600m, just shoot for the district record of 9:12. After warming up another one and a half miles and going through my usual pre-race routine, we got on the line around 45 to 60 minutes after the 1600m. As the gun sounded, I immediately darted to the front. I came through the first 400m in a 66 and felt very smooth. From there, I hit a few 68's and at the mile mark, I came through in 4:30. I wasn't surprised that I ran this first split, but I just wanted to go harder. I heard the announcer say something about how if I ran an equal split, I could run close to sub 9, so that got me thinking confidently. I still felt good and my coach did say that if I felt good I could go harder, so I tried to make it hurt a little. I ended up running 3 straight 68's feeling very relaxed and then let it rip with 400m to go. I was able to split 64 in the last quarter mile to solidify a time under 9, 8:58.67.
At the end of the night, I felt good about this double as it showed me what I'm capable of and it gave me a huge confidence boost moving forward. I've been extremely humbled by the support I've been getting from my community, whether I know who they are or not. I'm blessed that I have this platform to spread the word of God on and this community we're creating of encouragement across every aspect of talent and ability is truly amazing. It has been great so far, but this season is far from over and I'm excited to see what the next few weeks hold.
Lastly, I am honored to announce that I will be running in the one mile race at Brook's PR in Seattle, Washington among the nation's best milers.