Ritchfield Revere’s senior, Josh Sabo, is one of Ohio’s best middle distance runners. After what he considered a lack luster Cross Country season, his second place finish in last Springs State D1 1600 places him as the leading contender for this years title. Josh, at this time however, has set his goals higher and seeks to double, as both the champion in the 1600 and the 800. OHRunners interviewed Josh. The following interview provides an insight into Josh as both a runner and a unique individual with the ambition, desire and talent to achieve his goals.
OHRunners: Josh, let’s talk a little about last fall’s Cross Country season. You finished 13th at State in a time of 15:42. You are very good Cross Country runner, but I suspect you were a little disappointed in your run that day? What are your thoughts on that race and your finish?
Josh: I was very disappointed at my finish. To me, it was the third year in a row that I walked away from the State Meet disappointed. I felt like I could have made more of a push for first, especially looking at how I raced at the Midwest Meet of Champions (3rd with PR of 15:09). Getting on the podium was nice, but I definitely wanted to be higher up on it.
OHRunners: As I look at your PR’s, you have run 15:09 for the 5K, 4:12.10 for the 1600 and 1:52.69 for the 800. These are all excellent times. Many middle distance runners, are very good Cross Country runners, but excel more on the track. Are you more comfortable on the track than out on the Cross Country course? Do you look at Cross Country as more of a base for the upcoming indoor and outdoor track season?
Josh: I actually think that I like Cross Country more than track. I don’t want to be known as a middle distance runner who “tries” Cross Country. I want to be well rounded and be respected both on the XC course and on the track. I really don’t look at one or the other as more important to me than the other. Every time I run, I want to win.
OHRunners: What aspects of Cross Country do you like more than the track? It would seem that you have had more success on the track at shorter distances than the 5000?
Josh: I like the team camaraderie more in Cross Country. Even though the team is important in track, you can’t make Regional or State as a team which puts more importance in the team aspect in Cross Country. My XC team this year had 6 seniors on varsity, so we had been together for awhile and we’re close friends.
OH Runner: Will you be competing in an indoor season?
Josh: Yes, although I am not sure as to what extent. My school isn’t sanctioned, so I can’t run in the indoor state meet. I will be running some meets, but they will be more of fitness checks than anything. I would like however, to run at least one good time indoors in each event.
OHRunner Note: INDOOR season, Ohio high school athletes can compete in any open meet in the INDOOR season as long as they are deemed unattached. "Technically," there is no indoor season in Ohio. OHSAA does not recognize it, only the OATCCC (coaches association) does. An athlete however, cannot compete unattached once the official outdoor season starts in March
OHRunners: Let’s talk about your track goals for this season. Last year you ran a close second in the State 1600 to Colby Alexander with a time of 4:12.10 and came back in the 800 with a disappointing 11th place finish in 1:57.46. However, your 1:52.69 800 PR as junior, puts you in a rather elite group of high school runners, that given the right race circumstances, could push the 1:50 mark. Certainly doubling at State is a great accomplishment. Are your plans at this time to go back for the double or to concentrate on one event? One would think that you would be the favorite in the 1600, but at the same time, if you were to concentrate solely on the 800, the 1:50 mark may be possible. What are your thoughts at this time?
Josh: Well, I would certainly like to double, but at the same time I really feel like I can push the 4:05 mark in the mile for the record. If the meet were today, I would probably concentrate on running the mile all out and come back and see what I have in the 800. Last year at Regionals, I went 4:12/1:52 and I feel like I can pull an even better double this year than that at the State meet.
OHRunners: It’s obvious that you can pull a strong double. Many times athletes after a strong 1st run, such as last years State 1600, just don’t come back as strong in their next race. i.e. the 800. last year the State 800 was not your strongest race. I know that your desire was to run strong, but the race was fast and Jake Hiltner is a very strong, competitive 800 runner. What are your thoughts on your 800 finish?
Josh: I was furious at myself after the 800. I remember my coach telling me to relax and me firing back at him “Did you just see the race I ran? How can I relax?” Obviously, when I look back at the meet, I’m happy with the mile, but still very disappointed with my 800. Mostly just because I knew I had it in me to run better than I did and every race I’m in I want to win and run my best.
OHRunners: When you first started running? What events did you run? Did you always want to be a miler or half miler?
Josh: I started running as a 7th grader, I didn’t even know what Cross Country was. The way our coach described it, it sounded like some sort of club where you played ultimate Frisbee. My first year of track, I ran the 800 and the 1600 in blazing times of 5:31 and 2:34 haha. I actually always wanted to be a baseball player. I played up until my sophomore year. I feel blessed that I was able to get into running. It has done so much for me.
OHRunners: What led you to go out for Track and start running? Why did you go for the 800 and 1600?
Josh: To me, track just came natural after running Cross Country in 7th grade. I figured that if I ran Cross Country I might as well do track. Same thing with the distance events. I had run the 2- mile in Cross Country and thought that the longer races would be the best fit for me.
OHRunners: Do you participate in any other sports or activities?
Josh: I like to think that I’m good at basketball, but I only play it and other sports recreationally. Like I said, earlier I played baseball up until sophomore year and since then I have just been running.
OHRunners: This winter how will you prepare for the upcoming indoor season and in particular, the outdoor season. The weather in Central Ohio isn’t great in January and February. Do you run outside or stay inside?
Josh: I run outside whenever I can. Its going to be cold in March when track starts, so I might as well get used to it. Sometimes however, I’ll hop on a treadmill for a workout.
OHRunners: In the early part of the season, what type of workouts will you be running? Sometimes it is difficult to do workouts alone and at the paces required to prepare and sustain the times that are required at the State level. Are you fortunate enough to have a few teammates who can run at your level, or near your level in workouts?
Josh: I do longer repeats like 800-1000-1600s. When I do them, I actually like to do them on a treadmill at an incline. Going from that, to doing them on a track, really helps. I got the idea from Natalie Zidd who was the girls 800 state champ, and its’ obvious that it worked for her. (Natalie is a Junior at Medina Highland. She is the 2010 D1 Girls 800 champion as a sophomore with a time of 2:10.36) Since freshman year I have had Julian Meyer and Dan Povitsky to run with. Dan graduated and there is a bit of a gap between myself and our next runner this year, but they are all great guys who work really hard and are great workout partners.
OHRunners: Once meets begin, what will your workout schedule be like? What events will you run in duals or smaller invitationals? Will you use dual meets as workouts, with no taper, to prepare for larger invitationals?
Josh: I like doing everything. I want to run every event from the 200-3200. I do use the duels as workouts however. My schedule doesn’t change too much. I just replace the repeats and hard runs with the meets.
OHRunners: How do you and your coach decide what events that you will run. I understand running a variety of events, but running the 200 or even participating in field events does not really help in preparation for the 800 or 1600. It also is a bit risky in terms of creating potential injury,
Josh: Well, I would say in 8/10 meets, I’m just running the 4x8, 800 and1600. I rarely do more than that besides an occasional 4x4. I only ran the 400 once all last year and that was just supposed to be a workout. Usually my coach and I will look at how I’m feeling, who we are racing against and how many big meets we have coming up. I’m not sure that my coaches will let me run a 200. I’d like too, as it’s just a minor, personal goal of mine to hold all of Revere’s records from the 200 to the 3200. I just need the 200, which I think is manageable, and I plan on breaking yet another of Julian Meyer’s records in the 3200 haha.
OHRunners: If you are running distance workouts, what pace do you typically run? What are typical 200, 400 and 600 interval paces? How many would you run in a speed workout and with what interval?
Josh: My pace varies on how I feel. Some days it will be sub 6 and other days will be closer to 7 haha. I mostly do 400s. I want 8x400’s to be at 59-61 pace.
OHRunners: What type of interval? What does your warm up and warm down consist of?
Josh: Normally I do 8-12 400 repeats at a low 60 pace with 2:00 rest in between. My warm up is usually just a really slow two mile run and then a cool down that is usually just a walk for 5 minutes. Then, an easy one mile run.
OHRunners: What is your 400 speed? In the 1600 and especially in the 800, speed is important in race strategy and how a race unfolds. How do you visualize your races? Are you comfortable setting the pace or would you prefer to let someone else set the pace?
Josh: I ran one 400 last year in 49.95, so I feel like I have the good middle distance speed. I like setting the pace. In our smaller duel meets, I just sit back and kick, but I’m sure anyone who watched the State 1600 last year could see, I also like setting and pushing the pace. For the most part, I look at who is in the race and then form a race strategy around that.
OHRunners: Based upon your 400 time, you do have very good speed. Would you prefer a slow first 400 or 1200 and rely on a strong kick for the finish, or would you prefer to push the pace, forcing a fast race that would tend to take the sprint out of most runners’ legs at the finish?
Josh: Without a doubt I would rather push the pace and force the race to be fast. I learned from baseball when you let teams that are not as talented as you hang around, it just builds their confidence and makes it easier for them to beat you. I feel the same is true about running, I would rather make everyone in the field work and put some separation between myself and the field. You never know who is going to have the kick of their life and pull the upset win.
OHRunners: Lets talk about specific strategies in the 800 and 1600. In the 800 what would you hope the 400 split to be? When you ran your 1:52, what were your splits? Would you be comfortable coming through the 400 around .53 in a competitive race?
Josh: Ideally, I would like the 1st 400 around 56. That’s right around where my first lap was in my 1:52. And yes, I would be comfortable coming through in 53. I feel like I’m versatile enough when it comes to race strategy that I can win whether I come through my first lap at 53 or 63.
OHRunners: In last years State 1600 you ran a strong second to Colby Alexander. What was your strategy going into that race?
Josh: I wanted to make Colby work, I knew if it came down to a kick, he would probably be able to get me, so I wanted to take the race out hard and make sure that it wasn’t going to turn into just a sprint at the end.
OHRunners: What makes Josh tick? In other words, why do you run? How would you describe yourself?
Josh: I run because I like the challenge of it. Running isn’t an easy sport. You get out what you put in and I think that’s why I like it, because you control how good you want to be. There are no politics like in other sports where many coaches show partiality. You’re judged purely on how fast you get around the track. The other huge reason why I run is for the people I care about. I want to work hard, not just for myself, but so they can be proud of me. Some of the people that are closest to me have had success at the state level and I look to where they are at and it makes me want to be there as well.
OHRunners: What are you goals for this season?
Josh: My goals are sub 49 in the 400, sub 1:50 in the 800 and 4:05 in the 1600. Everyone laughed last year when I said as a 4:27 miler that I could contend with Colby Alexander. I like to set my goals high so that I always have something to shoot for and work towards.
OHRunners: Your 2nd place finish in the 1600 and your times in both the 800 and 1600 are great achievements. They’re the result of hard work, desire and of course, talent. Your goals for this season are impressive, ambitious and I believe attainable. I wish you great success this Spring and we will look forward to watching you run.