Running with the Buffaloes

by Chris Lear

  The Mooch denies that he tried to make a statement out here this afternoon. “I just feel good right now. Tuesday is the day I like to run hard, more than any other day.” Then he adds with a straight face, “I’m not racing for two weeks anyway.”

  Slattery has his own rationale: he is sick of getting killed all the time in practice. “This is the only thing nobody can beat me in, this workout.”

  The Mooch may have something to say about that.

  Old J-Bird Johnson, meanwhile, looks smooth in the third pack. He is visibly leaner than in late August, and he confirms that he is down from 155 pounds to 142. Despite his good performance on Saturday, when he was CU’s 10th man, he remains nonchalant about his expectations; he has none, for cross country. He says, “If I run three PR’s this year, I’ll be super psyched.” He has a desire not necessarily to win, but to better himself.

  To be better than he ever has in his last year of competition.

  Tessman finishes in the middle of the lead pack. He is anxious about Saturday’s race, and he is not happy about a workout he feels has spiraled out of control. “It wasn’t a good workout today. We ran 48 seconds. We took the workout in our own hands and somehow decided 50 – 52 seconds was not fast enough. It would have been easy, but I think it was supposed to be that way. But, whatever, I did the workout. I could have gone slower, I guess no one wanted to go slower today.”

  Reese also thinks they ran too hard. He says, “I was dragging ass at 48.2.

  But I was all right. We have an easy day tomorrow: Mesa Trail to Eldorado Springs.” This will be the first easy Wednesday this season. It was not originally planned, but Wetmore has taken stock of his men, and he knows they are hurting. Wetmore says, “Sev’s got something sore, Gouch has got something sore, maybe we ought to read the handwriting on the wall.”

  As they wrap up the workout, less than a week from Pre-Nationals, Wetmore reflects on their chances. “When we lost Bat,” he says, “that was a big blow. But I gotta feeling the Big Three [Stanford, Arkansas, and Oregon] are all missing somebody. I haven’t seen [Michael] Power of Arkansas, or [Jonathan] Riley of Stanford. We’ll know where we stand in five days.” He catches Reese’s attention before he jogs off, “All right, Captain Reese, make sure they don’t overeat tonight.”

  RUNNING WITH THE BUFFALOES

  133

  Lear 102-149:Lear 102-149 1/5/11 1:24 PM Page 134

  Wednesday, October 7, 1998

  Balch Gym

  2:30 p.m.

  It’s in God’s Hands

  Slattery and Tessman dropped by Wetmore’s office to bullshit with him last night after practice. Once there, Wetmore offered Tessman some good advice for Saturday’s race. “If you can get to four miles feeling good, then people will be doing the skeleton dance there.” But how can Tessman ascertain if he is feeling good? “Do it by sensory data,” Wetmore tells him. “It’s never wrong . . . Respiration tells you everything.”

  The team has yet to do any anaerobic work this season, so chances are they will not be running as fast this weekend as they will at season’s end. Without any anaerobic work, the runners have to be more careful about getting into oxygen debt earlier than other teams that may have done some anaerobic work in order to be sharper for this race. They will also be running at a faster clip at sea level then they are used to running here, which makes it even more imperative that they go out cautiously.

  Knowing this, Wetmore always instructs his runners at this point in the season to go out slowly, and attack from behind. Because many runners go out too fast, regardless of their conditioning, it has proven to be a very successful style of racing. “We want to be holding back, holding back, holding back.” Wetmore instructs Tessman. “Then when we get to the ponds [at four miles], we start moving.”

  The meet will offer CU a good chance to test some of their primary competition at Nationals, but neither Oklahoma State nor Arkansas will be there. But, there are two other teams besides Stanford that concern Wetmore. The Matt Davis–led University of Oregon Ducks and the Abdul Aldinzani–led NC State Wolfpack. The storied Oregon program is in the midst of a coaching change with Bill Dellinger retiring at the end of the year. Martin Smith, the former Wisconsin coach, is replacing Dellinger.

  Wetmore comments: “Sadistically, I hope there’s turmoil over there

  [Oregon] and that Stanford and Arkansas have lost a guy so that we’ll be on even ground again.” As for the Wolfpack, “They’re good, and they’ll show it this weekend. They’re the hot team in the country.”

  Even without Bat, Tessman does not think CU is in a position to need someone to go down on another squad for them to pull out a victory this weekend. “I think we’re gonna win. I really do. We might not this week, but that doesn’t matter.” Already, Tessman understands the beauty of Wetmore’s system. It is designed to make you run well at a specific time. It is a system built on faith, because you cannot panic if you are not 134

  CHRIS LEAR

  Lear 102-149:Lear 102-149 1/5/11 1:24 PM Page 135

  racing as fast as you can during the season. But Wetmore has the results from each cross country season he has been in Boulder to prove that it works. In years past they have always made a significant improvement from Pre-Nationals to NCAA’s . . .

  Wetmore wears new Nike Zoom Air Lites this afternoon. All of the gear he receives is a big change from his days at Seton Hall University. “I didn’t get shit when I was at the Hall. I got maybe one pair of shoes a year.

  But that’s what it was like before we got the Nike contract here . . . That’s the one aspect of our program that’s really Rolls Royce now.” He pauses, and then adds, “It’s amazing, we live in a culture of shoes.”

  Wetmore needs the psychological boost the new shoes could give him because he is hurting from his own training. “I run all out every Sunday. Not this crybaby LSD stuff for this old dinosaur. Given that I ran a twelve-mile race on Sunday, eight 200’s Tuesday, and 84 minutes yesterday when I usually do 65, there’s a great likelihood I’ll be a bag of shit today.”

  Some of his guys feel like a bag of shit themselves. Thankfully, they are assigned a 70-minute easy run from the school across the Mesa Trail that runs beneath the Flatirons to Eldorado Springs. Everyone is in a group, and the guys are excited because CU alum Alan Culpepper has shown up to run with them.

  What Wetmore did not know is that the Boulder Forestry Depart-

  ment lit a fire in the woods east of the Mesa Trail this afternoon. Once on the trail, everyone is forced to run with their T-shirts covering their mouths for a half mile as they run through smoke moving up at them. It is enough to get them riled up.

  But that is not the end of it. Wetmore also miscalculated the distance of the run. They reach the Mesa Trailhead in 67 minutes, and Wetmore has instructed Severy, Friedberg, and Goucher to cross the road and run to the end of the Dowdy Draw trail. The easy 70-minute run turns into a 1:52 minute misadventure.

  Waiting for them with the van at run’s end, JD can tell Goucher is pissed. He explains, “You could tell Goucher was grouchy from a half mile away. He was behind the other two a little bit. He wouldn’t be behind if he wasn’t grouchy.” Goucher climbs into the van wordlessly before letting loose a minute later. “I don’t think it’s a great fucking idea to run two hours three days before Pre-Nationals,” he says angrily.

  JD is not overly concerned. “Fuck ’em,” he says. “They should’ve known when they got to the place [Mesa Trailhead] in an hour seven. I tried to cut ’em off but I missed ’em. I don’t think they ran that many miles anyway. They were going slow. Ah, it’ll keep ’em honest this weekend.”

  Severy is more lighthearted about the fiasco than Goucher. “Oh RUNNING WITH THE BUFFALOES

  135

  Lear 102-149:Lear 102-149 1/5/11 1:24 PM Page 136

  well,” he says, “I guess it’s just in God’s hands.” An agnostic if not an atheist, Severy was in Wetmore’s office this afternoon when Wetmore received a call from a p
arent wishing them luck over the weekend and reminding them that, no matter the outcome, “It’s in God’s hands.” “Yep,”

  Wetmore replied with a grin, “it’s in God’s hands.” Sitting across from Wetmore, Severy started cracking up. Like Wetmore, Severy has faith —

  in hard work.

  Wetmore is a little less cavalier about the goof than JD, but he, too, is not overly concerned. Again, he will have to make a slight adjustment in their training. “So we go to Pre-Nationals a little less rested than I intended. We’ll do a little less today, a little less tomorrow. We’ll be a little less rested than I intended, it’s okay now.”

  136

  CHRIS LEAR

  Lear 102-149:Lear 102-149 1/5/11 1:24 PM Page 137

  Saturday, October 10, 1998

  Bob Timmons Invitational

  Rim Rock Farm, Lawrence, Kansas

  10 a.m.

  Biding Time

  With the exception of Arkansas and Oklahoma State, all the perennial-players for Nationals are here. The course looks fabulous, with gigantic ten-foot statues of former Kansas running legends like Olympic 10k champ Billy Mills and miler Wes Santee perched around the course. As CU arrived in their van yesterday, the first visible statue they saw was that of Jim Ryun. Seeing the immortalized champions was enough to get them all jacked about today.

  The women’s race went off first this morning with blue skies over-head and balmy 70 degree weather, and CU finished a disappointing tenth.

  Wetmore has but a few minutes to get their impressions of the race before transferring any knowledge he has gained to the men. The men have finished their warm-up jog and are gathering by the van in the makeshift parking lot behind the course. Wetmore addresses his runners while they stretch in silence. “The women’s team felt like they went out too slow, so you might want to push it a little bit at about two and a quarter, two and a half miles. But don’t forget, the women only had three miles to solve their problems, and you have five.”

  The course is narrow at

  points, only a couple feet

  wide, especially mid-race. This

  will test their patience, and

  their race tactics. Batliner

  takes pictures of his team-

  mates while they stretch. He

  has made the trip to view

  the course so he can “make a

  movie in his mind” before

  Nationals. He will not run

  today, but he plans on toeing

  the starting line on Novem-

  ber 23rd.

  Tessman talks to a teammate as

  Wetmore gives Severy some

  last-minute counsel.

  RUNNING WITH THE BUFFALOES

  137

  Lear 102-149:Lear 102-149 1/5/11 1:24 PM Page 138

  There is no look of worry or tension on the runners’ faces as they pin the numbers onto their jerseys, and only the loquacious Berkshire breaks the silence. But as they switch into their spikes, Goucher has a funny look on his face. His spikes feel tight, and he asks Roybal to check his spikes to see if they have not mistakenly switched pairs. Sure enough, Roybal is wearing Goucher’s spikes that are a half size larger than his size ten’s. Wetmore just shakes his head and laughs at the snafu. He sarcastically tells Goucher, “Why don’t you wear a ten and a ten and a half? That’ll be good.”

  Wetmore returns to offering some last-minute counsel to his guys.

  He is concerned about Berkshire keeping a calm mind out there. “Relax and release on the back hills,” he tells him. “ You’ve never been in a race like this. They’re gonna go out in 4:35, so be cool.” Berkshire nods his approval, and his brow tightens in concentration as he listens.

  “Ronald, 5:05’s is about right. You other guys, it’s about the same. Five minutes to 5:05. Gouch, 4:48’s. Ponce, 5:05’s. Brock 5 to 5:05’s.” Severy chats with Batliner while Wetmore gives his instructions, and Wetmore is annoyed by his inattentiveness. He turns to him and says, “We got about five minutes to go till we race, let’s get to business please.”

  “Reese, about 5 to 5:05’s and just respond to the race. Maybe work a little harder up here around mile two, you can get pinched off down there [around mile three when the course narrows].”

  The men head to the starting line for a couple of strides before the gun. They are in a box on the left side of the starting line — as good a place as any on the line. The University of Montana huddles a couple of boxes down to the left in front of the starting line, and offers a scary cheer. “Motivate! Motivate! Oh, ah, gonna kill somebody! Oh, ah, gonna kill somebody!” Wetmore looks at them and says, “Good, good, that oughta do it.” Batliner laughs and adds, “Man, I didn’t know we were gonna have to contend with that!”

  Wetmore catches Friedburg’s eye as he walks back to the starting line, laughing with Berkshire. “You stay comfortable. You’ve never been in a race like this. Be calm minded, Iceberg. Let’s go. It’s a skill you gotta learn. There’s 300 guys. You stay calm and do what you gotta do.”

  He raises his voice a notch so they can all hear him as he stands behind them on the line. They are facing the course now, and the starter has marched out into the middle of the fairway. Arizona is the closest contender to them on the line. “Keep an eye on those in red and blue

  [Arizona]. Keep them at a comfortable distance, but let them go.”

  The gun sounds. As the runners head out of sight a half mile from the start, CU lags in last, as is their custom. In the mayhem, a runner falls in front of Friedberg and tucks himself into a fetal position to protect 138

  CHRIS LEAR

  Lear 102-149:Lear 102-149 1/5/11 1:24 PM Page 139

  himself from the onslaught. The Iceberg sees him catch a spike in the head. The runner does not get up.

  Goucher is the exception. He heads out with the lead pack, which has already dropped eleven seconds behind Butler’s Julius Mwangi at the mile. Wasting no time putting his mark on the race, Mwangi hits the mile in 4:27. Lagat of Washington State, Arizona’s Abdirahman and Utah’s Simonich race alongside Goucher as Stanford’s Hauser twins lead the chase pack.

  Goucher did not want to go out so fast, but he was afraid to let Mwangi get too far ahead. Two and half miles into the race, Goucher rolls hard to catch him. Behind him, Oregon’s Matt Davis moves up along with Stanford’s Hauser twins. Back in the pack, the CU guys’ fears are being realized — the course is too tight for them to pass. Ponce and the Iceberg accept the dilemma and settle in, hoping to start moving up in a mile.

  When Ponce and Friedberg move, they pass people in packs. They are forced to run unevenly, sprinting around groups on the course’s edge before passing them so they do not get forced off the course with a well-placed elbow in one of the narrower sections.

  Severy runs ahead of Ponce and Friedberg. He employs the same tactics to move up, but he is biding time until Billy Mills Hill, the steep climb that challenges the competitors at mile four. He knows that no one can climb quite like he can.

  A large crowd awaits the leaders at Billy Mills Hill. When the runners had disappeared into the back of the course for several miles, Mwangi led A straining Mwangi

  leads in mid-race.

  RUNNING WITH THE BUFFALOES

  139

  Lear 102-149:Lear 102-149 1/5/11 1:24 PM Page 140

  comfortably. Now, when Mwangi arrives, Goucher runs with him, stride for stride. No one else is in sight; it is a two-man race. The crowd responds to their arrival, and everyone, it seems, is pulling for Goucher.

  “Come on, Goucher! Let’s go, Goucher!” The cheers energize him.

  Goucher rides the crowd’s cheers into the lead, putting ten feet between him and Mwangi as they crest the hill.

  All fall in practice, Goucher has been indomitable once in the lead.

  He relishes putting the hurt on his competitors when he is in control.

  Batliner, watching at Billy Mills Hill, says as Goucher passes, “It’s over.” But Mwangi has other p
lans. As the spectators dash madly to the finish line, Goucher and Mwangi again become visible. With only a half mile left, Mwangi retakes the lead and improbably gaps Gouch. He extends his lead to the finish, and he raises his hands in delirious exultation and looks towards the heavens just moments after crossing the line. He celebrates like this through the chute, and Goucher does not miss a thing. It is a display he is unaccustomed to seeing.

  Soon after Goucher crosses the line, the rest of the field starts to stream in, and Stanford looks great. Oregon’s Davis finishes between the Hauser twins in sixth. Soon thereafter, Jason Balkman crosses the line in fifteenth place. He is the third Stanford finisher. Colorado has yet to get in their second. Severy chugs in in twentieth to stop the bleeding. But behind him, Stanford’s four and five

  battle Ponce and Friedberg

  down the finishing stretch,

  and the Cardinal’s Jennings

  and Weldon prevail to round

  out the Cardinal’s scoring

  with an impressive 80 points.

  Ten seconds and eight places

  behind Friedberg, Reese com-

  pletes a valiant race in 40th

  place to round out CU’s scor-

  ing. Tessman finishes 54th in

  the sixth position, with Roybal

  right behind him in 57th.

  CU’s five-man score is

  120, good enough on this day

  to earn them third behind the

  Mwangi and Goucher battle

  up Billy Mills Hill.

  140

  CHRIS LEAR

  Lear 102-149:Lear 102-149 1/5/11 1:24 PM Page 141

  Cardinal and Oregon. Scoring only 80 points, Stanford looks dominant, but Oregon finishes only seventeen points ahead of CU with a score of 103. Immediately following the race, the emotions of the CU runners are wide-ranging. No one is thrilled with his performance, but while Goucher is at times irate at his second-place finish, Berkshire is crushed by his second consecutive poor showing and his first poor showing in a race of this magnitude. He finishes out of sight in 170th and Valenti is even further back in 210th. They do not need Wetmore to tell them that they have run themselves off the Varsity squad today.