"Stepping out on the track at the Penn Relays is like going onto the field for an NFL game," said Trevor Middleton '09, who ran a leg of the Big Green's 4 x 800m relay. "The crowd is my favorite part."
The Penn Relays gave Dartmouth athletes a chance to compete not only against the best college runners from across the country, but also a unique opportunity to face off in the Olympic Development races against professional runners and US Olympic squad hopefuls. Ben True '08 held his own in the Olympic Development mile race, clocking a 4:05. 56 -- good enough for third place.
The race wasn't ideal though, as True -- who ran 4:02 mile a few weeks ago in Arizona--had expected several even faster runners to be pushing a more blistering pace.
"It was looking like a great chance to run fast," True said. "Unfortunately that was not the case."
The fastest runners dropped out of the race, and an anticipated rabbit (a runner meant to set a fast pace for the first half of the mile) who was supposed to hit the 800m mark in 1:58, under four-minute-mile pace, went through the first 400m of the race in a relatively slow 62 seconds. At that point, True took the lead but was outkicked at the finish.
"After the first lap, which took my chances of going sub-four out the window, I mentally packed it in and just cruised," True said, mentioning his goal of clocking the elusive four-minute mile. "Basically, it wasn't the race we thought it was, so I had to waste my time there, instead of being able to run with the team in the 4x80. I was feeling ready to run fast, there to do it, but [that] just wasn't the race to do it in."
If True can attain his goal of a sub-four mile, he would obliterate the current Dartmouth mile record of 4:02.26, held by Sam Wilbur '94. True already holds the second fastest time in College history.
Running a mile in under four minutes was once thought impossible, until the British runner Roger Bannister accomplished the impossible on May 6, 1956. Since then, the world record time has been plummeting steadily and is now held by the legendary Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, who finished in an astonishing 3:43.13 in 1999. If True can slip below the four-minute mark, he would join the most rarefied air of American running -- one count holds that only 258 American runners have ever broken the four-minute barrier.
"I know that I can run the time that I want to," he said. "Just now we need to find the right race to do it in."
True wasn't the only runner to take advantage of the opportunity to size up the Olympic Development field. Grant Allen '08 took 11th place in the 3000m steeple chase, crossing the line in 9:22.95. An independent runner named Trevor Colangelo blew away the field, winning by five seconds with a time of 9:00.64. Nick Saaro, of Brown, was the only Ivy competitor to best Allen. Saaro grabbed 9th in 9:21.78.
Pat Dooley '08 snagged a seventh place finish in the college men's 5000m run, clocking a 14:30.03. Jon Anderson from Army had the winning time of 14:21.17.
Dartmouth's women took 11th place in a distance medley on Thursday. Laura Tabor '10, Natalie Stoll '10, Audrey Weber '09 and Caitlin Cunningham '09 combined for a time of 11:56.33. The men also put together a relay squad, closing the Big Green competition at the Penn Relays on Saturday afternoon by racing the 4 x 800m relay. Middleton, Kevin Treadway '10, Harry Norton '08 and Mike Font '10 put together a time of 7:45.21. Ivy rival Yale was fourth with a time of 7:33.91.
"The meet didn't go as well as we had hoped," Middleton said. "We spent more time pushing the other teams than trying to run fast. While Penn didn't go as well as we had hoped, we're still confident in all of our training and that we'll peak for Heps and New Englands."
The Dartmouth track team will travel to Princeton this weekend for the Heptagonal Championships, where the Ivy crown will be on the line. The Penn Relays might be vast and exciting, but the season thus far has essentially been a protracted warm-up for the Ivy championship meet.
