Where I've been lately (and where I'm going!)

Birthday was six months ago, but that's a sweet cake, right?

Hey folks! It's been a little while since I posted here. Thanks for following me over to the Daily Relay. Over the past six weeks, I've enjoyed contributing two articles a week to what is becoming an excellent site.

I was also a little too close to the situation in the recent shooting at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. This and the grind of flying twice a week for the past 2.5 years has helped me make the decision to get off the road!

Oh yeah, and later this year (or early next), I plan to tackle a 50 miler to try and qualify for the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. It's real if I put it online, so I'm gonna go for it. Injuries have plagued me, but I can run slow for a long time, without too much pain!

What's on my upcoming schedule?

• Asheville Beer Week (Asheville, NC)
• Prefontaine Classic (Eugene, OR)
• New Balance Nationals Outdoor (Greensboro, NC)
• USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships (Des Moines, IA)
• Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC)

*I'll be available for stringer and freelance work for all of these. If interested, email me

Here are some of the articles I've written for "The Mixed Zone" at the Daily Relay:

• “Doesn't matter who wins 'cause they're all losers.” Gimmick racing at an all time high
• 10 important tips for running a Beer Mile (from World Record holder Josh Harris)
• Running with WTF podcast’s Marc Maron
• What do your running shoes say about you?
• “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn” (about Alan Webb and Chris Solinsky's comebacks)
• 5 Reasons the Boston Marathon is similar to The Masters (and 5 reasons it’s different)

And here are some of the "5 Questions" interviews I've done:

• Kim Conley
• Treniere Moser
• Ben True
• Cory Leslie
• Doc Patton
• Brenda Martinez
• Craig Leon

*Here's a link to all my pieces at the Daily Relay

Hope to see many of you this summer! Happy Trails! Pat Price

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Wesley Frazier and Edward Cheserek win New Balance Outdoor 2 Mile Titles

The New Balance Outdoor Nationals once again returned to the beautiful Irwin Belk Track at Aggie Stadium this weekend. Greensboro, North Carolina would once again host the best high schoolers from across the country. The featured distance events of the evening would be the Boys and Girls Championship 2 Mile Runs.

Leading the boys would be St. Benedict Prep's Edward Cheserek. Would he challenge German Fernandez' meet record of 8:34.40, which was set in 2008? Would he challenge Lukas Verzbicas' 8:29.46 set last year at Pre? Those were the questions stirring through the stadium as the 80+ degree day started to cool into the mid 70's at sunset approached.

The day got off to a rough start for the Newark, NJ Senior, as he lost control and dropped the baton during the Sprint Medley Relay. This is coming off a disappointing 12th places finish at the Adidas Grand Prix Dream Mile, where he "only" ran 4:07.29. How would he respond in quite possibly he last race of his season?

Of course, Cheserek isn't the only story. The 2 Mile would be the last high school race for Cary, NC standout, Thomas Graham, before heading out west in the Fall to join the powerhouse that is the Stanford Cardinal. Graham's career as one of the top distance runners in North Carolina history includes multiple state titles, two trips to Foot Locker Nationals, an 8:56.21 for 3200 meters at the storied Arcadia Invitational and most notably, a 14:11.23 for 5000 meters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. How would he fare against King Edward and the rest of an excellent field that spanned from coast to coast.

Last night, Winona Lake, Indiana's Ashley Erba ran a meet record of 16:18.21, distancing herself from last year's champ, Raleigh Ravenscroft's Wesley Frazier. Frazier has had another excellent year, most recently running an impressive 4:42.78 at the Adidas Grand Prix Dream Mile. She would have her hands full tonight with Wilmington, Delaware Tatnall's Haley Pierce coming in with the strongest run of the year at 10:16.35 for 3200 meters.

The girls would go off first at 8:10pm and Wesley Frazier would bide, a the field was tightly bunched the whole way and went through the mile in 5:07. Frazier came on strong over the last 100 meters to take the win in 10:13.43, outkicking Salt Lake City's Natalie Shields in the process. 

Edward Cheserek on the last lap

The guys would follow at 8:40pm. Edward Cheserek would play it cool and not take the lead until about 400 meters to go. When he went, Thomas Graham bided his time and got up on his shoulder with 200 meters to go. It wasn't until the last 100 meters that the speedier Cheserek would pull away and take the win in 8:55.12. Graham would PR in the process with a strong 8:56.56 for the 2 mile distance.

Although the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships would be going on this weekend as well and there would be an obvious divide of talent, the New Balance Outdoor Nationals is always an excellent event, and is a great place to see some emerging talent. I know I had a blast in 1995! Come back tomorrow for the mile and plenty more.

Make sure and check out RunnerSpace's videos of the races here

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The Run Down: Raleigh's Wesley Frazier runs a national record at New Balance Nationals

Frazier post-race getting interviewed

High schoolers from all over the nation were treated to some cooler than normal weather this evening (mid 70's) as they poured into this year's New Balance Outdoor Nationals at Irwin Belk Track at North Carolina A&T. The distance events kicked were kicked off around 8pm, with the seldomly run in high school, 5000 meters.

There were two heats each for the boys and girls and Raleigh Ravenscroft's Wesley Frazier kicked things into high gear with a national sophomore record (and 26 second PR) and convincing win in 16:24.84 (the former record was Julia Stamps 16:31.2 from 1995, the same year I ran the 2000 Steeple as NSO's). Frazier bided her time and ran 79's and 80's most of the way until she turned it up and took the lead with 1200 to go; running her last two laps in 76 and 70. Here's a video of her record breaking race and here's her post race interview. Here are full results.

The guys race was going to be the Edward Cheserek show with a chance at a sub 14 in the cards. It wasn't to be today as Cheserek blazed out in 63 and stayed under 14:00 pace until 2400 meters, where he started to run 70-72 second laps. He still hung in there and took down the meet record, running a 66 second last lap to finish in 14:25.74. Another North Carolinian ran wel,l as Cary junior Thomas Graham was the runner up in a PR of 14:45.42. Here's a video of the race. Here are full results.

I'll be back tomorrow night to once again live tweet and use the splitcaster app for the 2-mile races!

For the live stream, check out http://www.facebook.com/newbalancenationals

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Battle Royale: Rosa Brothers vs. Moussa vs. Noelle at New Balance Outdoor 2-Mile

This Friday night, the brothers Rosa of New Jersey will look to channel the same energy that they brought with them last year to Greensboro, where they went 1-2 in the New Balance Outdoors Nationals 2-Mile, going 8:44 (Joe) and 8:51 (Jim), and beating some guy named Lukas handily (Verzbicas finished sixth in 8:58). They seem to be peaking at the right time, as they were both on pace for a New Jersey state record last week at the Meet of Champions before the plug was pulled at 2800 meters due to lightning.

They will have their hands full as USA World Junior Cross Country Team member and the always consistent, Ammar Moussa, will be ready to battle it out with the brothers (he finished on Joe's heels and ahead of Jim at the  Jim Ryun Dream Mile). Also in the game will be New York's Chad Noelle, who won the Millrose Games Mile earlier this year and has openly stated he's going after Josh McDougall's state 2-Mile record of 8:48.11 on Friday night. These four will continue their battle next year as well on the cross country course as the Rosas are heading to Stanford, Moussa is heading to Colorado and Noelle is heading to Oregon (with Verzbicas).

Also in the mix will be Florida's Jimmy Clark and North Carolina's Mitch Mallory, amongst a host of other well qualified athletes. The race will go off at 7:45 pm eastern on Friday night and full coverage is available at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals website. I'll be there live tweeting as well!

Here's the field:

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Battle Royale: Edward Cheserek vs. 14:00 barrier at New Balance Outdoor

Star sophomore from New Jersey via Kenya, Edward Cheserek, will likely have one goal on his mind this Thursday night when he toes the line at New Balance Outdoor Nationals with the chance of a national championship on the line, busting the 14:00 barrier. The young Kenyan burst onto the U.S. High School scene this year and has already flirted with the 14:00 barrier, dropping a 14:02.33 at the Larry Ellis Memorial Invitational at Princeton University on April 22nd.

Cheserek just broke the High School sophomore mile record this past weekend, running 4:03.29 to place fourth in the Jim Ryun Dream Mile, a few seconds back from Lukas Verzbicas' 3:59.72. Unfortunately for Cheserek, he won't have quite the competition this Thursday in Greensboro that he had in New York on Saturday. That's not to say there will be no one to run with though.

The field has some tough competitors with 8:46 3200 meter man Jeremy Elkaim, who is also from Jersey, as well as North Carolinians, Mitch Mallory and Thomas Graham. Mallory recently dominated the field at the NC 4A State Championship running 9:13 and Graham, who is only a junior, ran a 9:04.14 2-mile indoors at the Brooks PR Invitational, after running Foot Locker Nationals, and then ran a strong 9:07.17 to win the Raleigh Relays 3200, before winning the state 3A independent titles at 1600 and 3200. Both look to run around 14:30 (or better).

New Balance Outdoor Nationals kick off Thursday at NC A&T in Greensboro, NC. I'll be there tweeting some live coverage. Full start lists are available here.

Here's the 5000 field:

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