5 Questions with Stanford commit, Thomas Graham

We have our first high school guest today on “5 Questions with”. In the Triangle, we’ve know of Thomas Graham for some time. He’ll be heading west to Stanford next year, but represents the latest of a strong resurgence in North Carolina prep running.

Thomas Graham has been making noise in North Carolina and on the national scene for the past few years, qualifying for the past two Foot Locker Cross Country Championships (finishing 9th in 2011), finishing third at the Brooks PR Invite 2 Mile in 2011 (9:04.14) and 2nd at the National Scholastic 5000 in 2011 (14:45.42). His most recent achievement was his best yet, running 14:11.66 for 5000 at the 2012 Raleigh Relays. Follow him on Twitter here.

5 Questions with Thomas Graham

1. Writing About Running: First off, congrats on running 14:11 at Raleigh Relays. You ran 14:45 at National Scholastic in June. What kind of preparation went into improving so vastly 10 months later?

Thomas Graham: Thanks! It definitely was a huge PR for me, and my coach and I consider it to be a real breakthrough. I think that such a big drop was the product of a few things. First, I think my old 5k PR wasn’t really representative of the shape I was in at the time. Basically Edward Cheserek took off and ran the first lap of that race in 63, and left the rest of us way behind. The guy that was in 2nd wasn’t running fast enough, so I moved into his position and basically ran 11 really lonely, not very fast laps. I think I probably could have run closer to 14:30 last June, but it just never really materialized running what amounted to a solo time trial. Over the summer and winter off seasons I had really good base periods where I was consistently running 80-85 miles a week, and I came out of those feeling a lot stronger and ready to run some good times.

2. Writing About Running: Friday night at the Raleigh Relays has become of night of excellent racing. How long had you been planning on running the 5000 here? Also, I noticed you ran a smart race, working your way through the pack. What kind of game plan went into your race strategy?

Thomas Graham: Before the season started my coach and I thought it would be cool to run a fast 5k, and Raleigh Relays, which is about 10 minutes from my house, seemed like the best place to do it. It had been on the calendar all season, and I’d been excited for it, but seeing how stacked the field really got my psyched for it. I didn’t really have a race strategy going in. The only plan I had was to run off the backs of the other runners, move up if I felt good, and fall back if I felt like the pace was too much. Luckily, I ended up feeling good pretty much the whole time, so whenever the lead pack started to break away from the chase group I just tagged along on the back of that group and just rode it along to a nice time.

Graham runs for Cary Academy & will attend Stanford

3. Writing About Running: I’ve seen you running at Umstead many times. What can you say about the park that has helped you in your training over the years?

Thomas Graham: I’m a huge fan of Umstead for a lot of reasons. By itself it’s probably the biggest reason that I’ve continued to improve and continued to love running. I really like being outside and Umstead has a ton of single-track trails to complement the wider main trails. There is a ton of variety possible for runs, so if you need to go 9 miles 5 days in a row, you can run a different route every day. Another great thing about Umstead is how hilly it is. Because it’s centrally located in the triangle, a lot of the runners from around the area meet there on Sundays during the offseason to do long runs, which I think have really helped me develop over time. There’s a great, really hard loop that’s 15, but you can add or take off of it by going slightly different routes to make it anywhere from 12-17. A lot of times, it’s just a slow run with friends, but sometimes it gets competitive and when it does, an hour plus of hammering hills is a really good workout.

4. Writing About Running: You’ll be joining an excellent program in Stanford this fall. What led you to this decision?

Thomas Graham: My college decision was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. The main reasons that I ended up deciding on Stanford—a team I got along really well with, a good chance to succeed long term, great places to train—I also saw in a ton of other schools. Ultimately it came down to Michigan and Stanford, and I felt that all the major elements were largely the same at each place, so smaller things like housing and weather ended up being what I based my call off of. I’m really excited to get to school, though. Being in one college race made me realize how competitive it is going to be every day, and how much better I can hopefully get when I’m pushed in all my workouts by other guys who are better than me.

Graham has run the last 2 Brooks PR Invites

5. Writing About Running: You’re running the famed Arcadia 3200 this weekend. What are your goals for this race and the rest of the outdoor season?

Thomas Graham: As of right now, the plan is still to run Arcadia. I’ve been under the weather basically since Raleigh Relays, though, so if I’m not feeling close to 100% tomorrow I might pull out. If everything goes as planned, though, I’d like to finally get under 9 minutes, which I still haven’t done. I don’t really have too many concrete goals for the rest of the season. I’m planning on running the 2 mile at outdoor nationals, and the 5k at Payton Jordan. Hopefully I can be competitive in both of those races, and if everything goes well, run some really special times.

Update: Graham went on to run 8:56.21 for 3200 at Arcadia (#6 All Time for NC)

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Road to Houston: 5 Questions with Olympic Trials competitor, Ricky Flynn

Today, we were lucky enough to have 5 Questions with a former Division III National Champion on his "Road to Houston." We'll have more interviews and previews next week as we lead up to the big day (one week from today) on January 14, 2012.

Ricky Flynn was a State Champion in high school and a National Champion in college at Division III Lynchburg College. He just finished graduate school there and qualified for the trials as well, running a 1:04:14 at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon. Follow him on Twitter here.

5 Questions with Ricky Flynn

1. Writing About Running: Running at the Division III Lynchburg College, you were a seven time All-American. Why Lynchburg? and what were some of your PR's coming out?

Ricky Flynn: When I was looking at colleges, I had first thought I wanted to go DI, but after getting into the college search, I realized I would better fit at a DIII school. My brother had gone to Lynchburg, so that's where I looked first, and ended up not having a lot of time to look at other DIII schools, and decided Lynchburg was the place for me.
Coming out of college, I had PR's of 30:03 for 10,000, 14:25 for 5000, 3:51 for 1500, and 8:31 for 3k.

2. Writing About Running: You qualified for the trials at the Woodrow Wilson Half in 1:04:14. How'd it feel to qualify?

Ricky Flynn: It felt amazing to be able to hit the qualifying time. I went into the race knowing it was a possibility, but wasn't sure if I would do it at that race, since I hadn't really peaked my training for that time and I had a tough race at the Virginia 10 miler the week before. Originally, I was shooting for a November half qualifier at Richmond or Philly, but then I saw this race in October and it was a week after a really good race at the 10 miler and I decided I would give it a shot and see what happens. So I ended up going to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half and had a really good race with some good guys to run with and it worked out really well. It was a huge weight off my chest when I hit the time and I surprised myself a little bit by being that far under 65:00. It was a great feeling.

Flynn won the DIII Cross Country
National Championship in 2009

3. Writing About Running: After you lauded college career, aside from Woodrow Wilson, what have been some of your biggest races in the past few years?

Ricky Flynn: I would say that the qualifying time is up there with my DIII XC national championship in 2009. That, along with my 2003 Marylnd Cross Country State Championship, are my three so-called career highlights. Also, it was a big milestone to go under the 14 minute barrier for 5000 at the Raleigh Relays in March of 2011. That was very unexpected and kind of surreal, since I only ran 14:25 the prior year in college.

4. Writing About Running: The trials will be your debut in the marathon. What is your goal for the race and the weekend in general?

Ricky Flynn: Yes, the trials will be my debut at the marathon distance and my first race longer than a half marathon, ever. I am looking forward to seeing how I hold up for the marathon distance. To be honest, my goals are very vague, I just want to go into the race with a positive attitude and see what happens. I would just like to have a solid debut. I can't expect too much, considering it is my first one, but I would just like to enjoy the weekend and if I can come out of it with a decent time, then that is a plus. All in all, I just want to go out there and run hard for 26.2 miles and if I can do that, then hopefully a solid time will come along with that. I also want to make sure I enjoy the experience and the whole weekend in general.

Back to the track

5. Writing About Running: What are your goals beyond the trials?

Ricky Flynn: My goals beyond the trials are more of a take it as it comes approach. I know I would like to take a little down time after the trials and then starting gearing up for the track season and see if I can't lower my 5000 and 10,000 PR's (13:59 and 29:21). Then after that, maybe throw in another marathon training season for a fast fall marathon. I also am currently looking for a more permanent career type job, so that is another goal of mine here in the next year or so.

Stay tuned for more articles this upcoming week and continued coverage leading up to the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston, TX on January 14, 2012.

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