If you are a fan of any sport, you have probably at one time or another wondered what it’s like for reporters to cover sporting events. As a high school reporter, I have thought about this many times. I was lucky enough to get a media credential to this years Boston Indoor Games, a track meet featuring numerous Olympic medalists, world champions, and American record holders.
The Boston Indoor Games for 2009 was my chance to experience real sports reporting first hand. And lucky enough, I was able to witness a meet that will easily go down as one of the best track meets ever run on American soil. From American records to world bests, the meet was filled with great races.
But lets back up to before the meet. On the Wednesday before the meet, I attended the first of two press conferences set up by Global Athletics and Marketing, the meet organizers. I would be interviewing American Olympian in the 10K and 5K, 2007 World Championships Bronze Medalist, and American debut record holder in the marathon, Kara Goucher. Also at the conference would be the Olympic Silver medalist in the women’s pole vault, Jenn Stuczynski, and Men’s Olympic Gold medalist and the 4th best pole-vaulter of all time, Steven Hooker, of Australia.
As I entered the Jury Hotel in Boston’s Back Bay, I prepared myself to experience my first press conference and to meet my celebrity crush (Goucher) and two of the best pole-vaulters ever. My questions were set, and I was ready to go.
Entering the press coference room, I met and introduced myself to some of the attendees. The first person I met happened to be Boston Herald sports reporter Joe Reardon.
The conference began (you can view it at bostonindoorgames.com, under the multimedia, video gallery tab) and the reporters started asking questions. I shot one to Goucher first, asking how much of the Boston Marathon course she has ran, and her thoughts on it. She will be running the Boston Marathon in April, her first Boston.
Her response: “I ran the first 18 miles on Sunday and I ran the last 10K Monday and I am going to run some this afternoon, too. I really like the course, I had never seen it before at all. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much I like it. It has a really great feel, it’s really rolling [as in the hills] and their aren’t a lot of turns. I think it’ll be a great place to get into a good rhythm, I’m really excited about it!”
I also asked two to Hooker, who answered them in his Aussie accent, and a few more to Goucher. After the interview was over, Kara, I, and a couple other reporters had a “one-on-one” interview session, where Goucher went in depth on some of the aspects of her training, under the supervision of coach and former Boston Marathon champion Alberto Salazar.
Still in awe after the interviews concluded, I got a picture taken with Kara, and asked her if she had any advice for me, as I was running a two mile race later that night.
“Just run your race, don’t over analyze things. Just go out, have fun, and run fast!” said Kara.
After thanking her, I returned to pack my notebook and camera into my bag and began to leave. Exiting the room, I ran into Salazar and Steven Hooker. I was now totally in shock, for I met THE Alberto Salazar (king of the running world in the 1980’s), THE Steven Hooker (golden locks and all who vaulted to gold in Beijing), and THE Kara Goucher, (my celebrity crush and running hero). To sum up, my first press conference went extremely well, as I interviewed and met some of track and field’s greatest athletes.
Amazingly, the next day, I was surfing the running web-sites, reading articles written on the press conference. I was astonished to find the quotes that many of the best running writers of the world used were answers to questions I had asked! MY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WERE IN ARTICLES!! These included one’s published by runnersworld.com and an Associated Press article. They had used Kara’s response to my question on the marathon.
Now let’s skip ahead to Saturday, the day of the meet. All day I was ready to roll. I arrived at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center two hours before the meet. With camera, notebook, printouts and press kit (which I received at the press conference), I went through the “Media Only” entrance. Soon, fellow reporters flowed in one by one; one of my favorite reporters, Mark Floreani of Flotrack.com, sat next to me. I began speaking with many of the writers, asking for advice. They told me a little about what to expect, and to most importantly have fun.
Before I knew it, I had met some of my favorite running stars. The first person I interviewed was Trevor Dunbar, runner-up at the Foot Locker High School Cross Country National Championships. Dunbar has been made famous after he ran a 9:01 2 mile time trial in the snow at his home track in Alaska (here is the video (9:01), it is definitely worth checking out!). That was a pretty sweet way to start things off.
Once the meet started, I soon shifted my focus to the action on the track. The first race I was looking forward to was the women’s 3K, as Kara Goucher was running. In addition to her, Sally Kipyego (the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Champion from Texas Tech), and Christin Wurth-Thomas, (a 2008 Olympian in the 1500), were competing. The race was great, as Kipyego and Goucher ran together for the first half, before Goucher broke away. She finished in a blazing 8:46.65, a nation leading time for the year. After the race, I spoke to Goucher, along with her husband and fellow professional distance runner Adam Goucher, as well as Wurth-Thomas. Goucher even remembered me from the press conference.
“I wanted to be invisible for the first half, then slowly drive it in. I’m happy with the race. I felt really comfortable,” said Goucher
Wurth-Thomas expressed her disappointment with her race, as she said she had been sick and should not have run.
As I am a distance runner in high school, and have run the mile many times, I was very excited for the Reebok Boys and Girls High School mile. Some of the fastest high schoolers in the nation (and Canada) had come from as far away as Alaska to run this race. The Canadian Jessica Parry ended up winning the girls race in a time of 4:51.62. That’s equal to my fastest mile ever. In the guys race, University of Oregon bound Texan Mac Fleet came from behind in the final 50 meters, to win and cross the tape in a nation leading time, 4:09.06. In addition, 3 more guys finished under 4:10.
After the high schoolers finished, the pros took to the track. Lindsey Gallo ran an amazing 4:27.90, as she was the unexpected winner, beating Austrailian Olympian Sarah Jamieson and Ethiopian Mestawat Tadesse. In the post-race interview, Gallo told me she was “shocked, I felt really good!”
Right as the women’s mile was set to begin, Beijing Olympic gold medalist Steven Hooker took to the runway for the pole vault. Hooker put on a show, as he would go on to set a personal record and vault to the second highest height ever indoors. The Reggie was definitely rocking after that!
In the men’s 3000 meter race, Olympian and NCAA Cross Counry Champion Galen Rupp ran to a collegiate record 7:44.69. Under his coach Alberto Salazar, Rupp has shined: an Olympic birth, a national championship, and an American record in the 5K ( a week after the Boston Indoor Games). Many view him as the next big American distance star, and he looks to be on track to achieve that status. Seeing him run was amazing, as he is one of my favorite runners. As an aspiring college runner, I talked with him and kind of get a sense what he thought of the college running experience.
“Its been really fun. The race felt a little foreign to me, as I am not used to the shorter distance. But running for Oregon has been great,” Rupp said.
The highlight of the meet was definitely the final two events: the Women’s 5K and the Men’s Mile. In the women’s 5K, Massachusetts native and Beijing bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan ran to an American Record, breaking the previous mark by 20 seconds. This was incredible, as she was running in front of her home crowd and everyone knew her goal was to break the record. The crowd was again on their feet the whole way when she crossed the finish line.
To finish up, the men’s mile featured many of the world’s best runners. Olympic bronze medalist Nick Willis, American record holder Alan Webb, and 3 time Olympian Kevin Sullivan of Canada were just some of the competitors. I ended up seeing my first sub 4:00 mile (make that my first five sub four’s). Five men ended up running below the famed mile mark, as Willis took the gold in 3:53.54. Willis took the lead with two laps to go and never looked back, showing his tremendous kick, which he used in the Olympic Final to earn the bronze.
Seeing so many great athletes run incredible times was awe inspiring. Plus, I got some great tips and insights from the top writers in the running business. The 2009 Reebok Boston Indoor Games was my first professional reporting gig, and this experience turned out to be one of the greatest days of my life.
