I ran track in high school and when I was a sophomore I had the pleasure to race against the fastest runner in the country. His name was Craig Virgin.
Craig Virgin was the guy that beat Steve Prefontaine's national outdoor 2-mile record by 1.5 seconds with a time of 8:41.05. As a runner for the University of Illinois Cross Country team, he was the 1975 NCAA Cross Country champion. He also qualified for the Olympics three times in the 10,000 meters just to name a few of his many accomplishments.
Although he had yet to break those records back in the spring of 1973, he was still considered at that time one of the fastest runners in the United States. This wasn't the first race I had faced him. I had ran against him before in Cross Country in a big invitation meet in which he got first place and I finished about 150 runners behind him.
Now I was decent in Cross Country. I was the third or fourth man on our team, which meant that my position was very important in the scoring. However, in track, I was not so important. I ran the two mile and I rarely placed better than fourth place. And on this particular day I was in the heat that had Craig Virgin.
Although I was never a great track star, I was proud of the fact that a runner had never lapped me. I wanted to finish out my high school track career with that record still intact, but the odds didn't look good.
Back in those days, running was all yards and miles, unlike the metric system which is used today. One lap was 440 yards and it took eight laps to run two miles.
With the fastest runner in the country setting the pace, this meant that everyone in that heat would either run one of their better races or get burnt out really quick. The latter happened to me.
I remember at the mile mark, Craig Virgin was about a half a lap ahead of me and I could feel that the fast pace was taking it's toll on me. I felt like I was slowing down with each lap and finally with a little more than one lap to go, I could hear the crowd cheering for the world's fastest man.
With constant looks behind me, I could see him gaining. Then I could hear his fast footsteps. Even though, I still had a little more than a lap to go before I finished, I was able to muster up a ten yard sprint. It turned out that Craig Virgin crossed the finished line at exactly the same time I was starting my last lap.
That day Craig Virgin beat me by exactly 440 yards. However, he never lapped me, which has made that race one of the most important days of my high school track career.
Craig Virgin was the guy that beat Steve Prefontaine's national outdoor 2-mile record by 1.5 seconds with a time of 8:41.05. As a runner for the University of Illinois Cross Country team, he was the 1975 NCAA Cross Country champion. He also qualified for the Olympics three times in the 10,000 meters just to name a few of his many accomplishments.
Although he had yet to break those records back in the spring of 1973, he was still considered at that time one of the fastest runners in the United States. This wasn't the first race I had faced him. I had ran against him before in Cross Country in a big invitation meet in which he got first place and I finished about 150 runners behind him.
Now I was decent in Cross Country. I was the third or fourth man on our team, which meant that my position was very important in the scoring. However, in track, I was not so important. I ran the two mile and I rarely placed better than fourth place. And on this particular day I was in the heat that had Craig Virgin.
Although I was never a great track star, I was proud of the fact that a runner had never lapped me. I wanted to finish out my high school track career with that record still intact, but the odds didn't look good.
Back in those days, running was all yards and miles, unlike the metric system which is used today. One lap was 440 yards and it took eight laps to run two miles.
With the fastest runner in the country setting the pace, this meant that everyone in that heat would either run one of their better races or get burnt out really quick. The latter happened to me.
I remember at the mile mark, Craig Virgin was about a half a lap ahead of me and I could feel that the fast pace was taking it's toll on me. I felt like I was slowing down with each lap and finally with a little more than one lap to go, I could hear the crowd cheering for the world's fastest man.
With constant looks behind me, I could see him gaining. Then I could hear his fast footsteps. Even though, I still had a little more than a lap to go before I finished, I was able to muster up a ten yard sprint. It turned out that Craig Virgin crossed the finished line at exactly the same time I was starting my last lap.
That day Craig Virgin beat me by exactly 440 yards. However, he never lapped me, which has made that race one of the most important days of my high school track career.
3 comments:
Mike:
What a nice surprise to read this blog and get a different perspective on a race of mine from so many years ago. I may have beaten you in running that day but you are way ahead of me in the technology department! I'm glad that we had a chance to run together a couple of times...and I respect and appreciate what it took for you to compete in our sport....despite the difference in paces. We both put in plenty of hard work and tolerated much discomfort to toe the line that day. I'm glad you have a positive memory of our race together and I hope that you are still jogging even today. You may be interested in visiting my own website at www.craigvirgin.com as there are pictures there from throughout my running career..including H.S. I hope we can meet again some day.
Craig Virgin
Wow! What a surprise to read my old blogs and find out that Craig Virgin responded to my story of him. Craig, you never lapped me, but if you would like to have a rematch and try again, I am up for the challenge. Just tell me when and where and I'll show up with my running shoes.
Mike Trippiedi
Mr. Virgin, I know this is very random, but do you know a man named Steve Lawrence? He also ran at U of I.
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