High School: Washington Community High School
Major: Mathematics / Finance
PR's:
400 - :57 (2006)
5k - 15:23 (2006)
10k- 32:14 (2006)
15k- 50:37 (2006)
1/2 marathon - 1:11:11 (2006)
Marathon - 2:38 (unofficial, Athens Greece)
Favorite Professional runner:
I am partial to the hometown favorite Tim Broe, but I think I would have to say Brian Sell. My high school PRs are a lot more comparable to Sell, and his high volume training is more my style anyway.
So to start this off, how did you end up at North Central?
I first started to hear about North Central when Tim McCoskey's Dad started to help time cross-country and track meets my sophomore year of high school. From there the propaganda continued from the Metamora High School (home of the Weigels) Head Coach Gene Jones, my Running Central manager (and NCC alum) Bob Padilla, and all kinds of North Central enthusiasts from the Peoria area. Eventually I decided that I had to go see for myself what everyone was talking about, and because my brother lives in Wheaton it was not too far out of the way. It was some random Wednesday in January that I drove up with my Dad, and after a brief two hour meeting with Mike Lucchesi and Al in the coaches office we walked over to the indoor track to see the team. The first NCC athlete that introduced himself to me had just finished a very fast interval and said something like, "So you want to run cross-country here? they are kind of a cult, it's crazy man" It was a young Julius White, I think at the time he was only a 5th year senior, who knew he had 6 years of eligibility left... From there I talked to Dimitri about drills until the distance guys showed up and started cranking out maintenance quarters. There were athletes in every lane running some kind of workout, the NCAA banners were all blowing around, and coaches were all over the place yelling splits. By the end of the afternoon I had goosebumps, the field house was so different than running laps of the upstairs halls of WCHS alone, I knew that this was the place I wanted to be. Other than that I usually loaded up the old Chevy Lumina van right to the top and drove up I-55 to the Weber Rd exit, sometimes I would change it up and go 39 to 80 to 55...but same result.
Who has been your biggest influence in running so far in your career?
I am hesitant to admit that Josh Banister has influenced my life, but being my primary training partner since before my junior year of high school it probably has to be him. It was my idea to run a 100 mile week at some point in high school, but it was his idea to do it THAT week that I mentioned it, and we were already part way through the week and way off pace. I think I had run like 68 miles the week before, it was like February and very cold. I remember feeling awesome on Friday and Saturday, especially when adding up my mileage, but even to this day I don't think I have ever felt worse than I did Sunday morning finishing a twenty miler heading up Main Street hill (Update: I felt worse on that one run over interim where Bozer took it to us). That week pretty much sums up his impact on my running, he pushes me to places I usually don't want to go. Sometimes just as a challenge, sometimes because he starts workouts way too fast, and sometimes because he pisses me off and we start running hard. But since we started training he has gone from overweight and slow to nearly qualifying for the Olympic Marathon Trials, and has helped elevate my running to new levels all along the way.
To add to that answer I would also like to include all of the alumni I have come to know well in my four years here. It would be exhausting to try to put together a list of them, but for any of the younger guys reading this, our alumni are probably our greatest resource...and they are always around, so it is a wasted opportunity to not get to know some of them.
If you could go on a run with anybody, alive or dead, who would it be?
Probably Andy Enright, he is one of the funniest guys I have ever met. Besides causing me to laugh until it hurts, he has also taught me a lot about how to be a North Central runner. The winter of my freshman year (his senior year) I was really proud that I was one of the few guys who stayed up with Rizzo during one particularly quick Extended Modaff. I was throwing down surges and everything to keep up, we may have even done a maintenance quarter on the indoor track when we got back. Then that Saturday at the Pepsi Challenge 5k I went out right on the shoulder of Enright--who I felt like I had just owned during that workout a couple days earlier--and I just barely held him off from lapping me twice. Then one the cooldown along the lake he joked a decent amount about how I had beaten him on the workout but then got embarrassed so badly in the race. That was probably my first lesson that we train to race, not just train to train. The whole experience was pretty funny but since then I have always tried to keep in mind that the workout is just a step towards a goal, and not so much a goal in of itself.
Who does the best Soulja boy "Crank that" dance?
From memory all I can recall is that yourself (Brady) and Spain were definitely the standouts, but after reviewing some photo evidence I can see that the two of you are going in opposite directions, so clearly one of you is wrong. But because Schaumburg guys typically draw the short straw in life I am going to go ahead and give this one to Spain in the spirit of reparations.
So far what's your best memory at North Central been?
That is tough one. I have had an absolute blast here, and there is probably something that stands out from each team that I have been a part of, but they have all been so unique that I can't really nail down one experience. I would say that even with all of the antics I have been involved in, my favorite memories come mostly from joking around on runs, hanging out at kaufman, and especially conference meets. A moment that definitely stands out though comes from the interim of my junior year when a couple of us were studying abroad in Greece. Lancaster and I had gotten into a habit of getting lost on runs and just hoping that we would stumble across a main road so that our runs could finish in a reasonable amount of time. Then one evening after we got to the top of this mountain that Brian and Crum said we couldn't get up, we looked out across the landscape below to plan our route back to the hotel, and then set back off on our adventure. We eventually got to these back neighborhoods and they were actually pretty dark and creepy, but it was fun to run around because there were huge hills everywhere. Anyways, we noticed a group of running inside this plaza of an apartment complex. Naturally we ran over that way to check things out and realized that we were right on the top edge of the 1896 Olympic stadium, and this was the track club that runs intervals back and forth around the top rim. We ran something like 2k with them and asked about going down on the track and they pretty much brushed off our question saying that the turns were too tight so we figured it wasn't that big of deal. Inside I knew we were doing something wrong, but we agreed that we should just go for it because we had the opportunity. So we climbed the stairs over the top wall, ran down the steep stadium, which was terrifying being slick marble and all, and then regrouped briefly at the bottom before going out and running a quarter. We ran the lap in about 72, each took a picture under the Olympic rings, and then got out of there as fast as we could. After that we ran back to the hotel to rub it in Crumrine's face that because he was such a girl and turned back early to go hold hands with Diana, he missed the experience of a lifetime. Sorry Paul, it had to be said. To add to it, we were later informed that if we had been caught by security we would be taken straight to jail...I still do not know if that is true, but luckily that did not happen.
This year so far you've been a great leader on this young team, what
advice do you have for anyone who would want to be as good of a leader
as you?
Well first of all thank you, and second I would say that becoming a leader on a team like this has nothing do to with a title or seniority even. It is all about just living out the values that the program is built upon. Being a hard worker, and genuinely putting the program ahead of yourself goes a long way in gaining the respect of guys around you. Beyond that honesty and openness is a big thing, you can't be afraid to read a situation and say what you actually feel. We have no shortage of guys willing to speak up if they see a problem and I think that is exactly why things are going so well right now. The whole team is moving in the same direction, and if somebody starts to deviate from that path, it becomes obvious immediately. The single most important thing though has got to be perspective. Since my freshman year I have been talking to alumni and looking through the books to find out as much as I could about some of the great teams in our past. And then in my own experience the past four years I have been through some great times and terrible ones. Having that bank of knowledge to pull from when someone is going through something tough, or even when there are some basic decisions that the coaches want some input on is invaluable.
Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Chance, before we leave,
any last words?
I think pretty much anyone I have ever talked to who has been in my position says the same thing. I cant believe I am already a senior. I could probably put together a decent book off of all the fun I have had at North Central College, and I know that you guys are just getting started on your journey through the program, but like I have already mentioned a couple of times, don't lose your connection with the past. I am not even out the door yet and I am already seeing some of the younger guys trying some of the random stuff that we were trying as underclassmen. It is fun to watch, but is also a decent example that whenever you do something you are probably walking in the path of someone who came before you, so you might save yourself some time and get ahead by simply asking a few questions. Thanks.
Chance Kelch '08
