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Justin Kiplagat, Trinity Western · The Red Banner Race Report

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to the Red Banner Race Report Podcast, where we dive into the mindset, miles, and moments that make up NAI cross-country and track and field.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: Our guest today is Justin Kiplet, a senior from Trinity Western, who is the NAIA men's cross-country runner of the week for the week of September 27th.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: Justin won his first collegiate cross-country race at the WWU Bill Road Clastic in a time of 2406 on the AK course at Ovender Homestead Park in Ferndale, Washington.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: At the time of the race, it was the third fastest mark in the NAIA this fall and a career best for Justin.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Justin also finished second in the Mile Indoors in 404 at the NAI Nationals Best Winner and has a personal best of 402 with a sub 4 Mile on its radar for winter of 2027.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the podcast and thanks for taking time out of your day to chat with me.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Norris, thank you for having me.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Well, tell us a little bit about yourself.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, where you're from, how you first got involved in running cross-country in track and field, and how that all began for you.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I'm Justin, Kip Lagat.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm a business student at Trinity Western.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um as to how I go into running, um, I'm from Eldorit.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a west a town on the western part of Kenya.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I spent half my life.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the other half, like mostly late middle school and high school, I was in Arobi, which is the capital.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, I got into running, I think when I was in middle school.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's the first time I ever did like any somewhat official kind of running or whatever.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was like one middle school meet.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I just had to run like a 600-meter like around that track, and that was it.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um in that part of the country, running is a pretty huge thing.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um for as long as I remember.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Me and my family have sat down to watch either Olympic championships, world championship races, like in general, and um, I got to grow up around a few or a few pro runners who I'd say run like let me say in the middle of the long runs or easy runs, like running around our neighborhood.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, so up until middle school, I didn't have that much experience running.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I didn't actually really start running until after high school.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Although high school, I mostly played like soccer or football, like we call it football.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um so the idea of running came to my dad right after I graduated high school, and he was he told me um there's a chance that you could get an education abroad and get a scholarship through athletics.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I wasn't I wasn't uh let me say I wasn't that open to the idea yet, like because all through all through high school I'd I'd mostly focused on academics and football.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um and this would have been my first time to actually like seriously get into the sport, getting into running, having to do weekly mileage and stuff.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So um yeah, up until then I didn't have that much experience.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And um when I graduated high school, we moved, I moved away from Nairobi all the way to Eldoret again, back to the house where I grew up in.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where my that's where I first like did like an official workout.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was with my dad when we went out for like I think it was like a 10k run.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And he runs a lot.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: He's he's a huge fan of the sport.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I wasn't that I didn't know much about it, so he took me for my first ever run, and I was like, it was it was really hard.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: But um, obviously it took me, I I I really didn't find it fun, but it was he really pushed for the idea.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: He was really pushing for me to get into running as a sport, so I was like, might as well.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: So right after that, he sent me to there's a you know a different part of uh this other town called Etan.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's mostly known for its high altitude, and that's where most Kenyan Kenyan runners go for training.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, almost anyone really who's into running.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um a few international athletes, Kenyan pro athletes, um, stupid um athletes looking for a poor chance to go to college abroad on scholarships.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I went.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: I had I had like two different coaches.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um my first four months I was with one coach and the training wasn't really working for me, and then I got switched out um to a different coach in a different place, and I joined a separate training group, and that's when I I saw a bit of progress, but not a lot.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um I still didn't like the I I still found the training pretty hard.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like so it it it definitely it was definitely a really hard shift for me to going from barely barely doing any kind of exercise except for football and then suddenly having to log in almost 50k weeks, which right now doesn't seem as much, but back then that was a lot.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: So and then yeah, at some point I go, my dad found a school and he told me there's a school in Canada which would be very happy to take you in.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um I still didn't have any that that that great times.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was I was mostly running uh I was mostly training on racing 3Ks and 5Ks.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's I did like only one 3K time trial and one 5k time trial before I shifted to collegiate running.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that was about it.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: So you're pretty new to running overall.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: You haven't had yeah, I am yeah, yeah, I was I'm pretty new to it, like in general.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: So you've kind of just got a got started in your career, and so you you came to Canada, you ended up at Trinity Western.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: So tell me what you like about being there.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, first of all, I'd say shifting to a new country and like on a different part of the world is a pretty huge thing to adjust to.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'll start with that.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And when I come in, when I came into Trinity Western, I didn't know much of what to expect.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um so um also the school has grown on me.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: In my first year, I wasn't I was pretty still fresh.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know much about Canada or how the school really was.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: So but I found a pretty good community there.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a lot of international students here, so and most of my friends they're either from um different countries, and they came here to study as well.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm pretty grateful for that community of international students I found there.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: They were pretty welcoming, and not just them, even the um local, local students like the Canadians here.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, equally great community.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really small school, so pretty much almost everyone knows everyone.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great community, and yeah, from dorms to classes, even the props, like it was it was really, really nice community that I found.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's good, especially when you're so far from home.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: So how often do you get to go home to visit your family?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um since I came here, I I haven't.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still looking for I'm still looking for a time to go back.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Probably next summer is when I hope to.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: I guess that would be like four years since I came to Canada.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say it's been several years then.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's been several years, like a lot of change since then.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Are you able to use technology like video chatting to see them?
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, yeah.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: No, we talk every week.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was assuming that, but I didn't know for sure.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: Well, looking at your fresh start to running as a later runner, a lot of students begin running a little bit sooner than you.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: So you you kind of got started later.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: So looking at when you started and then the last year, you've had a lot of success.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: So, what do you think has been a big piece of helping you get over to the next level of running?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, you've had some good finishes at nationals for track.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you just had a great race that you won.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: So, what what would you say are the biggest things that have um been breakthroughs for you?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, um, definitely there have been like numerous factors that have been.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'll start although for my freshman year.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, when I came, I also my freshman year was also equally difficult, given that it was like my second year of actually doing any doing running like consistently.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: So um not much, not much was going on in my first year.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like I found it hard to respond to training.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was finding it pretty hard to be consistent with training as well, like doing my ease runs and stuff.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it definitely took me a while to actually get the rhythm of it, um, get how running actually works in general.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess I'd say my biggest jump came when I was coming into my second year.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um of the summer, I I had started like getting regular weeks of running, um, stuck in my mileage, slowly coming to the cross-country season.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: And at the same time, we had a change in coaching stuff.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my new current coach, her name is Sarah.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: She she used to be an expert, but now she came back in my second year and took the job of coaching us.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and at the same time, we had a bunch of new recruits.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the team was shifting.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: We saw I had a load of new teammates who who really love the sport.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: They they actually enjoy everything about running.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I I'd I'd give them I'd say that they're one of the reasons why I go into running.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's they're very supportive, very um yeah, they're very supportive.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um and yeah, from and my coach installed a new she came in with new ideas, new new ways of training, which I was starting to respond to.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well as well.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and that same year when I came in, we there was a new recruit.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: He's that was Yamane.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: He used to he was my old teammate.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now he went I think he went to CBU in California now.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um he came in blazing, like he was really quick.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: So having him as a training partner was really nice.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: He's he was he was really he really had a drive to him, which also helped help push me like during practice while racing as well.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I probably give my biggest contributors to the team, um, my teammates, my coach.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I'm still on a learning curve and I have been like since my second year when I go when I seriously go into running.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: I found I find something new to get like an obsession over every year.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like first it was get getting consistent consistent mileage, um doing workouts uh more more consistently as well.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um even recovery, like uh I've been getting into I've gotten into it a lot like in the first few years, sleeping well, eating well, stretching.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, like uh in my second year is when I had like a really big jump compared to my first year, but I guess from my second year to my third year and now I've been progressing pretty it's been pretty consistent.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well, did you have any idea that you were going to win the Bill Row Classic meet, or did that catch you by surprise?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um well I've done build role.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: This was my third time doing build row.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um last year I finished fourth.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it's it's not that much, it's a meet that I'm pretty familiar with.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the main school we usually like the main school that we usually meet that that has like a really good field of runners is runners is Western Washington, which is like a D2 school.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I'm familiar with the guys in that team as well.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: I know their strengths and everything.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it also helps there was a familiar course.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I didn't know I would win it because um obviously something could come up, like whenever we're gonna be racing, someone someone else might have a good day.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: But I definitely knew I was in contention to win it.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So on the day of on the day of I decided like I'm not gonna focus that much on the time, I'll just race it and try try to stay with the lead pack and try to win the race.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I was a bit surprised to actually win it, but I'm sure that was a good feeling though, right?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was a good feeling.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: It was probably my first ever collegiate win in a race, so that was pretty nice.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I read, yeah.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, so I have to ask you, because you currently live in the Pacific Northwest right now.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, Vancouver's technically kind of in that region.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think that having nationals on that side of the country is going to help you have a little bit of an advantage because you're used to running on that type of terrain?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, definitely.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm hoping for that as well.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think my biggest sickness last year going into having nationals in Florida was I was pretty unfamiliar with not just the course in general, but the weather there was is very different from the one we have up here.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, what I'm hoping for is pretty good weather on day of nationals.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um we like this year we have like training was and everything.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're putting most of our focus in championship races.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: So um we're definitely making our workouts lean more towards the terrain that we expect at nationals.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: So even up here in Vancouver, you should give us an advantage.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I would imagine that will be helpful.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so what does a week of training usually look like for you?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: About how many miles do you do?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: What are some of the main workouts that you try to get in in a week?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um so as for this year since the season started, I've finally gotten up to 100k weeks, sometimes 100, 110.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um usually I have Monday and Wednesdays, and now Fridays is when I do my easy runs.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Usually like an hour.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um on Tuesday and Thursday, we I meet up with the rest of the team, and that's when we usually have our our um group training, it's usually either threshold.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um we have our workouts like early in the morning around like nine-ish.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: For some of us, if you are still feeling great, like on Tuesdays, you could do another run in the afternoon after after you've done your morning session.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: And in between that, we usually have our workout sessions are around nine, and then our strength at 12.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if it depends with how my coach, what my coach thinks we're feeling, and if she approves it, yeah, we could do an evening round.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then on Saturdays is when we have our uh our heavier workouts, usually either hails or more intense race-specific stuff, and then a Sunday long run, which is around 20k.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: So that usually adds up to like 110 on average.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, if we look ahead to indoor track season, are you hoping to race the mile again?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: I know you had a great season with that event last year.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: And are you maybe thinking about running a sub-four-minute mile?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm really hoping to finally break that four-minute barrier this year.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um we usually go down to the University of Washington for our indoor meets, and there's a pretty each time we go down there, there's a pretty deep field of athletes who have either gone sub four or close to it.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I am definitely going to be putting most of my focus in the mile.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't know whether I'll race it at nationals, um, not yet, at least.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: It depends how the rest of my cross-country season goes and how I'm how I'll respond to the training once we shift over to track, because I don't think I'll be doing any indoor track races until January.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but definitely um I would want to put them the mile as my main focus and hopefully try to win it this year.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I know last year came like so close, but it was it was a really hard race.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it did come very close.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it did come very close.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I really enjoyed that race.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um Tristan and Camden were really great athletes.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Happy we could push each other.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was a really fast race, and um but yeah, day off.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I do hope, I do hope next year if I do choose to do the milder, I'll be I'll be much more prepared for it.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's running is on a is an all-experience thing, like each time.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: I try to do as many races as possible just to get the experience, and they just I find lessons to take from each race, and I think I definitely got Indonationals last year getting I got a lot of input from around that from that run.
• 17:46
  unknown: Yeah.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what would you prefer to race?
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: What is your favorite event in track if you get to pick?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, definitely the mile or the 1500.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't do the 1500 during outdoor season, I think.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: I tore my hamstring uh during training back in March, so I was pretty bummed out not to do it when during outdoor season, but hopefully I could stay healthy and actually race the 15 next year.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you'll have one last person because Camden left the NAIA.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I saw that went to Lipscomb.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: And um, side note, he's also my son.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, well, really?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so not many people know that.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: I I kind of kept it secret until he left the NAIA because I didn't want it to be like, oh, it's Camden's mom, you know.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, we we were there, and that that was probably the most exciting track race I've ever watched in all my years of watching racing.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: It was you guys, the three of you were just incredible athletes to watch.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it was great.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: I like Camden.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was nice talking to him like after the races most of the time.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: He's he's he seems like a really great athlete.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, he I I can't lie, he was a little bit bummed.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he almost had it.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: No, the dive at the line, it was uh it was pretty close.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: Although it's funny because the same exact thing happened in the outdoor 1500.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and he finished in the same spot.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we kind of laughed about it.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: And he he's like, I'm gonna be replaying this race over in my head forever and ever.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then it happened again.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I guess we have that in common.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like I have that in the mind race replaying over and over.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what could I have done differently?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I told him, and this probably applies to you as well.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: You could do lots of different things different ways, and it could still end up the same.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, don't beat yourself up about it, and just like you said, you've taken lessons from what you've learned and you can move on and do the next thing.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what is one of your favorite running memories or race memories that you have?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, apart from Indo Nationals, I'd say um I think towards the end of my second year, um the school we back when we were in new sports, we never had an outdoor season.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: It used to be just cross-country and indoor.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And but this time uh my school decided to host like one track meet, considering we were gonna move into the NAA next year.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we might as well just have an inaugural meet that we'd be doing every year to prepare ourselves for uh championship races during outdoor.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, it was like a 1500 meter race.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was the field was mostly a few of the Trinity guys, uh, Western Washington as well came up and a few of other local athletes right right around the NBC.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was probably the first time I ever broke 315 to 1500.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think I had like a 348, which was a PB at the time, and an unofficial school record.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um that was probably the best bit of running I've I've ever done because to win in such a way where I get a huge PB, my teammates were there.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: I a few of my friends came to watch came to watch the race, which is we never have that much home support like while running, considering like half the time you're traveling.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it was great to have it was a nice experience like running well, actually PB.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Breaking self 350 at the time was like me overcoming like not just a physical barrier but a mental one as well.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it was pretty fun.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like I really loved it.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was probably the best experience of running I had the whole year.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because Indo track had my indoor season hadn't gone that well that year, and I did do well across country, but it wasn't to the level that I wanted.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it was a nice end to the to the whole year.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's always great to have people out watching you and to do well and have friends and fans.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um do you have?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Multiple school records now?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh no, I just hold it in the mile.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um my teammate Yamane.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, he holds most of the school records.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: The 3K, in the 15, and the 5K.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um hopefully I'd like to take them down, but he he left a pretty huge mark there.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say, you're not you're not done yet.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: So we have some time.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll see.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what is next for you after you graduate?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, have you thought ahead to what you'd like to do once you are done running for a university?
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, um, I'm a business major and I I specialize in accounting, so that's what I'm hoping to do to become an accountant.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'd like to stay in Canada for a few more years, maybe like around five to get some work experience.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And after that, I might go back home.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Depends with how things go over with my parents and everything.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I also do have siblings who want to come and study abroad.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: They're not athletes, but um So I'd I'd I'd like to see how I could have them come either to the States or to Canada.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, so mostly I just I just hope to once I'm done with running, I just hope to get into accounting, try to get into a good stable job.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um I might keep running on the side just casually, but nothing much.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: So you don't want to be a professional marathoner?
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh depends.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um funny enough, um, a few weeks right before this one started, we had our lactate lactic testing done.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I've always believed that um I'm more of a mile or a 1500 athlete.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: But apparently I'd be way more suited for the longer stuff, either like the 10k or the half marathon.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll see how it goes.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I don't know many Yeah, I was gonna say I don't know many long distance runners that can drop a 402 mile.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll see.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, apparently my profile fits more like uh for the longer distances than than the shorter ones, which I I really I really prefer running the shorter stuff.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like four minutes of racing always beats like like right now during cross-country, almost 25 minutes of racing.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: That that's a lot.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: That is, yeah, that's a long, a long stretch.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what do you like to do when you're not running and you're not studying?
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: What are your hobbies or your interests?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, like I told you, I used to be a soccer player, so I do still play a bit of it on the side.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, not as often as I used to, um, mostly because I'm um plan I'm planning to put most of my attention in running this year, so um I'm more focused on the recovery aspect, so I don't play that much soccer anymore.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, other than that, I love a good movie, I love a good TV show.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like most of the time that's what what what I'd be doing.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um pretty much it.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: I also do have an unhealthy amount of screen time, which I should probably fix.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I was gonna say at least you're honest about it, because I think everyone could probably say that.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: So at least you know.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: Well, my last question for you is if you had the opportunity to run with anyone from any time in history, and it could be someone who is no longer living, or it could be from the present, who would you pick and where in the world would you like to take them for a run?
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: My first option would be to actually go out with a run on a run with my dad.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, probably like in the trails here in BC.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like that would be my first choice considering well, when when I went on a run with him for the first time ever, like all those years ago.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: I I was a different person back then.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't I was really much into it, but now that I've actually going to running, I wouldn't mind going for a run with him now, like right here in Canada.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: That should be nice.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, let me think of something more accurate.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Say, like maybe like Michael Jackson in the high altitude region of Kenya.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like let me say that.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: And would you have him sing for you while you were running?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'd like to hear I'd like a song.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's it's funny to me because Michael Jackson was so popular when I was a a child.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: And now he's really popular again.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like because the movie came out, yeah.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: So now my daughter is singing all his songs, which I think is funny.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's pretty fun.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's a good choice.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: He would be a very interesting person to chat with.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, definitely.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: So, what's next for you on your race schedule?
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: Where do you go next?
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, on the 24th, we have another race down here in Bellingham.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's probably gonna be mostly the same field as Billro.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um whereas Buildrows are mostly flat coasts, like this one's gonna be kind of a hilly one.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: But um yeah, other than that, that would be on the 24th, so we're like three weeks away from that one.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then in November we switch gears to to focus on conference championships and the national championships.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's all we have remaining.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're getting down to the last month and a half or so.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: So all the hard work is gonna start to pay off.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can't believe we're already halfway through.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it goes fast.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Although sometimes it feels like you've been running since June.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: I know, yeah.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it does.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um last summer was the first time I actually extended my racing season all the way till like late July.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was still racing the 5k and the 1500.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: I only had like two weeks off before I came back and started training for cross country.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's that's not a very long break.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it wasn't that that long of a break.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: But right.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what is your weather like right now where you are at?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: Is it fall?
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, is it getting cooler and the leaves are falling?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it's getting cooler, definitely.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was pretty cold this morning when I went out for my run, so it's definitely starting to freeze.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we're getting close to that where I live as well.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: I live in Michigan, which is northern United States.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yes, we're starting to get close to frost at nighttime and having to turn our heat on.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, fall is here.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's been awesome to talk with you.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to chat with me.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: And it'll be exciting to see what happens for you next because you have lots of racing yet to go.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: So best of luck to you, and I hope that things, you know, go well and you meet your goals.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you so much.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for tuning in to the Red Banner Race Report.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: I can't wait to feature more cross-country and track and field athletes from the NAIA.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: So stay tuned because it just might be you.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: If you enjoyed today's podcast, please share, subscribe, and leave a review.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: You can find the Red Banner Race Report podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other major media players.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: You can also ask for SmartSpeaker to play the podcast.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: If you have an idea for a great topic or guest you'd like to hear about, feel free to contact me through the show notes or reach out on Instagram.