Be Prepared

I talked to Charlie Krasnow this morning. Charlie had a great race yesterday at Milton, finishing second overall and first for Newton North. In the early stages of the race he was hanging around in the top pack behind his teammate and race favorite Seb Putzys and a runner from Milton. But Seb was having physical problems and had to slow in the middle of the race. With a mile left, Charlie found himself taking the lead.

Nothing in his previous races for Newton North had prepared him for this. He was a solid seventh man for the Tigers last year, but with the likes of Dave Polgar and Doug Brecher patrolling the front of the race, Charlie never had to worry about leading. Yesterday this lack of experience led to doubts. What if the pace was too fast? What if he couldn't finish? He decided be'd better slow down.

With 400 meters to go, Charlie still had the lead, but the Milton runner was bearing down on him. Charlie ran as hard as he could, but was overtaken in the final 100 meters and settled for second. Now he wonders -- what if he had pushed the pace when he had taken the lead? What if he had rolled the dice and tried to open a big gap. Would he have gotten away scot-free, or blown up and faded back into the pack? It's impossible to say for sure what would have happened, but I think that a lot of us who race face this choice at some point in our careers. At such moments, it's good to remember the 2004 Boston Red Sox who asked themselves: Why not us? Why shouldn't we be the ones to do what no one has done before?

Hard as it is for us to believe, improbable things can happen in a race.

Since the year 2000, there have been only three Newton North runners to win dual meets. The two that everyone remembers were Chris Barnicle and David Polgar. The one you probably don't remember was Alex Kaufman. Although he was probably only the 7th or 8th man on the team at the time, Alex was running in 6th place for the Togers when they raced Norwood in October 2002. The lead pack of five (which included Barnicle and Polgar) were far ahead. Unfortunately for them, they missed a turn and went off-course. Without knowing it himself, Alex was suddenly in the lead. Although the wayward leaders eventually got back on the course and gave chase, Alex seized his opportunity, and continuing to run hard, he won, holding off the furious finish of Barnicle, a mere five seconds behind.

NNHS v Norwood - 10/9/02

Barnicle would go on to win the League and EMass Div I championship. Kaufman finished 9th at the League Meet and became a Bay State all-star. But he also became the only Newton North runner in cross-country or track ever to beat Barnicle in a race over a mile long.

The moral of the story: always be prepared to win!