Salute To Seniors: Gordon Pace - Trinity Prep

 

What was your most memorable race?

 

Probably the 3200 at FSU Relays my senior year.  I always thought the mile was my best event and had never considered my self a 3200 runner. This was only the second 3200 I had ever run in my life, so I was really just doing it for fun.  I didn’t expect anything special. After a 5:00 first mile I felt good and thought I might be able to break 10 min. I ended up running a 4:48 last mile and edged out Jospeh Janson to win my heat. This was a 24 second PR, the first race I had won individually, and gave me the third best 3200 PR on my team and I believe the 8th best in the state for 1A, so I actually ended up doing the 3200 in the state series.

 

Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?

 

As a team, Holy Trinity.  During cross country beating Holy Trinity is essentially all we think about.  It was a great rivalry. It gave us drive to push ourselves and get faster. I’m sad that Trinity is moving to 2A, so that rivalry will now be dead, but I guess that’s not my problem anymore.

 

What was your greatest accomplishment?

 

Probably just how far I’ve come as a runner in only three years, since I started as a sophomore.  When I joined the team I was definitely pretty far behind everyone else, but I really wanted to be on the top seven and compete in states and earn state medals. After a lot of hard work, I was finally able to do that. So I think my greatest accomplishment is everything that I have done to make me the runner I am today.

 

If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?

 

I would have started earlier.  I started running during my sophomore year. A lot of the guys I run against have been running for most of their lives, so I definitely would have liked more time to train and progress as a runner.

 

What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?

 

Starting running late as I already mentioned or the stress fracture I had during my sophomore year. This stress fracture made me essentially miss my sophomore track season, so I have really only had two track seasons during my running career.

 

What will you miss the most?

 

My team, no question. Our team is very close, and I love every one of them.  I’m going to miss them a lot in college.

 

What advice you would give to younger athletes?

 

Be patient. Distance running is all about patience.  You’re not going to go out and sprint the first mile of a 5k and expect to do well.  The same goes for your overall training.  Don’t expect to kill it one day in a workout and then magically be faster the next day. In this sport success and improvement shows it self over the course of years. You will eventually have that breakout performance you’ve been waiting for, but it will be the result of years of consistent training.

 

What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?

 

Chappy has had so much influence. He is the one that taught me the lesson about patience, which I mentioned above.  He has also taught me that to succeed you have to be motivated and willing to work without needing someone to force you to do it.

 

What are your college plans?

 

I will be running for Carnegie Mellon University. I plan on studying Biomedical and Chemical Engineering.

 

Who would you like to say thank you to?

 

My team, my parents, and Chaplain Vinal.  They have all helped develop me as runner and a person, and I owe them all so much.