Titusville senior Mason Jones is one of the top entrants in the boys Race of Champions at this weekend's flrunners.com Invitational 17. Jones finished second at the recent UF Mt. Dew Invitational and placed in the top two in each of his races this season. We caught up with the Terrier who will be making the short trip to Chain of Lakes Park, about this weekend's race.
This is your third flrunners.com Invitational. Last year, you were 8th in the Race of Champions. What do you love the most about this meet?
The one thing I love the most about the meet is all of the competition in the Race of Champions.
The field is loaded with the top individuals and teams from the state of Florida as well as out of state teams like Woodstock from Georgia. Are there any particular individuals or teams you are looking forward to racing?
I'm looking forward to racing all of them. They will all be out looking to post a fast time so I am ready to be up in the front and post a fast time as well.
Last week you had a good battle with Joshua Collins of Belen Jesuit at the UF Mt. Dew Invitational. How did racing someone like him help you prepare for this week, both knowing where you are at in a race like and also knowing his race strategy if it's a close race?
Racing Joshua helped me this week because it helped me realize what I needed to work on in my training. I know how most of them prefer to run their races, but that won't change my strategy. I will run my race.
Chain of Lakes Park is the course for flrunners.com Invitational 17 and is right in your backyard. How familiar are you with the course?
Honestly, we don't run there very often. I still know the course very well though because I help set it up, which helps me know different areas of the course that I may need to run differently.
What are your goals for Saturday after finishing 8th last year?
My goals for Saturday are to place top 5 and run sub-15:50.
At this year's meet we will have a BBQ food truck, recovery tent, and 2012 Olympic Silver medalist Leo Manzano coming as our celebrity guest, just to name a few of the neat things. What are you looking forward to the most about this weekend aside from the race?
I am looking forward to meeting Leo Manzano because he is a very talented and experienced runner and I'd love to talk to him about training.
When you first heard Leo Manzano was going to be our celebrity guest what did you think?
It is awesome! It's rare to have such a great runner come out to college/high school meets and he knows so much about the sport which is great.
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