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A
former All-American for the University of Montana, Scott McGowan
won his first major championship at the 2005 USA Indoor Track &
Field Championships, where he took the 1,500m in 3:44.06 over past
national champions Rob Myers and Charlie Gruber. McGowan, the first
Montanan to run a sub-4:00 mile (at the same Reggie Lewis Center
track where the nationals were held, but a month earlier) is a native
of Poplar, Montana, and continues to live and train in Missoula.
On
how the race developed:
It
was great. We got out pretty quick, then Grant Robison slowed the
pace down quite a bit. It was a little scary there for a while,
when we were all bunched up and tripping over each other's feet,
but luckily I got an opening, and I went out and around. It played
out better than I'd hoped. I was noticing that there were a lot
of tall guys in there, like myself. That doesn't help anything.
On
height being a problem indoors:
For
me, sometimes it feels like I'm stumbling around every corner. I
just can't get any traction. But on a nice track like this one,
it helps a lot. But I can't complain about anything.
On
his improvement this indoor season:
It's
been two years since I've had to take any time off. Before that
I was having trouble with injuries. Consistent mileage, I think,
more than anything, has helped me a lot. We've been doing a lot
of strides and form drills, too. It's little things I didn't do
before, in college, that I'm taking care of now. I guess it's kind
of my job.
On
his coaching:
I'm still with my college coach, Tom Raunig, at the University of
Montana. I'm in Missoula still, working 30 or 40 hours a week at
a running store. It's perfect for training, and my boss is really
good to me. He lets me off when I need time to travel to Boston.
It's nothing to complain about, for a professional athlete, I guess.
On
what he's up to next:
I don't know. I was thinking about going out to Seattle next week
and running a 3,000m, they have a last chance meet out there. It's
a big track. We'll see. [McGowan finished second to Adam Goucher
in that race, running 7:55.01.]
On
setting goals for the outdoor season:
You know, I guess the World Championships is the thing I want to
do. Last year I kind of surprised myself and made it to the Olympic
Trials, and made it to the final. Starting with this meet, I want
to get better and better at championship-type races, and hopefully
get myself on the team for Helsinki.
On
what he had to do to win the Boston race:
Stay
out of trouble was one thing. Just for the race itself. All winter
I've been thinking, I want to make the World Cross Country team,
and I want to win this meet in the 1,500m. I didn't make the cross
team, so I just moved on to this, and I wanted to do as well as
I could.
On
being chased by defending champion Rob Myers:
Rob and I have raced quite a bit, and he usually nails me at the
end. Every time. It happened to me a lot, that I'd get nailed in
the last 100. I need to get a clear run. Most of the time, that
works best for me. Every straight, I'd sprint harder, just so he
couldn't get around me. We didn't coast the corners, but I'd go
a little easier so I could go hard on the straightaway.
On
facing Alan Webb in the outdoor 1,500:
There's a lot of good milers here, and I think we can all beat him.
He's a great runner, and a great athlete. It's strange, how I kind
of looked up to him, even though he's younger than me, when he ran
that 3:53. But he's human, and I think any of us, including myself,
have a chance to beat him. If I'm going to run, I want to be the
best. I don't want to come in thinking I want to be two, or three.
You want to win, and if you don't want to win, you shouldn't be
there.
What
do you think it's going to take:
I
think I'd have a better shot at a race that goes out real hard,
right from the gun. I'm probably not as quick as him, but I think
my strength is just as good over a mile. Everything I've been doing
for training so far has been working out, so I'm going to continue
the same. I've got a great coach, and I trust him completely. I
think he does a good job of peaking me when I need to run well.
(Interview
conducted February 26, 2005, and posted March 9, 2005)
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Scott
McGowan.
(Photo by Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)
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