Interview with Kurt Benninger

by AJ Andrassy

Notre Dame’s Kurt Benninger, 21, is finishing up his final year of eligibility in cross country. Last year, Benninger was instrumental in leading Notre Dame to a third-place finish in the NCAA National Cross Country Championships, where he placed eighth individually. This year, Benninger returns to the NCAA National Cross Country Championships, which take place on November 20. Benninger hopes to improve on last year’s performance and lead a young Irish team back into the top 10. Benninger hails from Chepstow, Ontario.

MR: First off, congratulations on finishing second at the Big East Championships. I know you’re probably a little upset though, as last year you also got second to Martin Fagan. How did the race play out for you?
KB: The race was a bit of a disappointment for me. I got out well but we went out hard and I was feeling sluggish. I ran most of the race in no man’s land. When the pack caught me, I was content to sit in the pack and let them do most of the work. Coming down the bear cage hill I let my momentum do the work and kicked into the finish.

MR: Times looked pretty quick, what were the conditions like?
KB: The conditions were pretty good. It was cool and there was little to no wind.

MR: How did the team feel about their third-place performance?
KB: We were disappointed. We went into the meet with the goal of winning. Finishing third was a long way off of that. We knew that Providence and Georgetown would be good, but we thought that we had the ability to beat them. Hopefully we can rebound from that and make sure that we run up to our potential at the region meet but more importantly NCAAs.

MR: This year you guys are really dealing with a loss of quite a few seniors and an influx of new blood. How well has the team adapted to the replacement of two All-Americans and a third-place finish at the Big East Championships?
KB: I think that we have done as well as could be expected. The loss of Tim [Moore], Kaleb [Van Ort], and Sean [O’Donnell] was very tough. When you lose three guys of that level, it hurts, but the fact that they were such a large part of our team for so many years, made this year that much tougher. However, things have gone well this year. A lot of guys have really stepped up and taken a leadership role.

MR: With such a loss of depth, how has the rise of Pat Smyth, and the addition of Luke Watson to the staff helped your training?
KB: Having Smyth step up has been great. He has been a great training partner and has been pushing with me in most workouts this year. Having Luke around this year is a huge advantage. Unfortunately we haven’t done any workouts together but having him around to talk to about training and racing is a huge advantage.

MR: Let’s regress now a bit. Last year’s track season was a little bit of a disappointment for you personally. What do you think went wrong for you? What have you learned from that experience?
KB: I think that we made a mistake with the training last season. I got away from what I had done my sophomore year even though it worked well. I did this because I got hurt very early in the outdoor season that year. The workouts that I was doing were going well; I just don’t think they were enough volume for the 5K. Also, I was starting to feel run down at the end of the season. I had the same feeling earlier this year, and I was able to determine that I was doing a lot of my easier runs in a dead zone. This means that I was running them at a pace, which was too fast to recover, but too slow to get any benefit from. I also was training really hard in Cross, not taking enough easy, recovery days in a week, then I worked hard over Christmas break and never really had a chance to take some time to recover. By the time the middle of indoors came around, I was starting to break down. I realized that by working as hard as I did in cross country, it cost me in track season and the gains that I made from it were minimal. I could have accomplished the same amount had I trained smarter.

MR: So what have you learned about yourself and your training from that experience last year?
KB: I have learned that to get the best out of you, you need to train smart, not just hard. There are only so many times that you can go to the well before it comes up dry.

MR: How has that carried over into preparing for this coming season?
KB: Training smarter has been something that I have really tried to focus on, especially the second half of this cross country season. When things weren’t going well early, it was because I was not being smart about my training.

MR: So where are you right now in your training in terms of achieving those goals?
KB: I think that I am right where I need to be to accomplish my goals. I have been a lot smarter this year. I feel fresher than I did last year and at the same time I have maintained the level of fitness that I was at during last year’s season.

MR: What is your training like?
KB: This year I have done fewer miles than I did last year. I am averaging about 85 to 90 a week with a high of 95 in a week, but I had one day completely off in that week. Last year I was averaging about 90 to 95 miles a week, with a high of 110. Last year on Saturdays, I would do hill repeats on my own. This year I have done less of them and done more just recovery runs. I also haven’t gone as far this year on my long runs. Last year I would go for 18 to 20 miles, this year, I have not gone over 18.

MR: Looking ahead to the national championships, the team and individual race looks pretty thick. What are your team’s goals considering you only have three returnees with experience, and what are your individual goals, especially considering that you are returning for the fourth time?
KB: Our goal team-wise is to be in the Top 10 at NCAAs. I think that this year it is much deeper team-wise in the NCAA, which will make things difficult and means that there is less room for error. The one advantage that we have this year is that we should have two low scores from Smyth and myself. Of the teams that should be close to us points wise, I don’t think that any of them have that same 1 - 2 punch that we have. This should make up for the lack of experience that we have. Individually, my goal is to be in the top 10 again, the closer to first the better. If I run my race and use my speed and experience, I think that I will be able to catch a lot of people later on in the race, like I did last year. The race at nationals is all about doing what you do best and not getting sucked in to doing what doesn’t work well for you. It doesn’t take anything special, just doing what you did to get you there.

MR: On a little off topic, what are your thoughts on the course at Indiana State? There has been talk that in 2008 the site should move. Do you like the idea of having one site as the key location, or should it move around?
KB: I really like the course at Indiana State. I think that it is a fair course. It is tough, but not a killer course. It is good for spectators. Indiana State has done a really good job of hosting the meet as well. I like the idea of having it in one location. A couple of years ago, I would have said differently, but I like the familiarity that you get from having it in the same location and the few logistical errors that come from a new committee hosting.

MR: Recently Athletics Canada revisited its decision to not send a team to the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Do you think that, despite their decision to re-instate their team, people are still upset with the way Athletics Canada is operating? What strides would you like to see AC make to improve their relationship, development, and support of athletes?
KB: I am glad that they re-instated world cross. It was pretty shocking to me when they announced that they did not want to send a team. To me their reasoning was flawed. They said that the heat would create a problem. While it is true that it would create a problem this has not stopped Athletics Canada from sending a team in the past. Athletics Canada also said there were problems associated with getting injections to go to Africa. However, this was not a problem for the Francophone games in Niger this year. Finally, the cost should not have been a factor the when Athletics Canada does not pay for the athletes to go and part of the athletes cost goes towards the coaches. Having been to two world cross country championships as a junior athlete, I know that all of the juniors gain an incredible amount of experience from the meet, that they cannot get from NACAC cross country championships.

I think that for the relationship with the athletes to improve, there needs to be more communication with the athletes. AC is very slow when it comes to releasing the set of standards that will be required to make national teams. Athletes are required to submit training plans to AC, so that they can be monitored to ensure that athletes are training is directed to be successful at national and world meets, yet when these plans have to be submitted the athletes have little idea of what AC is going to require them to achieve. In terms of development, AC needs to start funding junior athletes. I was on five junior teams and had to pay for four of them. The one that I did not pay for, I was meant to until Royal Bank stepped up and paid for the entire team to go, taking funding that they had committed to AC for a couple of years down the road. In terms of support, AC’s funding is pretty good for the athletes that qualify for it. For those that don’t, it can be tough to get by. For things to get better AC and the athletes need to work together better. The communication needs to go both ways, with what athletes feel that they need, and with what AC can give and support with.

Despite all of this, AC has made some changes recently to improve the way that they run. It will take some time, but things appear to be heading in a positive direction.

MR: What are your plans for track season with this being a world championship year?
KB: My plans for the track season this year is to run the mile indoors and open my outdoor season with a 5K, then race the 1500 for the rest of the NCAA season. Hopefully I will have put together a training plan that will get me through the NCAA system, fit, highly competitive, and in a position where I can give myself a chance to race in the summer and qualify for worlds.

MR: Are your plans to try out for the 5K?
KB: I think that I am in a very good position with a couple of options. I believe that I can run the IAAF “A” standard in the 1500 and in the 5K given the right race. I haven’t been in a fast 1500 since my freshman year and I know that I have been a lot fitter than my 3:41 from that year. To make the team in the 1500 would mean that I have to get the “A” standard since both Nate [Brannen] and Sully [Kevin Sullivan] have it from this past summer. However, in the 5 km, it may not require an “A” standard depending on how things play out.

Interview conducted on November 8, 2006, and posted November 17, 2006.