Interview with Jorge Torres

by Sabrina Yohannes

USA national 10,000-meter outdoor track and field champion Jorge Torres, 26, heads into the USA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, February 10, hoping to trade his 2005 and 2006 runner-up finishes over 12K for the title. He has had cross country success dating back to the 2002 NCAA title he won while at the University of Colorado, where he trained with coach Mark Wetmore and was undefeated in his senior season. He won the 2004 USA Club Cross Country Championships 10K, and took third in the 12K at the nationals the same year. His best placings at the World Cross Country Championships include 11th place in 2002 and 13th place in 2005.

On the track over 5000 meters, Torres was the 2002 NCAA runner-up; and at the USA outdoor nationals, he placed third in 2003 to make the world championship team, and fourth in 2005. His personal best is 13:20.57 from a third place finish in Palo Alto in 2005, while his best and only 10,000 meter outdoor track race was at the 2006 national championships, where he ran 28:14.43 to win.

Torres, who lives in Boulder, Colorado, and now trains with Brad Hudson, won the 2005 national 8K championships on the road in 22:47. His twin brother, Edwardo, is also a professional runner. Jorge Torres competed at the 2007 Reebok Boston Indoor Games and spoke with MensRacing.com at the race headquarters hotel there afterwards.

MensRacing.com: Can you talk about last year’s cross country national championships?
Jorge Torres: Last year in New York at the USA Championships, it was freezing. I ran the 4K, and I had decided that if I was feeling good, I was going to also run the 12K. I was fourth in the 4K. It was a pretty fast race. The level of competition in the US has risen the last couple of years. In the past, I could have had a chance to win it. I lost to three other good runners. It was a very contested race.

The next day, Ryan Hall and myself finished first and second. He pulled away from me and I finished second. I was pleased with it. Both days it was really cold, and I was happy I came away healthy and strong, and then I trained for the world championships. I went to Japan shortly after the U.S. championships, and I ran a 4K in Japan and won.

At the World Championships, we had a good team and I thought we could contend. Unfortunately, one of our good runners, Dan Lincoln, fell down and that held us back a bit. In that kind of race, with the Ethiopians, the Eritreans, the Kenyans, running really fast, you don’t make up time easily. One guy who got out, Adam Goucher, finished well, and I think I ended up finishing 26th or 27th, probably the worst finish I’ve had. In the past, I’ve been about 13th, 11th, so I was kind of disappointed with our world championships performance. I was trying to break into the top 10. [Torres placed 27th over 4K in the 2006 Fukuoka World Cross Country Championships 4K, his lowest placing as a senior.]

MR: Are you planning on going to the World Cross Country Championships this year?
JT: I haven’t decided yet. My coach and I will decide if a 10K is more important in the early spring than the world championships. I have some time until closer to the championships to decide, and I will decide then. A lot will depend on the team. If I feel I’m one of the guys who can help to get us on the podium, I’ll go to help the U.S. team. If it’s a team I think doesn’t have it, I may stay home and concentrate on my other running.

MR: What are your thoughts about the cross country nationals this year?
JT: It’s in Boulder, it’s in my hometown. Hopefully, I have a good chance of winning. Again, it’s going to be very contested. A lot of good runners, all of them from elevation, from Boulder, all trying to show they’re the best in their hometown. I think I have a shot of winning it, but I have my work cut out for me.

MR: Who are the other guys from Boulder?
JT: Adam Goucher, who once ran for the University of Colorado and now lives in Portland, Oregon, but spent a lot of time in Colorado. Dathan Ritzenhein is one of the contenders. And then there are outsiders like Abdi Abdirahman, and I believe Ryan Hall, who just ran one of the fastest half-marathons, and is obviously on fire right now [Ryan Hall will not be running in the USA Cross Country Championships because he has decided to concentrate on training for the Flora London Marathon]. He’s firing on all cylinders and he’s ready to run. It’s not gonna be easy by any means. But it’s the hometown and elevation I’m used to, so hopefully I have an advantage.

MR: How has your training been going? [This interview was conducted immediately after the Boston Indoor Games 3000 meters on January 27, where Torres placed ninth.]
JT: Last weekend, I started off with the flu. I missed three days of training from Friday until Sunday. I started again on Monday, but before that, I had phenomenal training. On Monday, I had to take it easy, to make sure what I had was out. On Tuesday, I wanted to see if I still had something wrong. On Wednesday, I had blood tests and a workout, and the test was great except it showed I had anemia, meaning low in iron. The workout came out great, the blood tests came out good. I wanted to come here and see what I’ve got. Thursday, Friday, I took it easy and I wasn’t expecting to set the world on fire, but I just wanted to get out there and have fun and remind myself [of] why I love this, and why I like an environment like this.

MR: How was the race?
JT: It was hard, and it indicates I’m in really good shape, and the fitness level is there, but I think it’s more for longer distances. Aerobically, I’m fit for longer distances. I’m not disappointed with my performance because this isn’t exactly what I’m preparing for. It’s anaerobic training, the chemistry I’m missing in my training, but it’s not my focus. My focus is the world cross country championships or a 10K in the early spring.

MR: Can you talk about your 2006 season? You ran cross country and track championships, but you didn’t race a lot besides that.
JT: Last year, I didn’t race much. I’ve been running since I was 12 years old. I needed a year of downtime. I only raced a handful of times: the USA cross country championships, the Japanese cross country race, the world cross country championships and the USA track nationals, my first 10K on the track. I went to Europe and ran a race in London but I got sick and I pulled out of it. This is a big year coming up. I expect to do well on the track and not only on the track, but some road races as well.

MR: Can you talk about the 2006 USA track nationals and winning your first 10,000 meters?
JT: I knew I could do well. I went in with an open mind, thinking I had a shot at winning and that it could be a good introduction to running on the track in the 10K. Going up against someone like Meb Keflezighi I knew would be tough. I knew it could be a good way to learn. I figured I could learn a lot from that. I just went and traded shots with him and Abdi. We exchanged the lead several times. Sure enough, it came down to the last couple of laps. Luckily, I came out ahead. That was a good way to open up the 10K in the USA championships: with a win against the USA record-holder.

MR: Do you see yourself as more of a cross country runner, a track runner or a road runner?
JT: This part of the season, a cross country runner. Come the spring, it’s mainly as a 10K, 5K runner, with the occasional road race.

MR: What are your thoughts on moving up to the marathon?
JT: A lot of young guys seem to be moving up pretty fast. I’ve been getting antsy. I’d like to see what I can do. I haven’t really put a lot of emphasis on the 10K yet and before I move to the marathon, I’d like to see how fast I can run the 10K, so it’s going to be on hold for at least another year, but it’s definitely in the back of my mind. I’m still running 3Ks on the track, so it’s a long way from the 3K to the marathon.

MR: Can you talk about your brother and his running?
JT: He’s living in Boulder and he’s training for the marathon mainly. His first marathon was a little rough but he said he learned a lot from it. There are a lot of others who run their first marathon and it’s a big shock. Even the great [Haile] Gebrselassie had a rough one on his first marathon. [Edwardo Torres made his marathon debut in Chicago in 2006 and placed 61st with a time of 2:22:07].

MR: Did your brother’s experience with the marathon affect your thoughts about it?
JT: It did affect me a lot. I learned the marathon is something you can’t take lightly. It takes a lot of focus and dedication for one race, and it’s not necessarily going to go well. This last fall, I learned a lot. I was taking notes from their workouts, how tired they got. It’s going to be useful for my training in the marathon in future.

MR: Did the two of you start running together?
JT: My brother started after me. It was all because of our older brother. When I showed obvious talent immediately and I started winning a couple of races, of course, my twin was jealous and figured, if I could do it, being a twin, he should have the same talent, and to this day, he’s running well. It’s a lot of fun to be able to to share these experiences and all these adventures with my brother. He understands what I go through, the ups and downs of running. It’s always good to have someone who understands.

MR: So who was the brother who first started running?
JT: The middle brother who taught me, Danny. He’s 29. He’s the one who got me to go out running. My twin is 10 minutes younger than me. He’s the youngest. There are two older brothers before Dan. (There are five of us). Danny’s got his own business but he’s the one who got us running.

MR: Where were you born?
JT: I was born in Chicago, Illinois.

MR: Where is your family from?
JT: They are from Mexico. My parents came over here so I’m first generation, I guess. My parents came over in the ‘50s.

MR: With your identical twin being a runner, people must confuse the two of you a lot.
JT: I’ll be honest with you. When I look at a picture of us when we were younger, I can’t tell us apart, so when people can’t, I don’t feel bad because I can’t tell us apart sometimes...

At races, people confuse me for Ed and vice versa and in hotels like this, people will come up to me and start talking like I know them but I have to go, “I’m sorry, I’m Jorge; you know my brother Ed.” They get embarrassed, but growing up, we got used to it.

MR: Have you ever played tricks with that on purpose?
JT: When we were younger, we switched classes in kindergarten. Sure enough, we got away with it. At the end of the day, we said who we were, and the teachers said, “You little rats!” but they didn’t get mad, they just laughed.

MR: You have an identical twin who runs, and you used to have a coach and a manager with identical names.
JT: My coach now is Brad Hudson, but at one point it was Mark Wetmore the coach and Mark Wetmore the agent. I used to distinguish between them by calling them Agent Wetmore and Coach Wetmore, but it was confusing and once in a while, people would call the coach and say, ‘I want to know if your athlete wants to run this race.’ It was kind of confusing at times, but we got used to it.

Interview conducted on January 27, 2007, and posted February 7, 2007.