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In
finishing second in the mile at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Track &
Field Championships, the University of Kansas's Charlie Gruber became
one of the newest members of the exclusive "sub-four"
club, running 3:58.51.
Chris
Lear: Charlie, congrats on a great
indoor season. You set a KU record with a 2:21 early in the winter
and capped it off with a second place finish at NCAA's. Looking
back, are you pleased with your season?
Charlie
Gruber: I was happy with the season, but you're never
totally satisfied with a season. The 1,000m record was nice but
the KU record that I really wanted was Jim Ryun's mile record of
3:57.5. As for nationals, it was a great experience. Obviously I
would have liked to have won the mile, but second and my first ever
sub-4 wasn't bad. Another great thing about nationals this year
was that I had some teammates to share the experience with. KU sent
down six athletes and we all placed in the top six. That made the
whole weekend more fun when your team does so well and able to pull
off a 8th place finish.
CL:
The Kansas program has had some coaching changes
in recent years and it seems to have stabilized with former Arkansas
coach Stanley Redwine now at the helm. How has he helped you this
season... He must have taken a wealth of info to Kansas, coming
from Arkansas. How different is your training under his tutelage?
CG:
The new staff here at KU is awesome! There is a newfound level of
commitment, excitement, and dedication that all started with Coach
Redwine and trickled down to the rest of the staff and all the athletes.
I think this change was very evident at Indoor NC's where we improved
form 46th to 8th in one year. As you said, Coach Redwine has had
experience at places like Arkansas, but I also like the fact that
he was a world-class athlete just a few years ago (5th at 1996 trials
at 800m) and knows from personal experience what it takes to succeed
at this level.
Coach Doug
Clark handles my everyday training and workouts. He was with Redwine
at Arkansas and Tulsa and I just can't say enough about the guy.
I absolutely love training with him. He does a great job getting
us all prepared physically, but also does a lot with the mental
side of it all. He took me from a 47th place finisher at XC regionals
to 4th in the region in a year, and also guided our DMR to a 6th
at NC's. Guys like Andy Tate and Brian Blachly had great years and
were both key members of our All-American DMR team.
My training
is not all that much different, but I am doing quite a bit more
mileage than I have done in the past which has really helped me.
Actually the biggest change has been where we run. We get vaned
out every day to either grass or gravel roads. This has totally
saved my legs and has allowed me to do an extra 15-20 miles a week.
CL:
Looking at photos of NCAA's, I'm inclined
to think that you probably would have run away from the field if
you just had your old uniform on! Why did you guys get rid of your
trademark hot pink shorts? I remember there being a story behind
the hot pink shorts, can you enlighten us?
CG:
The story of the Pink and Blue is that in 1951 there was a photo
finish in the conference 60-yard high hurdles. This was before the
days of photo finish and it was all decided by human eye. A Kansas
runner by the name a Jack Greenwood felt he won and remembered holding
the finish line tape in his hand. However, Greenwood was awarded
3rd because he was in the outside lane and blended in with the rest
of the competitors with the traditional crimson and blue uniforms.
As a result Coach Bill Easton started using the pink and blue uniform
so that his athletes would stand out in any future photo finishes.
The next year Greenwood was in another photo finish, but this time
was awarded first.
The reason
we do not wear the pink and blue anymore is because we are a Nike
school and they will not make the pink and blue uniform. I love
the old uniforms and wish we could wear them.
CL:
Let's backtrack a bit. You're originally from
Mullen high school in Colorado. What credentials did you have coming
out of high school? How'd you decide on Kansas?
CG:
Out of high school I had PR's of 1:53.1, 4:20.2, split 48.5, and
5k XC of 16:17. The biggest high school races I won were Mt. Sac
and second at Golden West. I decided on Kansas because I really
liked the guys on the team and the town of Lawrence. I was also
impressed with the KU business school and felt I would receive a
great education here. I'm also interested in Information Systems
and KU has a good program for that.
CL:
Running a sub-four must have been a thrill.
How'd it feel -- easier than you expected/more difficult?
CG:
It was definitely a thrill to dip under four, and extra nice to
do it when it really counted at nationals, and also when I had all
of my family there to share it with. It's also nice to do my small
part in keeping the KU miling tradition going. With KU milers before
me like Jim Ryun, Glenn Cunningham, and Wes Santee, I take great
pride and responsibility in trying to represent this tradition.
I guess I would
say it was more difficult than expected. It seems like I've been
chasing that make for two years and finally got it. But I also feel
that it is just the tip of the iceberg and there are still much
greater things to come.
CL:
I see you're redshirting the outdoor season. What's the rationale
there and will you be competing unattached?
CG:
The rationale in redshirting is that I've done all three seasons
for the past three years and it is difficult to compete at a high
level in back-to-back-to-back seasons. This way I will take some
down time and then focus solely on USATF Outdoors. I will also be
doing some other tune up meets like the Kansas Relays and other
regional meets.
Coach Redwine
also decided to redshirt many of our other top guys in a attempt
to give us all another year to develop and a chance to have an outstanding
outdoor season as a team next year.
CL:
You've grown out your locks. You get any "get
outta here you hippie longhair" remarks when you venture out of
Lawrence into the rest of Kansas?
CG:
Actually the people who harass me the most about my hair are my
dad and my 88-year-old grandma. She hates my hair and calls me a
sissy-boy strait to my face and is always offering to give me a
haircut. Coach Redwine isn't a huge fan of the growth either, but
doesn't seem to care too much.
CL: There
seems to be a bit of a middle distance renaissance on the U.S. scene,
yet no U.S, middle distance runner (with the possible exception
of Steve Holman) has really cracked onto the world scene as of late.
What's it gonna take for you to make the jump?
CG:
It is going to obviously take a great deal of work and dedication,
but I also feel it will take the proper attitude and belief in my
ability to hang with the world's best. I'm certainly not at that
level yet but need to believe that I can run with the best. I want
to respect all runners and their ability, but definitely not fear
or be intimidated by anyone. I feel like the best way for me to
gain this trust is to simply race the best people I can find and
just go for broke.
CL:
You're from Denver, and now are training at
sea level. What are the differences training down there as opposed
to Denver.
CG:
To be honest, I've never noticed that much difference. I trained
and raced all XC season at sea level and then went to Boulder for
Big XII XC and recorded an 8K PR. Maybe it helped growing up at
altitude, I'm not really sure. I feel that for someone like me who
does a lot of speed work, training at sea level is actually better
because you can handle more speed stuff. As a freshman, when I came
to school here, I thought I would feel a big difference, but any
altitude advantage was negated by the extreme heat and humidity
of Kansas in August.
CL:
Do you think you've developed some physiological
advantages having been raised at altitude?
CG:
Like I said, I'm not really sure if growing up at altitude helped
or not. I didn't start running until my sophomore year in high school
and only did about 20-25 miles a week at the most. The thing that
probably helped the most was growing up I always played on two soccer
teams and two basketball teams. [I didn't know] it at the time,
but these two sports were great base training with all the running
-- especially soccer.
CL:
Have you thought about whether or not you'll
continue running post-collegiately? If so, any tentative plans on
where or with whom you'd like to run?
CG:
I would definitely like to try to race post-collegiately. As to
where and with whom, I do not know. Like I said before, I really
like working with Coach Redwine and Coach Clark and feel if it's
not broke don't fix it. But at the same time I feel you can gain
a lot from training with other elite guys not only in workouts but
just general experience about running and the sport. It will be
a tough decision, but if I had to decide now I would stay in Lawrence
with Coach Clark.
CL:
What runners did you admire growing up? Any
runners out there now make you take notice?
CG:
Growing up I was a basketball fan and didn't even know how many
laps were in a mile till my sophomore year in high school. So growing
up I didn't admire any runners, but now I admire runners such as
Jim Ryun, Steve Scott, Sebastian Coe and many of the past great
middle distance runners. As for current athletes, I am looking at
my picture of Hicham El Guerrouj hanging on my wall. However, I
try not to admire too many runners because I realize those are the
exact people I will start racing and trying to beat in the near
future.
CL:
Who has been the largest influence on your
running career?
CG:
I would have to say my parents, Joe and Lorraine Gruber. They both
have supported and followed me around the entire country to watch
me race. I know they would do anything they could to help me out
and I really appreciate it. Their support these past four years
of college, and really the past 22 years of my life, have had a
big influence on me and I just want to thank them for that.
CL:
I asked Keith Kelly, so I'll ask you too:
you're stranded on a desert island, or at Kansas State, you choose
your poison, with one book, movie, and CD. What are they?
CG:
At the risk of sounding like a complete running nerd, my book would
be Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. I also have to agree with
Keith Kelly that Lance Armstrong's book is a must read. My movie
would be Swingers. It's definitely a guy movie, but I recommend
it for all. A close second would be The Big Lebowski. My one CD
would have to be a bootlegged Napster compilation CD.
CL:
Kansas has an illustrious mile history, and
you're moving up the charts. Good luck this spring and beyond.
CG:
Thanks a lot Chris, I appreciate the interview.
(March 2001)
Chris
Lear is the author of "Running with the Buffaloes." The
book chronicles the University of Colorado men's cross country team's
1998 season. Currently out of print, Lyons Press is republishing
the book in hardcover in the spring of 2001. Check http://www.runwiththebuffs.com
for details.
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Charlie
Gruber competes at the 2001 NCAA Indoor T&F Championships.
