Interview: Dan Wilson

By Parker Morse

Dan Wilson was a four-time Big East champion and five-time All American at the University of Connecticut, where he was when we talked with him last. Since graduation in the spring of 2002, he ran sixth at that summer's USATF Championship 1,500m, and joined a new training group based at ZAPfitness in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Coached by ZAP's Pete Rea, Wilson scored one of the most impressive (if not dramatic) championship triples of spring 2003: second in the "short-course" 4k at USATF cross-country nationals, earning his first national team spot along with teammate Karl Savage (fourth). Two weeks later, Wilson was 6th in the USATF indoor 1,500m on Saturday, then 3rd in the 3,000m on Sunday. MensRacing.com talked with Wilson in Houston and in Boston about his rapidly-changing spring plans.

MensRacing.com: [Your second place finish at cross country nationals] seems like an affirmation of ZAPfitness and its coaching.
Dan Wilson: This was something we really pointed towards all year. I ran a couple of indoor races, Karl didn't, but we were really pointing towards cross country. We had to change our race tactics because of the condition of the course, but it didn't change the goal. I think we represented very well.

MR: How did your tactics change?
DW: Karl and I both wanted to get out off the lead pack, and work our way up. But the roller-coaster-like course, and obviously the mud, changed our thinking completely. Last night we were like, let's get to the first 800m in the lead. If we get there, we can stay there. We weren't in the lead, but we were about fifth or sixth. And we just stayed there, we stayed right up front from there. Karl ran in second the whole way, I ran five yards off him, we both kicked hard, and here we are, on our way to Switzerland.

MR: Your kick looked sharp.
DW: Yeah, I think it's something Karl and I both have naturally. We're not the fastest guys, but we've got very good strength speed. And our coach, Pete Rea, that's something he's big on, we do a lot of long strides, and we been doing all strength stuff. I can't run a 50-second quarter, but I can close a race like this in 60 in the mud. So it paid off tonight.

MR: How did you get that mud in your eye?
DW: In the first hundred meters I got hit with big mud pellets, right in the eyes, like four times. It was so painful. I pulled my hat down low for the first hundred but then I couldn't see where I was going. It was a lose-lose situation.

MR: Have you run the senior nationals for cross-country before?
DW: No, this is my first year out of college. I just graduated from the University of Connecticut. So you know, it's funny. When I was in college, I was a good cross country runner over 8k. But everybody I was friends with used to say, Dan, wait until you graduate, you're going to be awesome at the 4k. I kinda always said that to myself. But then I got here and I kinda freaked out a little bit. I said, man, these guys are all good, but once the race started I said, you know, 4k's like the ideal distance for me. 10k's a little long. I really like 8k, but 10k I've struggled with.

MR: In the past, the 4k has started really fast. They really take off from the gun.
DW: We couldn't do that today, because of the mud.

MR: So it's the kind of race where you want to make up ground late?
DW: That's the thing. You can't make up ground. Not only the mud and everything, but the way the course is this year. It's like a fartlek, you're either up or down. We said, you're not going to start out fiftieth and make the team, especially in the 4k. So let's get up right in the front. Usually they blast out, but I think effort-wise, we got out just as hard today. If this were a dry course, we'd have been out in 4:25. I have no idea what our splits were, but we were probably 4:50. But who cares, right? I don't care if it was 5:50.

MR: Was there a worst part of the course?
DW: Actually, it's a funny story. Karl and I didn't have any spikes over 3/8 inch. So we're like, "Geez, this course..." We came here yesterday and did strides, and thought, we'll be good. Then it started raining. We were freaking out last night. So I called Luke Watson, who's probably regretting it now, since I out-kicked him for second place, but Luke gave me six 5/8" spikes. Karl and I split them up, and then right before the race, we were like, let's find someone who just finished racing. So we found a masters runner. He was walking in his spikes, he was wobbling. I said, I'm sorry to bother you, I know you just raced, but can we have your spikes? So we took them off, and this was about a half hour before our race, and we put them in with the other ones. So I've got these half-inches, and 5/8ths.

Anyway, on the hills, although I could've run faster, I wasn't slipping. I was just jogging up the hills. The guys next to me were like, working their asses off, I could just tell, looking at them. And I was jogging. We'd get to the top and they were dying, and I'd just keep going. The hills were probably the toughest part, but thanks to Luke and some guy out there, I did all right.

MR: There was a really big pack coming in, about seven of you all together.
DW: It's funny. Through the whole way I was thinking, I'm not getting more tired. I knew where there was a mile to go, up the hill there. I got there, and I'm like, I'm going to make the team. It finally hit me that I was going to make it. And as we got closer and closer, I was like, there's no way these guys are going to outkick me. I gave a couple of quick looks back, with 600 to go, and I don't know how many guys were behind us but, I have a kick, and I said, I'm on the U.S. team.

MR: So even in that big crowd you were all ready to say, 'I'm making the team.'
DW: I've never, especially in a cross country race, been outkicked. Luke has a phenomenal kick, and he and I have battled at the end of a couple of races in college. Mile races, and also cross country. We went 1-2 at Big East cross country last fall. So I knew he and I were going to make the team. Actually, he passed me with about 700 to go, and he said, "Come on, Dan." And I said to myself, I'm going with Luke. I was pretty confident the whole time. It was awesome to be running out there with Karl a couple of feet in front of me, a guy I train with every day, and Luke right next to me, a good friend of mine, and we were running together.

MR: Just like college?
DW: Yeah, a lot like it.

MR: Why are you doing the 1,500m/3,000m double at indoor nationals?
DW: I figure it's a no-risk situation. I'm already on a Worlds team, I've already run the 1,500, I might as well come back. There aren't that many guys in the race.

MR: Are you still planning on running the 8k Championships in New York?
DW: No. I was going to, but there are just too many races between cross country and track. Outdoor track and field is what we're really looking for. We had to cut something out, and unfortunately it was the 8k. In the future, if I don't make World Cross, I'm definitely running the 8k. But hopefully I'll be going to World Cross.

MR: What was the thinking behind looking at the 8k?
DW: Well, I wasn't really thinking of it as distance. I just wanted to get out and run. I ran 8k for cross in college, and I did pretty well in that, so I knew there were going to be some distance guys out there who could really kick my butt. I just wanted to get out there and see what I could run.

MR: And you're going to be looking at the mile for outdoor track?
DW: Yes, and hopefully I'll be much better prepared for it than I was for indoors! I don't want to make excuses.

(Interviews conducted February 15 and March 1, 2003)