Interview: Josh Moen

By Eric Richey

Josh Moen, a junior at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, recently dominated the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship in Hanover, Indiana. He won in a time of 24:34 over the 8k course and led his team to a fifth-place finish. The Fairbank, Iowa native's time placed him 29 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. With the help of Wartburg's Missy Buttry, the women's individual national champion, Moen completed the first sweep of individual titles by one school in NCAA Division III national meet history. His rise to the top of Division III running this fall is an amazing story considering that he placed 92nd two years ago as a freshman and was unable to complete last year's championship after getting knocked down, trampled, and spiked 200 meters into the race.

Moen's national title was the culmination of an excellent fall of running over hill and dale. In seven races this fall, the Elementary Education major never finished worse than second place. He gave a hint that he might be more than just a contender for the national title at the Jim Drews Invitational on October 18th, where he split up the front of Wisconsin's pack, ultimately finishing second, just three seconds behind winner Josh Spiker.

Moen, who picked up a total of three All-American awards last year between indoor and outdoor track, is a relative newcomer to the national scene and owns personal bests of 14:24.84 (5,000m) and 30:28.64 (10,000m). We caught up with Moen as he was about to resume training after some time off.

Mensracing.com: Let's begin by talking about your recent dominating performance at the NCAA DIII National Cross Country Championships. Were you surprised either by winning or by your huge margin of victory?
Josh Moen: I was kind of surprised by both. I knew going into the race that I would be a contender, but I didn't think I would run like I did. It was definitely a good race for me.

MR: In 2002 you were a DNF at the national meet. What happened there?
JM: The St. Olaf course, where we ran, is pretty rough. Right at the start there's about a 200m straightaway and then there's a sharp right turn. And everybody wanted to get the apex of the turn. My teammate Joe Hughes and I collided with each other and fell down. I lost my shoe and I got spiked up so I couldn't finish the race

MR: That must have made this year's race that much sweeter.
JM: Yeah, it definitely did.

MR: Take us through this year's race. At what point did you start to pull away from the other top guys?
JM: Well, I started the race and I stayed with the guys up front. I didn't really put any moves in at all; I just kind of kept the trigger squeezed down the whole time. At about 2 or 2.5 miles, I didn't hear them anymore so I said to myself, 'I like this,' and I just kept on running and I didn't hear from them again.

MR: Did you have a set race plan coming into the race or did you react as things developed?
JM: I was kind of worried about Ryan Kleimenhagen (of Wisconsin-Platteville) and a couple of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh guys. I really wanted to key off of them and see what they were doing, but I realized that they were kind of sitting back, so I decided to just go and do my own thing.

MR: What was going through your head once you were all alone in front?
JM: When I pulled away, I really tried to put the pressure on so I could kill any thoughts they were having of catching up to me again. I thought if I got enough distance on them, I could maybe let up a bit the last mile and enjoy the finish, and that's what I did.

MR: There was a lot of talk about the warm weather affecting people at Nationals. Apparently it suited you just fine?
JM: Yeah, in the summers I usually try to get a few runs in during the heat in the middle of the day if I can. I try to make sure I do some training in the heat. At Nationals, I knew it was going to be warm, so I was mentally ready for that and I made sure I was hydrated.

MR: You ran well all fall, but you really found another gear in the regional and national meets. How did the season progress for you?
JM: I thought I was in pretty good shape right off the bat when I started out, so I just kept a positive attitude and didn't let anything get me down. I would think that all the miles I was putting in were going to pay off in the end, so when it finally came time, I looked back at all my training and trusted it, knowing that I could finally bust out and do what I needed to do.

MR: So would you say that you held back a bit in the early part of the season waiting for the big meets.
JM: To some extent yes and to some extent, no. At the end of every race, I always feel like I can go harder. I'm never satisfied with a race.

MR: How special was it for you to be part of the first school in DIII history to sweep the [men's and women's] individual titles with the help of your teammate Missy Buttry?
JM: It feels cool. It feels good to go home on the bus and to have the men's and women's champion in there too, just having a good time and having fun.

MR: Your team ran well too, finishing fifth — three spots higher than they were ranked coming in. Did that meet or exceed the team's goals for the year?
JM: Yeah, that completely exceeded our goals. We were hoping to get ninth or better. Getting fifth really just blew our minds. Everybody felt really good.

MR: Despite your recent success, you are a relative newcomer to the national scene in DIII running. Was your first big breakthrough last winter in indoor track?
JM: Yeah, I would say that. I ran my first 5k indoors and that was the first time I ran under 15:00. I was just hoping in that race to get under 16:00. From then on, I was just like, 'Wow I can do this.' That was a big, big moment right there.

MR: What would you say made the difference?
JM: I trimmed up a bit. I lost about 15 pounds or so and started eating a lot better. I just take care of my body now. And then I had a much better attitude and was training a lot harder.

MR: Last spring you ran well at the outdoor nationals as well, garnering two more All-American awards. You doubled back well two days after the 10k and finished third in the 5k running in a pretty strong downpour. What do you remember about that race?
JM: Wow, that was a great race. Coming into the 5k, I was tired from the 10k and I just wanted to get All-American, but then I found myself moving up in the pack and I told myself 'I can do this — I gotta just keep going.' Then two guys started pulling away and I tried to stick with them, but they got me pretty good.

MR: Do you enjoy the challenge of running in adverse conditions?
JM: Yeah I like adverse conditions because we train in them all the time; Iowa is just crazy in regards to the weather. We're used to that sort of thing.

MR: Are you more comfortable racing cross country or on the track?
JM: I like both. I like cross country because of the variety and different courses, but I enjoy track because it's accurate and it's more of a precise sport with your splits every lap. Honestly I like whatever season I'm in at a given time.

MR: Have you suffered any serious injuries in college that have interrupted your training or have you managed to stay healthy?
JM: Not in college, but I had a few stress fractures in my shins back in high school. I have a nasty knee that sometimes bothers me, but I can take care of that without too much trouble.

MR: In a recent article, your coach, Steve Johnson, spoke of your confidence when you first came to Wartburg despite the fact that you lacked great prep credentials. Could you expand on that a bit and explain what it is that drives you? What made you come into college and say "I want to be the best runner to ever come through Wartburg"?
JM: I don't really know why I said that, but I did and it kind of put some extra responsibility on my shoulders to live up to that. But I think Coach kind of overplayed that story a little bit. I think I said it with a little sarcasm, but I guess it makes for a good story and the local media kind of ate it up.

MR: How do you mentally prepare for a national competition? What goes through your mind both in the days leading up to the race and in the last 45 minutes as you warm-up?
JM: I usually think about the race a lot, without getting nervous. I don't really get nervous for any race. I usually get excited because I like to race. I make sure to eat well the two nights before and get hydrated. And I do all my pre-race things, but they're kind of crazy.

MR: Like what?
JM: I don't know if you want to hear that stuff, but let's see. I have to put deodorant on right before I race. I have to click my knees together and a bunch of other weird stuff. I don't know, it's hard to think of them all. I'm kind of a perfectionist about it all though.

MR: What are you thinking during the race when pain and fatigue set in?
JM: I just try to keep positive thoughts in my head. 'I can do this. I'll hold onto this guy for another 100 meters.' Stuff like that to keep me going.

MR: Let's go back to your high school running. What were your prep PRs?
JM: I was a 4:39 miler and [ran] 10:04 in the two-mile. And I ran a 2:07 for the 800m in the first half of a mile. But my training was not much. At most I did about 20 miles a week. I never kept a training log or anything. Counting miles — that was foreign to me when I came to college. I look back on that and I just think my high school coach was doing what he thought was right.

MR: What made you decide on Wartburg as a college choice?
JM: Academics were my first priority and the athletics also helped.

MR: What are you studying and how have you enjoyed your experience at Wartburg?
JM: My major is Elementary Education. Wartburg is just a great college. We have about 1,600 students here. I've really enjoyed myself.

MR: How big is Waverly, and what's the nearest big city?
JM: Waverly has about 15,000 residents. Waterloo is the nearest big city — only about 15 miles away. Des Moines is about two-and-a-half hours away.

MR: Let's talk about the program established under Coach Johnson at Wartburg. In addition to the individual success, both the men's and women's programs are among the nation's elite in DIII. How would you describe the team dynamic at Wartburg?
JM: We're an extremely close team. A lot of us are best friends when we graduate and a bunch of us live together. Right now, seven of us share a house. We're basically together all the time, the men and the women. We gel and get along so well, I mean we live together, we work together, we bleed together, and we win together.

MR: How long has that type of great environment been in place there at Wartburg?
JM: I'm not sure, probably 10 years at least. It's just a great place to be as a runner.

MR: What is Coach Johnson's basic training philosophy?
JM: Coach is a physiologist so he knows what's going on with your body. We don't do real high mileage, at most 70-80 miles a week. Kind of "Lydiardesque" with lower mileage — that's probably the best way to put it. He throws in a little bit of everything when it comes to training. We move from higher volume to more intensity as the season progresses. Nothing too fancy.

MR: Do you guys do any weight training or other types of cross-training to supplement your running?
JM: Coach encourages regular lifting but he's not too concerned with it.

MR: Are your teammates able to train with you or do you have to go out in front alone on the hard workouts?
JM: I usually have someone to run with every day except for some of the speed workouts where I'm on my own, but one of the assistant coaches (an alum) usually comes out and helps me out on those.

MR: Have you taken some downtime since nationals or continued training?
JM: Yeah, I've taken about 10 days off and now I'm just starting up again.

MR: What would you like to accomplish in the upcoming track seasons?
JM: I'd like to win another title or two, that'd be nice, but I'm more focused on improving my personal bests. I'd like to go under 14:10 in the 5k this year, which I think is very realistic, and I want to run under 30:00 in the 10k.

MR: Looking at yourself, what are your biggest strengths and your biggest weaknesses as a runner?
JM: My biggest strength would have to be that I'm extremely self-motivated when it comes to racing. But my biggest weakness would have to be waking up early to do my morning runs on two-a-days. Getting those extra miles in is my biggest weakness.

MR: What's your favorite workout you've done in your college career?
JM: I like build-up runs the most. We start out easy for about 20 minutes and then we gradually increase the pace for the last 20 to 30 minutes until you're going about race pace.

MR: Do you do these runs on a marked course or just by time and effort?
JM: We do them by time and perceived effort. We have zero trails out here, so we do all our training on gravel roads through corn fields and bean fields. It's pretty flat, just straight boring gravel roads. The winters are rough out here because there are no trees to block the wind. It's just terrible.

MR: Where do you see yourself five years from now? Still running competitively?
JM: It'd be nice to still be running seriously, but I really don't know. Obviously when I graduate, I'll want to get settled in with a job, but if I keep improving, I definitely want to keep training competitively.

MR: What are some of your interests outside of running?
JM: I love the outdoors. I like to camp, basically doing anything outdoors or having to do with sports. That's my number one interest.

MR: If you could go on a run with anyone in the world, who would it be?
JM: My cousin Jim Spivey (a U.S. Olympian in the 1,500m and 5,000m). We're fourth cousins. I've never met him in person, but I'd like to go run with him if I got the chance. He coaches at Vanderbilt right now. He's got a lot of credentials and everything.

MR: Lastly, any funny stories about running out in rural Iowa?
JM: You know, there's many times when furry animals jump out at you from those corn fields. Deer jump out at you and birds will come down and peck you on the head. You just got to be ready for anything.

(Interview conducted December 2, 2003, posted December 4, 2003.)