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No
American male distance runner had a more triumphant winter than
23-year-old Tim Broe, a University of Alabama graduate originally
from Peoria, Illinois. Broe won the 4k race at the USATF Cross Country
Championships in 11:02.50, 2.40 seconds ahead of Brad Hauser. He
then took first place in the 3000 at the USATF Indoor Championships
in 7:52.22, 4.14 seconds in front of Hauser. Broe went on to place
seventh in a slow-paced 3000 semi at the World Indoor Championships
in Lisbon in 8:09.37 and 18th in the 4k at the World Cross Country
Championships in 13:10 -- three places, and just one tick of the
clock, behind Hauser. Broe's winter also featured a third place,
behind Kenyans Leonard Mucheru and Daniel Zegeye and ahead of Jonathon
Riley and Hauser, in the 3000 at the New Balance Invitational in
Boston in 7:48.69. Broe's fourth place in the 3000-meter steeplechase
at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials was a personal best by ten seconds
and missed earning a trip to Sydney by .09 seconds. His NCAA highlights
featured a national steeplechase title in 2000, a second in the
indoor 3000 in 2000, and a third in the outdoor 5000 in 1999. MensRacing
spoke to Broe on April 25, the day he had relocated from Birmingham,
Alabama to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he will be coached by the
University of Michigan's Ron Warhurst and will train with the likes
of Kevin Sullivan and Alan Webb.
Have
you done your first workout in Ann Arbor?
I just got here today. I did a semi-workout, just a couple of 400s
to get my legs under me, because I'm racing Friday night (at the
Penn Relays, where he ended up winning in 8:39.05.) Last week I
came up from Illinois for a day, a day late, and I had to do 20
quarters on the indoor track, with 50-meter jogs, by myself. That
was my first taste of Michigan.
What
are your first impressions of the environment there? Do you think
you're going to enjoy it?
I really do. I really like the coach, and the team. There are a
lot of young guys that are motivated, and I've got some older guys
to train with. A little bit of both worlds. Right now I'm staying
with a couple of guys on the team for the next couple of weeks.
I'll be gone all summer long (mainly in Europe). When the fall starts,
I'll get a place here.
Will
you be going to Europe at all before the USATF Championships?
No, I've got the Prefontaine Classic and the adidas meet and maybe
one more meet before the U.S. Championships, and right after that
I'll head over there.
Will
all of those races be steeplechases?
TB: If they let me in, I may do the mile at Prefontaine, and the
steeplechase at (the Adidas Oregon Track Classic). Depending on
how that goes, if I need another one, I'll do it at Palo Alto.
At
the beginning of 2001, did you have any sense that you'd be contending
for national titles in both cross country and indoor track?
I didn't expect any of that to happen, obviously. I didn't run much
at all in December, and in January, I got on the track about three
times before (USATF) Cross Country. I get in shape very, very quickly.
I did have some expectations in the 3000. I like the 3000. It's
a good event for me. In cross country, I just wanted to make the
team. I wanted to stick my nose in it. It just happened to be my
day that day.
It
was kind of interesting that people went to the indoor championships
in Atlanta knowing that if they made the team for the Worlds, they
wouldn't be going home; they'd be flying directly from Atlanta to
Lisbon that weekend.
The nice thing was that I lived only two and a half hours from Atlanta
(by car, in Birmingham). I figured if I made the team, I'd drive
home and pack. For one thing, I didn't want to jinx myself. And
I knew I already made the cross country. If I made the (indoor)
team, I was just going to stay over in Europe for three weeks. I
drove home that night (after his 3000), and came back to Atlanta
the next day and took off from there.
Where
were you in the time between the World Indoor and World Cross, and
what were you doing?
Me and two of the women, Cheri Kenah and Collette Liss, and Andrea
Johnson from USATF, went down to southern Portugal, Villamora, where
they'd had the World Cross Country the year before, and stayed down
there for ten
days. I did two workouts and sat on the beach all day long.
In
the 4k race at USATF Cross Country, you took command with 1000 meters
left. Was that pre-planned, or based on how you felt on that moment?
That's my race style always. With 1000 to go, I have to know where
I stand. This was right when Coach Warhurst and I first came in
contact. He's used to coaching Kevin Sullivan, and he says, with
300 to go, blast everybody. He told me to wait till 400, and I said
"I can't wait till 400." My race plan was with 1000 to
go, let it rip. And I held them off.
Your
two World meets didn't go as well, although the cross country placing
was a good one and you'd said you'd be happy to make the top 25.
But what did you learn from the World Indoor?
Oh, God. European indoors is much different. Actually, I had gotten
sick right after cross country and I didn't run for a whole week
before indoors. And then with the travel, I just couldn't get my
legs under me. With 1000 to go, the race started, and I couldn't
respond. It was a little disappointing, but it was a good experience.
I was in the same race as El Guerrouj. I'd never been in a race
with world class athletes.
In
what sense is European indoor track different?
It's a lot more physical than over here. Guys cut you off, guys
spit on you. They're not bashful. They'll grab your shirt and elbow
you and whatnot. It's kind of fun.
And
in cross country in Ostend, you managed an 18th place on an incredibly
difficult muddy course.
Yeah. It played a factor. There are a lot of people who, when there
aren't really good conditions, don't race to the best of their abilities.
I took advantage of that. I don't think I'm the 18th best cross
country runner at 4k in the world, but I was that day. You have
to go out and compete, one way or the other.
So
the mud wasn't as tough for you as for some other runners?
I think it's a mental thing, for the most part. But you can't get
in a rhythm.
You
and Brad Hauser will be going your separate ways into different
events outdoors, but you had a lot of close battles indoors and
in cross country. Is this the beginning of a healthy rivalry of
sorts?
It's always been there for me, in my mind. It's just that I haven't
been able to keep up. I'm getting to where I want to be. He is a
10k guy and I'm a steepler. He's always going to step down, and
I'm always going to move down a little bit. I know we're going to
meet quite a few more times
in the future.
You
and Pascal Dobert might be the two top young American steeplers
now. He wasn't active racing this winter. What's your feeling about
that as a way to prepare for the an outdoor season in the 3000-meter
steeplechase?
TB: What I've learned is a lot of the post-collegiate guys like
to train, train, train and then race three months out of the year
and then go back to training. If that works for them, that's cool.
I need to race, I need to be sharp, because I get bored. I like
to keep my mind sharp all the time. But that's what's worked for
him. He's the umpteen-time national champ.
Going
through whole fall and winter without racing would drive you nuts?
Yeah. The monotony -- I'd get really bored with that. I want to
know my fitness level. At least once a month, I want to be testing
myself to see where I'm at. For me, there's always a new experience.
I haven't been to the next level.
What
prompted your move to Michigan?
Kevin Sullivan and I have the same agent, Mark Wetmore (not to be
confused with the University of Colorado coach with the same name.)
I was telling Mark "I need to find someone to coach me, you've
got a zillion athletes, give me some ideas." He said "you
should call Sully's coach, Coach Warhurst, and see how you like
him." I called up and in the first five
minutes I talked to him, I knew I wanted to come up (to Michigan)
and run for him. He's very enthusiastic about everything. He's very,
very positive and encouraging. He makes you feel like you can do
anything. That's a very good quality in a coach.
With
Sullivan and Alan Webb, two fast mile guys, do you think your
training will place a healthy emphasis on improving middle distance
speed?
Yeah. But he (Coach Warhurst) trains his milers almost like 10k
guys. He likes to do a lot of hard speed stuff. I'll be doing a
lot of strength stuff. We've got some 10k guys here, and obviously,
there will be a lot of milers. I'm kind of in-between. It may be
the best of both Worlds for me.
How
well do you know Kevin Sullivan? What conversations have you had
about what you can pursue together?
I had never really met him until we went to World Indoors. He's
really, really nice guy. He's very competitive. But he doesn't let
that come between having someone like me come up and train with
him. He says it's a chance for he and I to become even better than
we are.
Fourth
in the Olympic Trials is considered heartbreaking, but it
did represent a breakthrough for you, didn't it?
Yeah, a big one. I can't complain with 8:21. It was a 21-second
PR over the (previous) year.
You
like the 3000-meter distance, which is what steeplers do. Are the
hurdles not a part of the attraction?
Well, they keep things mixed up. I do like the variety. It's a unique
race. The 5000 wears on me because it's so damned boring, going
around and around.
Why
to you have particular problems with the water pit? You don't jump
far enough into it?
Yeah, I don't know why I can't comprehend it. I really try to work
on it. Coach and I were discussing that quite a bit today. The problem
with
me and the water pit is my strength. I don't think it's a mental
thing. I'm
going to run as hard as I can. And with two laps to go, if I'm dead,
and then
you throw barriers in the way, it really screws me up. Once I get
stronger, I
think the water pit will get a lot easier for me.
How
did you first get involved with running?
I just took it up in seventh grade. All my buddies were doing it.
We had a junior high team. I didn't go out my sixth grade year;
I was nervous about being a sixth grader. I ran the mile and the
half-mile. In seventh grade I ran 5:54 for the mile. In eighth grade,
I ran 4:53.
How
good were you by high school?
My junior year, I won the state cross country and the two mile outdoors.
My last year, I won the same. I've been fortunate how things have
worked out. I wasn't pressed into it. I was a 35-mile a week guy.
When
did you do your first steeplechase?
I jumped into one my freshman year at college, and ran 9:22 and
won the slow heat at the Alabama Relays.
Were
you hooked on it right away?
No, I hated it. I thought "this race really stinks." My
form was really, really bad. Before my last year, I went to a steeplechase
camp with Chick Hislop out at Weber State (in Utah). I learned all
kinds of drills. He taught me how to stretch right for it. It was
also much easier when you weren't concentrating on jumping on top
of the barriers and sprinting between them. You could just run right
through them.
What
kind of track times are you expecting this year?
Realistically, I want to run 3:55 in the mile or 3:38 in the 1500.
I want to run around 8:10 or definitely under 8:15 (in the steeple).
In the 5000, I definitely want to run under 13:30.
And
do you think Pascal Dobert is someone you can handle in the steeplechase
now?
I don't know. I don't know where he's at. I don't know where I'm
at. When you get to this point, everybody's on a level playing field.
It's just getting sharp and having your mind ready. When it gets
to the outdoor meets, it's going to anybody's race; it's going to
be who's ready to race.
(April
2001)
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