2004 FOOT LOCKER CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Post-race interview with Ken Cormier

by Ricky Quintana

Ken Cormier (center) races Andrew Bumbalough (right) and John McGuire (left) with less than 400 meters to go. (Photo: Alison Wade/NYRR)

Ken Cormier, a senior at Douglas High School in Douglas, Arizona, won the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 15:22 by pulling away from Andrew Bumbalough in the final 200 meters. Cormier won the West Regional and was a first-time national qualifier. He finished 79th at the 2003 Foot Locker West Regional.

MensRacing.com: Talk about your race and your strategy coming in.
Ken Cormier: Coming in here, I knew I had a shot at it. Nobody really knew who I was. No one was really keying on me, which was a really big advantage. I was the darkhorse. I was just going to sit, wait, and see how the race developed. I wasn't going to go out too hard too early and die. I was like, 'Just run a pace you can handle and see what comes out the last mile.' That's what I did. I came through the two-mile in 9:50 and I was like, 'I can handle that, it's great.' There were about five guys in the lead pack and I started to pick them off one by one. On top of the hill, I had two guys left. Coming down, I picked off [John] McGuire and then the last 500m, it was an all-out sprint with me and [Andrew] Bumbalough. I hope he doesn't mind me slaughtering his name every time I say it. It was just a great race. He's just such a great competitor. It's the most fun I've had in a race this year.

MR: Was the course difficulty a concern for you coming in?
KC: After running Mt. SAC last weekend, any course seems easy. It's a very difficult course. It's either up or down. There aren't a whole lot of areas where you can get any rhythm. It's a really challenging course in how you use your energy and how you use your surges. I was like, 'I'll just try to keep the same pace through the whole thing; not fall back too far, but not overwork myself early on.'

MR: I didn't get to see you until toward the end of the race. Were you pretty far back?
KC: At one point, I was probably 30 meters back with one mile left. But, coming around the pool, I made a move on some really nice grass and was able to pick off two more guys. I started inching up on them. When we hit the hill, I was probably 15 meters back. Going up the hill, I was like, 'I'm not going to go up this hill hard. I'm just going to go really easy and get to the top feeling good. And then run hard for home from there.' It worked out really well.

MR: When did you think you had a shot at winning the race?
KC: When I got to the top of the hill, I was surprised that I still had a little bit left and that I had caught up to them running up the hill so easily. When that happens, you're like, 'Wow, I can really do this.' Coming around I picked it up a little bit here, a little bit there. [Bumbalough] made a big surge going down the hill. I sort of covered that surge and went past McGuire who was in second. All of the sudden it was just me and Bumbalough. It was a great great finish.

MR: Coming to an event of this magnitude for the first time, what advice would you have for darkhorses like yourself?
KC: The biggest thing for me was that I didn't worry about other people's races. I didn't worry about all the magazines publishing stuff about these other people. It was either, I can worry about them having a great race and doing this or I can do my thing and run my great race. That was the thing for me. I had to do what I knew I could do. I can't worry about, 'Oh, this guy ran 9:50 in track last year. This guy ran 8:50 in track last year. This guy was sub 8:50 last year.' I was probably one of the slowest regional winners [in terms of] track times, but you know what, I felt like I could run with them. You just have to believe in yourself and run what you can run.

MR: You looked really fresh finishing. What was the trick for your to turn out two successive races in two weeks on two tough courses?
KC: I'm glad to hear that I looked fresh, because I didn't feel that way. I hope I look that way on TV. I definitely didn't feel that fresh. I think we came through in like 4:40 and I was like 'Wow, this is hard.' I came through in 4:40 at Mt. SAC and felt awesome, but here it really hurt. I told myself, 'Stay in this race, stay in this race as long as you can and wait for something to happen after the first mile.' At two miles, I was like, 'I'm in fifth place. I could be in third place if I just pick off two more guys.' I picked up another guy and then another guy fell back. Then I was like, 'I'm in the top three.' Coming around the curve I was gaining on these guys. I just thought, 'Just stay rhythm, stay rhythm.' Then going up that hill, I was catching those guys and feeling really good. Going down that hill, I worked it hard and picked up one more guy so it was just me and that guy and it was like, 'Uhhh, Go for it.'

MR: You're limping around. Did the achilles bother you during the race?
KC: No, it doesn't bother me during the race. It just tightens up after I stop for about 10 minutes. I got up from sitting down and was like, 'Whoa, it's not moving.' It's not a real problem. I ice it and massage it.

MR: Did you have the same problem at Mt. SAC too?
KC: Sort of. Going into Mt. SAC, it felt awesome. I had gotten over it for about three weeks. Mt. SAC is probably what injured it again, because you're running up three monstrous hills consecutively, so it puts a lot of stress on it.

(Interview conducted on December 11, 2004, and posted on December 14, 2004.)