Keeping Up With Kelati
The staff at Heritage High School tries to treat the week of Foot Locker the same as any other. On Monday evening, it's 5:30 p.m. and Kelati has completed some light tempo work - 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. She is solving math problems alongside her training partner, Matt Holton, an assistant coach and 2011 Heritage alumnus.
Holton returned to his Northern Virginia alma mater at the same time that Kelati joined the team.
"The first day of practice, we said, 'we can't lose her,'" Holton recalled. "Our first run was an hour long run and we had to make sure she knew there were stoplights [that you have to stop at]. Stoplights became my friends when I was getting back in shape."
Kelati didn't know what to make of the flashing lights that switched from green to yellow, then red. Same goes for the octagon-shaped red signs that marked the end of every block.
"There were cows in the road [in Eritrea]," she said. "They made the traffic stop for runners."
As Kelati learned the American rules of the road, Holton helped her to a summertime high mileage of 85 miles per week, with a 90 minute long run at 6:15 to 6:20 pace and several two-a-days.
"I can't fight the pace anymore," Gilbert said. "She goes hard after everything.... even the boys on the team that are, race-wise, as fast as her, just can't do that intensity. I just think that's all she's ever known."
She ran between 70 and 75 miles in the week of Foot Locker South, though she is down to 65 miles this week to prep for Foot Locker.
"I wasn't in good shape [last year]," Kelati said. "It makes me feel better [running more mileage]. Doing hard workouts, it feels like the same as a race. So you have to remember that when you are racing."
Keeping up with Kelati has pushed Holton to personal records in the 5K (17:08) and at the Army 10 Miler in the District (58 minutes).
Kelati's marks are even better. She has earned the No. 1 ranking in the nation by virtue of a flawless record and clocking the nation's second-fastest 5K time of 16:29 at the
Third Battle Invitational. That's 62 seconds faster than she ran last year; she has similar margins of improvement in nearly every race.
The Monday before that race, Gilbert had Kelati simulate the McAlpine Park, North Carolina course by running 2K, one minute recovery, then 400m "to simulate the first flat 2K, then the hill." She completed the workout in 6:32 for 2K, then 71 seconds for the first 400m. After two minutes rest, she ran 6:35 for 2K followed by an all-out 600m in which she crossed the quarter in 72 seconds.
"That's when I knew she was definitely ready to run fast," Gilbert said.
The race was close for two miles, as Kelati and Mareno ran side-by-side and passed the mark in 10:40. But soon after, Kelati pulled away to win by 22 seconds - 16:43 to 17:05 over 5K.
Kelati counts the race as one of her favorites this year, alongside her 16:29 win at Third Battle.
"I like racing with Nevada," she said.
The No. 2 ranked runner in the nation behind Kelati is
Katie Rainsberger, the NXN champion. The Oregon commit will not race in San Diego, leaving No. 3 ranked Mareno as Kelati's top-ranked competition.
What's her goal for Saturday?
"To win," she says, but quickly qualifies with, "To get top three."
Her cousin, Teklai, does not have any advice for her. He doesn't think she needs it.
"I give her some information here and there, but she already knows how to run," he said. "She's a front-runner, that's all I could tell you. She's a leader, she likes to start, she likes to push the pace. Anything's possible but I think she is in really good shape this year. Last year, she really didn't know most of the girls, didn't know how everybody was and ran too fast and they wore her out.
"She's a little bit more prepared this year. She knows the course, she knows the girls."
"Whenever people ask her, 'what is your goal in running,' 'what is your goal in life,' she always says - 'give people hope,'" Holton said. "There's always hope in your situation and she seems to find it."
