(Photo Credit: Lou Spinazzola)
ZCZ Firebird 3,200 Meter Classic Race Report by Zach Plotkin
After the state meet, my teammate Cole Cronk, came up with the idea to host a 3,200 meter race on the track, to create an opportunity for the runners who needed a fast track time to help with college recruiting. Our team loved the idea, as myself and a few others were in need of a 3,200 time to help us get noticed.
Cole and 'ZCZ Running' were able to assemble an official meet with a stacked field including Sean Carney, James Schmidt, Takumi Ford, and many others. This would be the first official 3,200 race for a lot of the guys on our team, including myself.
Heading into the meet, I had a PR of 9:38 in the 3,200, which came from a solo time trial in early September, so going in, I thought a fair goal would be to run Sub 9:25. The plan was to hit 70's each lap and hit 4:40 through the first mile.
The race went out at a fair pace, as I went through the first lap in 68. For laps 2-4, I hit 72, 70, and 71, which was good for a 4:41 first mile. I was pleased with the time, however, I found myself near the back of the race, slowly being gapped by the front pack. I knew if I wanted to reach my goal, I would have to at least hang on to the pack. I stuck with them, and with 400 meters to go, I saw the clock say 8:13, which made me believe that I could maybe run sub 9:20. All I needed would be to run sub 67, which in the moment seemed challenging. I finished 3rd in the race with a time of 9:17.2, closing in a 64 last lap.
After the finish, I collapsed and saw everyone on my team set a nice PR as well. I was thrilled, as our team was able to put the icing on the cake, of what was an incredible XC season.
Looking ahead, my teammates and I will be taking a week completely off from running and will come together to plan out our training for this upcoming track season.
Meet Coverage -