When you’re an Olympian, even a casual Wednesday night workout draws a crowd.
On a warm evening, much like the night of the 800 meter final at the U.S. Olympic Trials, U.S. team members Nick Symmonds and Andrew Wheating showed off their final tune-up before the Beijing Olympic Games in front of a backdrop of a few hundred parents and athletes Wednesday at Hayward Field.
Each athlete ran distances longer than the 800m they qualified for the Olympics in. Symmonds chose the 1,000m, a distance he’d never ran before, finishing in a time of 2:17.78. An unusual distance, the 1,000m has been run by only 14 runners this year, of which Symmonds’ time ranks eighth.
“I’ve never run it before so no matter what I was gonna get a personal best,” Symmonds said amidst more than 50 autograph seekers.
Despite holding the fastest 800m time in the nation, Symmonds didn’t have high expectations for the time trial since he hadn’t raced since the 800 final on June 30 and is in the middle of a 70-mile training week, his highest of the year.
“The time was a little slow but the whole reason I ran this was because I knew I was going to feel flat,” Symmonds said. “It’s exactly what I needed.”
Symmonds followed pacesetter and teammate Brandon Shaw of Oregon Track Club Elite through the first 800 meters before Shaw stepped off, leaving Symmonds by himself to run the Bowerman Curve and straightaway.
Wheating followed with a “win” in the 1,500m in a time of 3:39.86, followed by Olympic Trials qualifier Steve Scherer and Oregon’s A.J. Acosta.
Don Sage of OTC Elite paced the 1,500 field, which Scherer then led until the final 100 meters when – even in a low-key time trial – Wheating used his signature kick to barrel past Scherer to the finish.
The Oregon sophomore was happy to have an audience to run in front of.
“It’s kind of cool,” he said, a horde of younger athletes waiting with permanent markers behind him, as well. “But we just block ’em out and Nick and I knew when to focus. This is definitely time to focus.”
Besides the warm evening temperature and the starting time of 8:30 p.m. – five minutes after the Trials final started on June 30 – little else resembled the atmosphere of the last time the pair ran on the same night in the 800m final. A couple hundred interested elementary school-aged athletes and their parents stuck around a half hour after their usual Wednesday night all-comers meet ended to cheer on Eugene’s newest favorite – albeit adopted – sons.
It wasn’t quite like running in front of more than 20,000 fans at the Trials, but it didn’t much matter to the runners.
“Considering we were just planning on coming out and treating it like a workout, to have several hundred or maybe even a thousand people show up that helps me push myself a lot better and feel like a race,” Symmonds said.
Although coached separately – Symmonds by OTC Elite’s Frank Gagliano and Wheating by Oregon’s Vin Lananna – the duo have occasionally trained together since they qualified, sessions both are grateful for.
“It’s good to work with a guy who I know can beat me,” Wheating said.
Symmonds, meanwhile was struck by Wheating’s “raw speed.”
“I knew he was as strong as anybody else, but he’s got unreal wheels,” he said.
Besides struggling trying to pull his athlete away from his fans long enough for a cool down jog, Gagliano was very happy.
“He tied up the last 60 meters but who cares it was all by himself,” he said. “2:17 in a workout is wonderful.”
Wheating will leave for China next Tuesday, while Symmonds will arrive shortly after but arrive into Beijing on Aug. 16. The first round of the 800 starts on Aug. 20.
Besides travel arrangements, the pair already have resolved another last-minute detail: Rooming. Given a choice between OTC Elite’s Christian Smith, the third place finisher at the Trials, and Symmonds, Wheating seemed to tip his hand toward his roommate.
“Nick’s the high roller so I’ll be riding with Nick for sure,” he said with a laugh.
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