Trautmann on WR: ‘[Barton] pushed me to set my goals higher’
Via Facebook, Olympian John Trautmann shared details of his M45 WR mile at Boston: “Thank you, everyone, for the kind words of congratulations! This record has been a goal of mine for the past 3 years and to finally see all the 80-90 mile weeks and torturous sessions on the track culminating in a world record has made every second of pain more than worthwhile. When I first started thinking about the record, it was 4:20, which I thought would be very tough but not something that would be an impossible feat. Then Brad Barton smashed that record by almost 4 seconds and ran 4:16.83. Without that performance from Brad I would have been very content running 4:19 or 4:18. Brad pushed me to set my goals higher and to push myself that much harder in training.” Here’s video of the 4:12.33 record run at Boston.
John continued:
A few nights before my race, Brad reached out to me and wished me luck on breaking his record. That meant a lot and is what I enjoy the most about masters running, the [camaraderie] between the athletes.
For me it is no longer about winning races, but about getting the most out of my body that I can and seeing my competitors do the same. We are all slowly seeing our bodies and times slow down but we encourage each other and are empowered when we witness our competitors pushing there bodies to the limit.
Meanwhile, a Facebook friend posted an article about John, nearly 30 years old, from The New York Times. Here’s part of it:
PHILADELPHIA, April 26— John Trautmann made a wise decision Thursday night. Entered in both the 1,500- and 3,000-meter schoolboy races Friday at the Penn Relays, the Monroe Woodbury (N.Y.) High School senior chose to run in the 3,000.
Running out front from start to finish and with no competition for more than half the race, Trautmann set a national high school record of 8 minutes 5.8 seconds, erasing the 1969 record of 8:07.9 held by the late Steve Prefontaine. It was also faster than the national indoor mark of 8:06.3 set by Gerry Lindgren in 1964.
That effort earned him the vote today as the outstanding boys’ performer at the meet. Erin Keogh of Langley, Va., was the girls selection, also for winning the 3,000-meter run.
”I thought I had a good shot at the record when I heard my 1,600 split of 4:21.3,” Trautmann explained after the race. He finished with a sparkling 59.2 seconds for the final 400 meters.
”I was really tired on that last lap,” he said, ”My legs hurt and I was having a little trouble breathing. But I heard the crowd screaming and it really inspired me to dig in over that last 200 meters.”
Like middle-ager like youngster. John continues to dig deep.
Congrats!
5 Responses
Congrats on an amazing run. Trautmann also ran well while at Georgetown U, helping set a then DMR world record at Penn Relays in 1987:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CexhVbuBrwk
John, looking forward to another record in the indoor 1500 in Boston March 1st-Cheers!
Two class acts…way to take it to another level Brad and John.
Way to represent…!!
USATF picked a kid for Athlete of the Week, but noted Lagat and Trautmann for among top performances:
http://www.usatf.org/News/Record-breaker-Spratling-named-USATF-Athlete-of-th.aspx
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