Q + A WITH ALAN HORTON

by Dave Milner | interview conducted 11.07.06

At the Chicago Marathon on October 22nd, Knoxville’s Alan Horton ensured that Knoxville would be represented at the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon, maintaining the city’s streak of representation at the trials, following Dave Nelson in 1996, Todd Williams in 2000, and Bill Kabasenche in 2004.

Granted, Horton only made the ‘B’ trials standard of 2:22:00 by the skin of his teeth, but for a guy who only clocked 9:49 for 2 miles in high school and whose best 10K in college was 32:10, it is a testament to this young accountant’s dedication that he made it, and provides inspiration and hope to runners who are willing to put in the hard work and train consisently and diligently.

We talked to Horton, who will grace the cover of the November/December 2006 issue of TR, a few days after Chicago.

 

TR: When, how and why did you start running competitively?

AH: I really started running competitively as a freshman at William Blount High school [in Maryville]. I went out for the golf team and didn’t make it so the next sport was cross country. I had some prior knowledge about it since I used to run road races as a kid. However; my training before high school consisted of running the day before a road race to get ready for it. Not exactly a great training regimen!

When I was a kid, I was competitive in the three major sports. I would always outrun the kids in football practice, have longer endurance in basketball, and could round the bases at a pretty good clip but once I hit the 7th grade I realized that my fast twitch muscles weren’t so fast anymore, I wasn’t the fastest kid anymore. It was a little disappointing and humbling but I got a lot better at other things like chess.

TR: But you stuck at the running at William Blount.What kind of times did you end up run while in high school?

AH: 2:06 for 800 meters, 4:31 for the mile , and 9:47 for 2 miles . I never made it to State in track. We always had one of the toughest regions, and they only took the top two. In cross-country, I believe I ran 15:35 at Regionals on the Flat Cherokee Blvd course. Senior Year I finished 6th at the 1997 State cross country meet. I believe I was 52nd at Foot Locker South. I was coached by Chris Frary who was a tremendously dedicated to helping his runners be their best.

TR: What kind of times did you run while at EKU?

AH: In January 2000, I transferred from UT-Martin to EKU. I walked on and became one of the lead distance runners. However, My coach and I figured that I had never tapped into my full potential. Practice and workouts illustrated 14:20 speed but I only came away with 14:42 5K. I ran the Steeplechase twice (with a PR of 9:29) and the 10K twice (32:10) both during the outdoor conference meets. I had 8:29 PR in the 3,000 indoors. I fared better in cross country where I had a 10K PR of 30:35 at the 2002 Southeast Regionals. I finished 11th and just missed a chance to run at the NCAA Championships. I also lost the team and Conference Championships by a few seconds, and I have to say that coming up short of my goals in college helped fuel my appetite for post collegiate running. I guess you could say I had a lot of unfinished business.

TR: What kind of mileage did you log in preparation for Chicago?

AH: my working on my tri goals) and to give myself a mental break from the monotony of running. Plus it helped keep me injury free. I stopped the triathlon training 15 weeks out from Chicago and focused solely on running with exception of getting in the pool for recovery. Building up to the marathon I did 3 weeks up, 1 week down, and maxed out at 100 miles a week. I tapered the last 3 weeks before the marathon. I’ve been acclimating my body over the last three years to handle marathon training.

TR: You got the Trials qualifying mark by the skin of your teeth. Three seconds slower and it would have been an agonizing clocking. Are you relieved?

AH: I knew that I could get the qualifier and I had a lot of supportive people telling me that I could get it. However, for motivation, I kept telling myself that I have to prove to them that I could run under 2:22. I wanted to run no slower than 2:21:30 but considering the wind and being a rookie I was very pleased with the outcome. In fact I was so overjoyed with just getting the qualifier with the gutsy effort that I really had forgotten that I had set a higher standard for myself; a low 2:21 and even imagining a possible sub 2:20.

TR: Which races did you use as benchmarks along the way in preparation for Chicago?

AH: The Philadelphia Half-Marathon was the key race and the Comdata 10K was another one. Both races provided benchmarks to my fitness level. I wanted to run 1:07:30 at Philly but I was still happy with the 1:07:53. The Comdata 10K was a little slower than I had anticipated but it provided a good prep because it was more about racing rather than pacing.

TR: What are your goals for 2007?

AH: Spring 2007 is just around the corner and I’m already eyeing the racing schedule. Provided that I stay injury free (I’m still recovering from the marathon with little aches and pains here and there) I’d like to run well at the Calhoun’s 10-miler and focus on setting more PRs on the track for the 5K and 10K. I will probably do one Half-Marathon and conclude the early summer with some Triathlons before a build-up for the trials. I haven’t really set a goal in the trials yet, I just know I’m going to try and bring everything to the table.

TR: How do you fit your training around a 9-5 office job? Do you train primarily before work or after work?

AH: Almost all of my running is done after work with the exception of at least two morning runs a week. I usually keep Fridays light and do my run during lunch.

TR: Who do you train with?

AH: During the marathon training workouts, Stewart Ellington and I did a lot of our core workouts together since we were both training for a qualifier. He is another tough competitor and a joy to train with. I had to go solo on many of my workouts but I held myself accountable by telling Bobby Holcombe and my roommate Daniel Julian about my splits, et cetera. I’m pretty used to doing workouts solo since my schedule is different from most people’s. The KTC is usually training at Tom Black track on Tuesday nights and I like to train at that time because it’s great motivation to have a team out there. Most of my long runs I did with Bobby Holcombe and the people on his coveted e-mail list of runners. Sometimes there can be as many as 15 solid guys going out for a long run. When I was in Chattanooga I ran often with Geno Phillips, and my girlfriend would sometimes help pace me with her bike.

TR: Is your employer, Teton Transportation, aware that you qualified for the Olympic Trials? Are they supportive of your running?

AH: Most of the people around the office are aware of my qualifyer and have been very complimentary including the president of the company. I try to keep it to a minimum because I realize that being a good runner doesn’t necessarily equate to being a valuable worker. I am happy that they hold me to the same standard just as everyone else, I don’t get any special treatment, and it’s just a good lesson in life. I try to be modest in my accomplishments even though underneath I’m screaming with enthusiasm. I offer up the enthusiasm whenever anyone needs it. Most people just try to ruffle my feathers and ask me what I’m running from. I just laugh and tell them I’ll let them know when I figure it out.

TR: Who coaches/advises you?

AH: t’s funny because I take running advice from just about everyone I meet ranging from training workouts to the small things like using body glide. Someone is always giving their perspective and so I’m appreciative, “I take it and run with it so to speak. However, I designated four people as my so called marathon training committee, Bill Kabasenche, Bobby Holcombe, Stewart Ellington and Tere Stoufer, all whom of which are admirable runners. I modeled my race strategy after Bill Kabesenche, (his half marathon split in Chicago 02 was 1:10:30 and he ran 2:21:35). I knew I was on the money when I hit 1:10:35 split. I would pick his brain about running whenever I have the chance, he is one of the smartest runners that I know and he is a good competitor and friend. He has raised the bar for Knoxville road running.

TR: What would you say is your greatest attribute as a distance runner?

AH: My best attribute as a distance runner is self-motivation. I write out my goals and revisit them frequently. I used to be very cautious and secretive about sharing my goals because being, or appearing, conceited is not a trait that I desire. But lately, I have begun to share my goals with people as I see it motivates them too.

TR: And your worst?

AH: If I can say this without sounding clichéd, I’d say curiosity would be probably be my worst attribute. I’m as curious about as many things that would distract me or take me away from running than in things that would keep me in the sport. Traveling being one of them. Fore example, I still have goals to travel throughout Central and South America.