The Final Stretch — The Morton Games
This week Matthew Sonnenfeldt and his charge of Flynn Sports athletes are in Ireland for the Morton Games
The trials have faded into the bleachers of Hayward Field and the first half of the European Season is over. I am now back on a plane from Portland — where my journey began. Since I last wrote, I’ve been to Dublin, Boston, Portland, and Eugene. I’ve seen PR’s set, seasons called, and bags almost lost forever.
Dublin Ireland
Via Milan, we arrive in Dublin around 11:45pm on Friday the 18th and go through customs before taking a cab to the hotel. The athletes are tired. All raced less than 24 hours ago and want to go to bed, as do I. This will be the 22nd edition of the Morton Games and it’s one of my favorite races on the circuit, the main reason being the convenience. The Holiday Inn Express we stay at is three miles from the airport and a quarter mile walk through Santry Park to the 100m start of Morton Stadium where the meet is held. Athletes can go for easy runs and warm ups through the park and hit the track right next door to do any workouts or strides. Santry Park was actually used for the European Cross Country Championships in 2009 and is regularly used for Irish cross-country championship races. It doesn’t get more convenient than at the Morton Games and this is the main reason we choose to come up early between Padova and the Morton Games instead of staying in Italy for a few more days. Part of my job is coordinating this — it’s not a big or difficult job, but it’s essential to make the trip go smoothly for the athletes.
The Workout
Five days is the longest race-free period our athletes experienced on this trip and many take advantage of seeing Ireland leading up to the race. But before they could escape, most undertake a big workout the day after arriving. It’s the first time all trip they’ve actually gotten after it outside of a race. Many will continue racing after Europe, and there are a slew of races including the TrackTown Summer Series, Sir Walter Miler, Falmouth Mile, Hoka Long Island Mile, 5th Ave Mile, Liberty Bell Mile, and many more. Its important to stay sharp, but for the athletes still planning on competing, work must be done to be able to make it to mid September in good shape. While most were gaining fitness with ease and confidence, your humble narrator was suffering from lack of fitness and a lack of fortitude, after having decided to hop in NJNY’s interval session on this particular day. I’ll highlight this workout since I was in it and was able to see how easy all three made it look. I’ve also attached a couple other workouts from that day. Details below
Colby Alexander (Hoka One One), Kyle Merber, (Hoka One One), Johnny Gregorek (Asics)
3x1000m (2:52, 2:51, 2:50) — held on for dear life
2x400m (57, 56) — dropped very hard
2x200 (26, 25) — dropped even harder
Eric Avila Workout
4 mile tempo around Santry park in 20mins
6x400m (63, 63, 61, 61, 59, 59–1min rest)
Heather Kampf Workout
800 (2:40 — warmup), 400 (70), 6x200 all around 30–32
Unfortunately on this day, I was the only one that was shedding any tears. More unfortunately, because of this, I had to skip out going to downtown Dublin to explore Trinity College and Dublin Castle with most of the crew. I’m pretty sure this was the athletes’ way of getting rid of me, or at least that’s my theory. I would have to rest and wait until my body didn’t hate me anymore before heading into the city with Eric Avila, Cristian Soratos , and Stephanie Schappert. Though we missed the long tour the day before, we did see an intense street performance the next day filled with knives, a 10-foot unicycle, and fire.
Two days before the meet we met with the Conliffe Harriers Athletic Club, one of the oldest athletic clubs in Ireland, having been founded in 1886. Noel Guiden, the elite athlete coordinator, is also the Treasurer of the club and does so much to help our crew and make us feel welcome. Its good to be able to give back and have the athletes chat to the younger athletes in the club in an informal way. It’s the days leading up to races in Europe that I really enjoy; though there’s work to be done and logistics to be planned all the way to September, it’s hanging out and suffering through workouts with the athletes, that I will remember. The athletes are looking for an experience, but they aren’t the only ones.
The Race
Morton Stadium was built in 1958, and not long after, Herb Elliot broke the world record. My boss and FSM CEO/Founder, Ray Flynn, ran here many times, and it’s a very fun environment to be in when all the past Irish greats come out to watch. I even got a picture of Ray Flynn with Ireland’s last gold medalist, Ron Delany. Hearing Ray call him the greatest Irish miler of all-time is a true testament to who he is and what he means for Irish Athletics — especially from the Irish Mile record holder.
This day, in particular, was a perfect night — so, very uncharacteristic for Ireland. If you’ve ever been to Ireland, you know you’re getting lucky if its not windy and rainy, or one of the two. With minimal wind and clear skies, it was set up to be a good night for our crew. And it was. Heather Kampf was 2nd in the Women’s Mile almost besting her 4:27.26 PR in the process. Stephanie Schappert got a huge six second PR running 4:30.07. The meet was highlighted by our NJNY milers — who went 1, 2, 3, in one of the most exciting races I’ve seen since going to Europe with Flynn Sports 3 years ago. The whole field was in the race with 200m to go and ended in an all out sprint to the line between our guys Kyle Merber, Colby Alexander, and Johnny Gregorek. Kyle made the first move, which was immediately responded by the field with Johnny Gregorek slowly making his move on the outside. With 50m to go, it was anyone’s race. Nearly all my photos from the race are blurry because I couldn’t decide if I wanted to watch or take pictures. In the end, Johnny edged out Kyle for his first professional win.
Knowing the athletes and having traveled around the world with them the past couple weeks, finishes like this become even more exciting. You’re on the same team, and you want to see everyone succeed and reach his or her potential. You’ve been on the road and in the air talking about their goals and what races they want to do. So when you see a good race and they set some PR, its very gratifying. The athletes, coaches, and families do the majority of the work, and I’m glad I can play a small role in setting up an opportunity and getting the athletes there safely.
After the race, everyone is invited to the post race party at the pub; which is above the clubhouse that over looks the track — convenience once again. Many will go to the bar and have refreshments or a bite to eat and watch the meet. Nestled on the second turn two floors above, the bar has one of the best views of the track — decked out in Irish running history. It has truly positive vibes with really good people. In true Irish fashion, everyone is invited to a Guinness as meet organizers, athletes, agents, and fans alike mingle as one while watching the replay of the meet on the big screen.
Other Results
800m
Men
Shaquille Walker (Brooks) 3rd 1:46.79
Mike Rutt (Hoka One One) 1:48.33
Women
Claudia Saunders 2:03.56
Mile
Men
Johnny Gregorek (Asics) 1st 3:55.57 PR
Kyle Merber (Hoka One One) 2nd 3:55.79
Colby Alexander (Hoka One One) 3rd 3:55.93 PR
Women
Heather Kampf (Ascis) 2nd 4:27.33
Stephanie Schappert (Hoka One One) 4th 4:30.07 PR
Aisling Cuff 4:35.23 PR
3,000m
Men
Eric Avila (Hoka One One) 4th 7:59.16
Cristian Soratos (Adidas) 8:17.64
I’m above Idaho waiting to land in Minneapolis-St. Paul on my way to Bean Town. The morning after the Morton Games, I took a flight to Portland with my destination set for Eugene, OR for the first ever SummerSeries track meet. I spent five days in Portland with Ryan Hill and his girlfriend, Emily, before heading to the meet with them the day before on the 28th. It was good to have a couple of stints in places longer than two days, but it was especially good to be back in the States with old friends. Europe can be a grind mentally and physically, so it was good to decompress in one place before heading over to Eugene. The SummerSeries was a success for our athletes and provided a great opportunity to race in the states. I will go into this and my reflection of Europe and whether or not it’s worth the cost in the next post, but for now, I’m excited to get back to my fiancée in Boston. Up next: Beach to Beacon to end my summer racing duties.
