Casey Comber of Hatboro Horsham stormed through the 2014 season with five straight wins to follow up a strong 2013 campaign. His postseason featured head to head battles with Jake Brophy of Central Bucks East. Despite coming up a little bit short, Comber ran a big personal best, had his best district and state meet finishes of his career, and will be joining his league rival Brophy in San Diego after finishing 4th (ahead of Brophy) at Foot Locker Northeast. Comber reflected on the experience with PennTrack!
How
was your training following the state meet?
I spent the next week just building mileage back up and
then started adding back in my tempos and intervals as the race approached.
Did you alter your preparations for
this year’s Foot Locker regional meet compared to years past?
I have not run the meet before.
What were your thoughts on the course? Is
it a course you are a fan of?
I was a huge fan of the course. The back loop was definitely my
favorite. It’s only you and your
competition back there, no distractions.
What was the strategy heading into the
race? What did you need to do in order to be successful?
Patience was the key to my race at regionals. I anticipated a fast start so I knew that as
long as I stayed in a reasonable position during the first mile I would be able
to move into the position that I needed to be in by the final stretch.
Was this the best race you have run all
season? Why did it go so well?
Most of my races in the early season were not ultra
competitive up front but in regards to championship races down the stretch I
think this was my best performance. I
didn’t put to much pressure on myself and ran a patient and smart race to be
successful.
What does it mean to qualify for the
Foot Locker finals for the first time?
It’s an awesome feeling to be going to San Diego. I just can’t wait for the whole experience
that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
Did your race schedule and the quality
of competition in those meets allow you to be at your best at Foot Locker Northeast?
The Pennsylvania race schedule makes it difficult to
peak your performance at Foot Locker but I think I handled the long break very
well and executed against some great competition.
What are you most looking forward to
about the trip to San Diego?
I think that hanging out with some of the best runners
in the country will be the coolest part.
With this being your first time going,
what have you heard about the meet from others that have competed at the Foot
Locker Finals?
Yes, actually my coach, Russell Coleman, competed in the
meet when he was in high school. He told
me about his experience and it got me even more excited.
What is your goal for the Foot Locker
Finals?
I need to go out and compete just like I did at Regionals. As long as I’m competing, I’ll do alright.
