Sam Luff was thrilled to be home. Sure, it had a lot to do with being around friends, sleeping in his own bed, and competing at tracks that were within driving distance of Emmaus. But actually,it had more to do with the air. He could breathe while running.
Luff at the start, on the inside rail.
Luff was home from the altitude of Salt Lake City Utah, where on April 22nd, he had raced in a very exclusive field in the first Gerry Lindgren Invitational against some of the best two-milers in the country. He ran his slowest time in years. And so did most of the runners.
"The altitude killed me. I felt good for the first two laps, but then I couldn't breathe. It was like a vise on my chest." Luff was joined in his misery by two other eastern elites, Guor Majak and Cory Thorne, both of New Hampshire.
But he doesn't regret the decision to race. "It was an opportunity that was too amazing to turn down. I got to meet Gerry Lindgren and Jeff Nelson." (The high school two-mile record holders).
Weiss and Luff push the pace nearing the mile.
Fast forward exactly a week, and Luff finds himself at another pretty great opportunity – the Penn Relays boys' 3000 meters. Luff had never been to Franklin Field or the Penn Relays, and was amazed at the experience. "It was unbelievable. You looked around, and you can't believe that all these people care about track. You can't help but get excited."
Luff didn't let the moment get ahead of him… nor the fact that he wanted to make up for what he considered a sub-Luff performance in Utah. "I had to run the best race of my life because of what happened. I knew I was not in 10-minute shape and had to prove it was a fluke."
The Penn 3000 started as a pretty tight pack. That is the kind of race that favors the kickers, who are just content to sit and wait for the final 600 to show off a little speed. Luff got stuck on the inside, and even got spiked early in the race, and "almost ate the track a lap or two into it."
He made a decision to get out a couple of lanes and push the pace. "I took the lead on lap four because the pace was slowing down, and I didn't want it to slow down."
He only led for 300 meters, but it was mission accomplished. The rest of the field started to race. Fellow Pennsylvanian Jeff Weiss (McGuffey – State AA XC Champ and Foot Locker Finalist) and eventual winner Bobby Papazian of New Jersey picked up the pace and Luff settled in behind them.
Weiss and Luff working together in 4th and 5th with about 500m to go.
Those two would open up the pack and the race, until Papazian started to pull away over the final two laps. Luff kept his head in the race, and passed Weiss and moved into 2nd, finishing in 8:33.45, under five seconds off first. Weiss finished 5th in 8:35.89.
"All the PA guys ran well. I was amazed how long the pack stayed together. But, I'm happy with my race."
The time converts to about a 9:10 3200 meters, and actually puts Luff ahead of his conditioning last year when, at States, he ran 9:10.14 to finish 2nd to North Hills' Ian Fitzgerald. In that race, he finished ahead of Weiss, who was 3rd.
But he won't get the opportunity to race Weiss at States this year, because McGuffey is nine boys short of AAA, and has dropped to AA.
But that won't stop Luff from chasing his goals. He'll forgo the 1600 at States and concentrate on the 3200. He would love to get the state meet (and all-time PA best) of 8:58.90 set by Upper Perkiomen's Mike Connelly in 1983. Weiss is also chasing that mark.
But more important to Luff is the state title. "I was 2nd to Craig (Miller, in XC), and to Ian (Fitzgerald, 2004). So the title is the goal. I'm in shape to do it. That's what all the training is geared for. I'm tired of finished 2nd."
Luff and Geary Gubbins, Southampton (NY) around the final turn.