Novato's Erik Olson and his spectacular first race of the season

Update on Erik Olson. In yesterday's tri. league meet he ran a 4:21.2 (1600m.) and 1:57.5 (800m.)

Erik zooms by one amazed coach on his way to super early season mark in the 3000m. of 8:36.7.

Another shot of Erik during his race (reported 1st lap of 61sec. and last lap of 69sec.)

1) In reflection of your past cross country season, what was your best race(s) and accomplishments?

Best race would have to be the state meet in which i finished fourth with a personal best of 15:17 for the 5K. That would have to rank up their in best accomplishments, but also tying for first in MCAL regular season with a 8-1 record was also a great accomplishment that incorporated the entire team.

2) Following cross country, describe your training and what you did differently than previous seasons?
Well, last winter off-season I had suffered a broken clavicle two weeks before Christmas and was out for six weeks. I truly contribute those extra six weeks in training plus having a goal at the end of the winter to my success so far and hopefully my success in the future *knock on wood*.

3) You ran a half marathon race during the winter. Tell us a bit about the race and what led you to running a half marathon.
First off, I pretty surprised by the number of people that know about this race. Two of my teammates (Kiko Rodriguez and Marc Klunk) and I decided that it would be a fun goal to have and to work up to by the end of the winter. Then throughout the winter we just ran long runs at a comfortable pace that seemed to continue to get quicker as we progressed throughout the offseason. Then when the race came our mile paces truly surprised us all and gave us a little confidence going into this track season. Both Marc and Kiko averaged under 6:30 pace for the entire 13.1 mile race, which is crazy considering that two years ago they were averaging 6:00 pace for just 3 miles. While I was really excited about my race, both Marc and Kiko's times astounded me and made me believe that these two guys are going to be known about by the end of the season.

4) What are you most looking forward to this season in terms of meets?
State meet is my major priority. Having gotten 6th last year at MOC, I am really excited to try to compete for a state meet berth in such a competitive NCS race. I am also looking forward to the TWILIGHT RELAYS, Stanford Invite, and Sacramento MOC.

5) Did you have any time goals or race plan this weekend going into your 3000m. race?
I thought that physically I was capable of running an 8:40-8:45, which is close to my converted 3200 p.r. I was extremely happy with my time and was astonished to have ran such a time.

6) Have you run the 3000m. before and if you have what was your PR? PR for 3200m.?
This was my first 3000 and I have to say that I like them. My current P.R. for the 3200 is 9:25 and my current P.R. for the 3000 is 8:36.

6) What is your next race and what will you be running?
My next invitational/ Saturday race will be the Twilight Relays and I will be running the DMR with my team. I am very excited for this race due to the fact that all the guys on the DMR team have improved so much from last year. Therefore, I am expecting a major time drop and possibly some p.r.s for team members. I am also excited to be running in a race against the famed Petaluma DMR and knowing that Shannon Rowbury and Michael Johnson are going to be there is another plus.

Thank you very much Erik!