Interview with Christin Wurth-Thomas

By Kevin Beck

Since graduating from the University of Arkansas in 2003, Christin Wurth-Thomas has epitomized steady and consistent progress. The 27-year-old, who went to three Foot Locker National Cross-Country championships as a high-schooler in Bloomington, IN, has been among the top middle-distance runners in the U.S. for four-plus years and is now on the verge of joining the ranks of the truly world class.

Wurth-Thomas was second in the 1500 meters to Treniere Clement in last year's USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships, qualifying her for the IAAF World Track & Field Chapionships in Osaka. She didn't know it at the time, but Wurth-Thomas brought a case of mononucleosis with her to Japan and did not advance out of her opening-round heat.

However, Wurth-Thomas did not merely return to form in 2008, but found a new one altogether. She has set six personal bests at four distances this year, twice breaking her indoor 1500-meter PR (4:14.21 to win the USATF Indoor Track & Field Championships in February; 4:10.56 at the IAAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championships in Valencia, Spain, where she missed qualifying for the final by less than half a second), lowering her outdoor 1500-meter best (4:04.94 for second at the adidas Track and Field Classic on May 18), winning the mile at the Tyson Indoor Invitational on February 15 in 4:27.18 (a lifetime best by almost five seconds), notching an 8:54.97 3000 meters for fourth place at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on January 26, and cruising to a 15:28.04 5000 meters for fifth place at the Mount SAC Relays on April 18. [Editor’s Update: On June 8, Wurth-Thomas achieved a seventh personal best of this year, with a 4:04.88 for third in the 1500 meters at the Nike Prefontaine Classic.]

Wurth-Thomas’s 4:04.88 qualifies her as the second-fastest female 1500-meter competitor (behind Shannon Rowbury) going in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field. New York Road Runners caught up with Wurth-Thomas less than a week before the Nike Prefontaine Classic. She discusses the contributors to her success as a professional runner and her future goals.

New York Road Runners: The field for the women's 1500 at the Prefontaine meet this Sunday has been called the most loaded ever on U.S. soil. However, you've got what is unquestionably the meet of the season three weeks later. With Pre being three weeks before the Trials start, how important is it for you to throw down a great race there?

Christin Wurth-Thomas: I'm just really, really excited because Prefontaine gives me the opportunity to test the waters. This year I can compete however I like because I have the [4:05.80 Olympic “A”] standard. Ultimately, it's a dress rehearsal. The Olympic Trials, and the Olympics, are “the” goal. With the proven international competition at Prefontaine, it's going to be lot of fun.

NYRR: You've run fast in everything you've tried in 2008. When you do longer events like the 3000 and the 5000, is the main idea to generate a different training stimulus, to shake things up mentally, or to chase other PRs for their own sake?

CWT: They are for fun too. My coach is a strength-side coach and my workouts are strength-oriented. We go out there to see what it's like to race people in those events and just to see what I can do.

NYRR: Are you still with your college coach, Lance Harter?

CWT: Yes. I trust him, I believe in him, and I really think he's one of the best coaches in the country. He cares for us as both athletes and as individuals.

NYRR: How much time off did you take once you were finally diagnosed with mono last fall?

CWT: I took three weeks off completely. After that I started running 20 minutes easy every other day just to get a little fit, or not lose any more fitness, and then I started a gradual buildup. I'm used to taking two weeks off at the end of the track season and then ramping up quickly.

NYRR: Although an illness is not the ideal means of putting the "rest" in a rest/recovery cycle, do you think heading into the winter after a genuine break has made the difference in how strongly you've performed all year?

CWT: Yes. I always try to take at least a short break, but this year my body needed more recovery so I took it. I do think this is actually a key to why I am running well, and again, it goes back to coaching – I've been at this consistently [with Harter] for 9½ years now and think staying with the same coach has made all the difference.

NYRR: You were a very successful cross country runner in both high school and college, but have largely forsaken the discipline. Is this part of your strong focus on reaching the Olympic Games?

CWT: I think that the elimination of the 4K distance discourages a lot of the milers from even trying. I'm not saying we couldn't or shouldn't run 8K, but we kind of have to look at cross with an eye on what we're doing the rest of the year.

NYRR: At the adidas race, where you placed second, Shannon Rowbury won by more than three seconds, and she gained almost all of her advantage in the middle of the race. Does this affect how you might approach a rematch?

CWT: It was a weird race all in all. Before race they said we'd have splits of 64 and 2:10. I guess I was kind of shocked by an even faster early pace, and it was my first competitive 1500 of the [outdoor] season. I just didn't respond. But in a race, you have to be ready for anything. I wasn't ready for all circumstances, and the competitive nature in me didn't come out in middle of the race.

NYRR: Once you reach a certain level—for Americans, pretty much anything under 4:10 in the 1500— it's easy to become complacent in terms of who your competition is and what they are likely to be capable of. Has the very sudden emergence of Shannon Rowbury been a big surprise?

CWT: I wasn't really surprised. I think several people are capable of it. I don't think any one person is too far in front. On any given day someone is going to pop a good time.

NYRR: Everyone has an ultimate goal in her event of choice. Quick, what's yours?

CWT: I'd like to go under 4:00 in the 1500. It's a big, “golden” number to hit. But my main focus is to keep improving on my PRs for as long as I can.

Interview conducted June 3, 2008, and posted on June 12, 2008.