By Nicholas Slepnikoff
In 3000 meters, approximately 1.86 miles, a lot can happen. You can travel to Taco Bell and back, chow down on delectable calzones from Nicola's or check out the train tracks. But can you get to and from those places in eight minutes and four seconds?
Trevor Dunbar, a freshman from Kodiak, Alaska, can and did. Running on Jan. 16 at the UW Preview, Dunbar posted the fastest 3000 time in the country by a college student, running the distance in eight minutes and 4.96 seconds.
This record, set by Festus Kigen of Texas Christian University on the same day, is five seconds behind Dunbar at eight minutes and 9.92 seconds.
"It was a long time without running a race. My last track race was during the summer," Dunbar said. "I was really excited to go run the race."
Staying fit during the Christmas season, Dunbar returned and continued to train.
"Our team did well this cross country season, and I was in shape to run the race," Dunbar said.
Crediting both the cross country season and continued training during the winter, Dunbar thinks his times are representative of the training program. His coaches agree.
"The nice thing about that time is that it was coming off of Christmas vacation," Coach Robert Conner said. "Trevor worked hard for the four weeks he was home.
However, Dunbar has elected to redshirt the indoor track season this year. Dunbar will, instead, be preparing for the US Cross Country Nationals in February. The top six finishers here will be able run in Poland for the US in the World Cross Country Championships.
Dunbar would have also claimed the school record had he run for the UP team. Running unattached, the 0.07 of a second improvement will not count towards beating the record set by Ryan Craig in 2003 (8 minutes and 5.61 seconds). However, his individual record breaking performance bodes well for the team.
At the UW Preview in January and the recent UW Invitational, a number of athletes have also been able to improve their times by five to 10 seconds, according to Conner. Although Dunbar's accomplishment is amazing in itself, men's track and field team is starting off well, according to Conner.
"One of the early bright spots is Lars Erick Malde," Conner said. "He just came out and ran 8:11 last weekend."
Malde, a freshman from Hafrsfjord, Norway, joined the men's cross country team last season.
According to Conner, he has a lot of potential this year. Running in the front for the January 29- 30 UW Invitational, the team's second competition, Malde, according to Conner, should be able to chip off more from his 3000 time.
Both Dunbar and Malde, who train together, according to Conner, have been running over 80 miles a week. This is the equivalent of three marathons a week, in preparation for the season.
With plenty of the season left, the Pilots will compete in the Pilot Indoor at the Chiles Center on Feb. 5.
