If one were to ask the question of who was the only Virginia high school runner to win the boys title in a Foot Locker/Kinney Nationals, many would be stumped to come up with the correct answer of 1981 Kinney Nationals champion Charles Alexander of St. Christopher's School in Richmond. In the third ever Kinney Nationals held in Orlando, Alexander would win by four seconds in 14:51 by outkicking Californian Harold Kuphaldt.
MileStat.com's Brandon Miles was able to catch up with the 1981 national champion while out in San Diego this week for the 29th annual event. Yes, it has been 26 years since Virginia had an individual boys champion.
MileStat.com: First off, thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions. It is an honor to interview Virginia’s only boys champion at Kinney/Foot Locker Nationals.
Charles Alexander: No problem, thanks for your interest in a Masters runner.
MileStat.com: When did you first begin running and why?
Alexander: A teacher took a few 6th graders to one of the AAU Jr. Olympic regional XC races in Charlottesville. I started running everyday and on a team in 8th grade. I chose running because I enjoyed the 6th grade experience and because we either had to play football or run XC at my school in the fall.
MileStat.com: How was your progression as runner throughout high school?
Alexander: I progressed steadily. My coach is pretty structured. He uses the Lydiard method and we ran a lot of miles. I ran 9:50/ 2 mi. as a freshman and 8:55 (8:18 3,000m conversion) my senior year.
MileStat.com: How did you first learn about the Kinney/Foot Locker series?
Alexander: My coach, Mr. Nystrom, saw an ad in a magazine I think or perhaps an application was mailed to him.
MileStat.com: What were your expectations of the event going in?
Alexander: I ran the AAU Jr. Olympic regional race (as I did every year) as a back up plan because I didn't know how good I was on a national scale; although, I won the Georgetown Prep, UVA and W&M Invites that year. The Kinney Meet was a real unknown. I ran in Jr. Olympic Nationals in Cheyenne, Kansas City and New Jersey my other 3 years of HS on a team Granger Ancarrow, the Monacan coach, organized.
MileStat.com: What did it feel like to be called a national champion?
Alexander: Well on one hand it was unexpected. My coach always played everything very conservatively. On the other hand, when I thought about the training I put in I always went to the line confident that no one done as much work as I had. I still look back on that title and experience with pride. No matter how slow I've gotten since I can always say I was a Kinney Champ.
MileStat.com: What kind of mileage did you do going into the season?
Alexander: I ran 3 90 miles weeks at the end of the summer and ran 70-80 during the season. I ran once a day (no double workouts).
MileStat.com: What was a typical week of workouts and running for you?
Alexander: Lydiard hill work outs on a golf course were the meat of the training with another day of fartlek and a Sunday long run of up to 14 miles.
MileStat.com: What was your race strategy?
Alexander: I made sure to go out with the leaders and not get gapped. Then my coach and I had usually picked a place for me to make my move, usually a downhill if there was one (I remember the Georgetown Prep hill vividly). Then I just held on. I didn't rely on my sprint...I didn't have one.
MileStat.com: Go back and recall your race down in Orlando from start to finish.
Alexander: My dad took a video (Hank Lawson put it on the web somewhere, I'll try and find it and send a link). We did 2 loops in a sand and grass field next to the Hyatt Hotel where we stayed. The race was simply a race of attrition. I think there were about 10 of us left after one lap. Then with about 800m to go it was just Harold K. and I. We ran by the start/finish and continued about 100m then did a wide "U" turn and ran 100m back. I was even with Harold going into the "U" turn then somehow went to my previously non-existent sprint and got 4 seconds on him by the finish. I cannot remember that last 100m...I think it was partially unconscious.
MileStat.com: There were two other Richmond runners who qualified for Kinney. Did it make the trip easier having two local runners with you at nationals?
Alexander: It sure did because you are down there with a bunch of people you don't know and it's a little tense because you have the race hanging over your head. Having Huron Jackson and (forgot the girl's name) there offered someone familiar to hang out with.
MileStat.com: What did you most gain out of the Kinney Nationals experience?
Alexander: Well I gained a lot of visibility to college coaches. Vin Lanana flew back on the same plane and visited me at my house the next night. I also got invites to all the big meets. Personally it sure gives you a lot of confidence that the training is right and for the rest of the year.
MileStat.com: How was the trip outside of the actual race?
Alexander: They sent us all to Disney World the day before. I was worried about spending all day walking around on my feet, but did it anyway...didn't seem to hurt. Then we had a pre-race dinner there and the Disney characters were they (we didn't have famous runners there like they do now). After dinner we watched a film of the 1980 race. Boy did that make me nervous considering what we faced the next day.
MileStat.com: Where did your running career take you after the Kinney victory?
Alexander: I had a great senior indoor and outdoor season traveling some more...to Idaho for the XC Jr. trials and to CA for the Golden West, Chicago for the IPI meet and Indiana for the Jr. Nationals. I then went on to Stanford where many Footlocker champions have gone. I had a great time there personally but the progress slowed as I had a hard time reconciling the type of training I'd done in HS with that of my new coach. I still live about 10 miles from Stanford. I made it to the Olympic Marathon Trails in 1992. I still run 5 days and week and race occasionally.
MileStat.com: What were your best track times?
Alexander: In college....3:50 1500m, 8:08 3000m, 13:59 5,000m, 29:35 10,000m and after college 2:18:45 marathon.
MileStat.com: Who was your coach at the time? How much of an impact did he have on your running?
Alexander: Bruce Nystrom was my coach and still coaches at St. Christopher's, as you may know. Well, of course, he was mostly responsible for my results in high school. I was pretty driven and willing to work. He was very conservative in that he sided on more miles and more work to prepare for the competition. So we blended very well. He's also had a lot to do with who I am as a person in my work ethic and in striving relentlessly for goals.
MileStat.com: How did your season go leading up to Kinney? Talk about some of your best races leading up to then? Invitational wins? Private school state meet? The Kinney regional in Charlotte?
Alexander: I was 16-0 going into Kinney. I won most dual meets, league meets and the private school state meet by 1 1/2 minutes, which I think saved me a bit for post season stuff like Kinney. I'd make the race the middle of a 10 mile day. We did go to Georgetown Prep, UVA, W&M, and the big state invites at the time. I won all 3 (at W&M we ran the small school division, but I had the fastest time of the day). The Kinney regional meet was in Atlanta, I think. I got a ride from a coach in another part of VA who was driving his athlete down. He had a small Pinto, I think, and one of us had to squeeze into the hatch back space. It was pretty cramped. I just went in with my normal confidence staying in the lead pack and somewhere in the middle felt like I had more than everyone else and did my usual break.
I ran one more XC race that Winter, the Jr. (19 and under) trials in Pocatello, ID. I finished 7th and got beaten by one HS kid from WA state. He hadn't been at Kinney. I met Salazar, Porter, Lindsey and others who were there for the Sr. race....pretty cool.
MileStat.com: How did the course in Orlando compare to some of the courses that you ran in? Did the harder courses prepare you for a flat course?
Alexander: My home course, Roslyn, is so hilly that the rule of thumb was that it is 1 min. slower that flat courses. So I think running that course and others like Fork Union, Georgetown and UVA helped add strength in general and made a flat course seem easy.