FARMVILLE, Va. - Longwood University junior men’s cross country team member Russell Reed/Onemo is this week’s Longwood Male Athlete of the Week. He ran a new school-record 5K time of 15:55 to finish third among 70 runners at the Coastal Carolina Invitational on September 13 to lead the Lancers to a second-place finish in their first race of the season in Conway, South Carolina. Reed’s effort surpassed the previous program record of 16:05 set during 2006 by D.J. Palmer. Longwood will race again on Sept. 21 at the Big South Preview hosted by VMI in Buena Vista.
Question and Answer Session with Russell Reed and Ashley Robbins
AR: Talk about setting a new school record at Coastal Carolina.
RR: The record I just set was the 5K record. It was previously set by D.J. Palmer in 2006 and I broke it this week at Coastal. It was a long, thought-out experience that’s been a long time coming. I missed it last year by a good bit – I got maybe third or fourth on the board – and then I ran a faster time in the spring ‘track’ season, but since we don’t technically have a track team, it didn’t count until I could do it this year. We only get one shot at the 5K at the beginning of each year. The rest of the season we run only 8K and 10K, so I knew I had to get it done on that day.
AR: Going into that race, did you think you could break the record?
RR: It was definitely a challenge because it’s a little over three miles and you don’t know the terrain until you get there. We didn’t have a day before the race to rest because we had to drive down the day of the meet, so we had six hours in a van before the race. I was fairly sure that I could beat the record, but beating the record and staying ahead of everyone else on the team was a challenge at the same time.
AR: Was it difficult to perform so highly in the first meet of the season?
RR: Yes, because you’re not by any means at your prime at the beginning of the season. Since we train for 8K and 10K, it’s all about long distance mileage building, and no fast workouts that give you speed for a 5K either.
AR: Did you train any differently this offseason compared to previous summers?
RR: Yes, this summer was the first summer that I’ve been able to train consistently with the program that they give us because my freshman year I came into Longwood after having just had hip surgery two weeks before I got here. I redshirted all freshman year because I was in rehab and then last year I was still coming out of rehab and having some issues with that, so this is my sophomore year running, and my junior year of school, and the first year I’ve been able to fully train.
AR: Talk about being able to work back from an injury like that and put your name on a school record.
RR: It was a long road to come from something that just mysteriously happened one day. Finding out that you may never walk or run correctly again and then finally after all the hard work, it’s a good feeling to have something back that you thought you would never get to do again.
AR: Who would you consider to be your role model?
RR: Billy Mills, the only American to win the 10K Olympic gold.
AR: What are you studying and what to do hope to pursue after graduation?
RR: I’m majoring in anthropology with minors in outdoor education, criminal justice and environmental studies. I want to be a game warden here in Virginia. I’ve always wanted to work outdoors. I couldn’t imagine myself having an office. I guess when you think about having a job, money shouldn’t necessarily need to be the driving force. I thought about doing something I’m passionate about. Coming from a rural place, there are a lot of things done in regards to hunting and animals that are cruel, and having the ability to stop that and look out for nature is why I want to be a game warden.
AR: What is one piece of advice you would give to young athletes hoping to compete at the Division I level someday?
RR: I would definitely say it has to be something that consumes you. It can’t be a simple passion or a hobby. If you really want to compete at the Division I level in any capacity, it has to be something that’s on your mind constantly. It has to be something you never stop working towards or never stop thinking about, sort of an obsession.
AR: What is one of the best pieces of advice you’ve gotten in your career?
RR: Nobody is going to do it for you. At the end of the day, whatever it is that you’re going after, whether it’s a high GPA or landing a job, you have to get over the idea you have as a kid that people are looking out for you. At the end of the day, it’s all about what you yourself put into it and what you get done. You have to do it yourself.
AR: What is your favorite movie?
RR: The Hunted
AR: Do you have any pre-race rituals or superstitions?
RR: I might have a few. I definitely always listen to music without fail. Sometimes I get strange looks because I pray at the starting line. I just say a little pray because even though it’s not a super high likelihood, things occasionally go wrong when you’re pushing your body so hard.
