Perhaps Cole Benoit's, Pearl River, best known
performance is last spring's double win in the 1600m and 3200m at the
Mississippi State Track and Field Championships. Now a senior, he's one of the
favorites to win Saturday's cross country championships at Choctaw Trails. He's
come a long way since his first race, a 5k charity where even the power walkers
started out ahead of him. We talked this week about how he gets ready for races
and what keeps him busy (besides running and playing goalie for his school's
varsity soccer team), and what younger runners need to do to get to the next
level.
[Editor's
note: This interview was lightly edited and condensed]
What's
your goal for Saturday?
People always ask me what time I want to run
or what place I want to get. Honestly I just want to run my race. If you go
into a race thinking about everyone else running you're not going be focused on
yourself and your race.
For this week I guess I am chasing a time.
Technically, it says I'm leading the state in the 5K, but that time (15:43) was
on a short course so it kind of makes me look like I'm leading the state, but
I'm really not. Brock Kelly, Tupelo Christian is really leading the state with his 16:11, so if I could run faster than that I'd be happy. My best time is a 16:25
so it's not going to be easy but that's something I want to push for. Anything
can happen at state.
What's
your pre-race routine?
I just zone out. I'll go to Pandora and put on
the same instrumental music station I listen to when I study and just put on my
earphones on the bus and won't talk to anyone. I just want to relax, so going
to the race I'm normally just chilling and not trying to get too pumped up.
Once we get to the race, I'll start talking a little to my teammates, do a few
key stretches, but pretty much chill some more until it's time to start warming
up. Then it hits me and I snap out of the zone. When they start calling us to
the line, I'll go by myself, sit down and pray, and from that point on just
focus on the race.
What
got you into running?
I have to say it was my sister who brought me
into running. It was the summer after eighth grade and I'd never run a race
before, but my sister said there was a 5K in Hattiesburg where she lives and
asked if I wanted to run it. We were literally signing up and putting on our
bibs as they were shouting out instructions before the race was about to start.
There were a couple hundred runners and we started way in the back. I remember
that there was even a lady with a stroller ahead of us. Once the race started,
my sister was walking, but I wanted to go. So I just went and started running.
That feeling of running, catching up to people, and passing someone - that
really sparked a fire in me. I don't even remember if I saw my time, but the
next one I ran in I ran 21:21 and from there I just kept going out and doing
more.
What
advice do you have for younger runners?
Running takes time. Don't get frustrated. It's
not a sport that you can just hop into and be good at. When it comes to running
you have to put in that time and work. You're not going to get results by
sitting around at home so summer training is one of the biggest things that
will get you to that next level. If you really want to to get better you have
to be able to put in that time during the off season.
What
would people be surprised to learn about you?
I remember a news reporter came out to our
school and thought it was so crazy that I did my training in a parking lot. I
was the first person in my school to win a state title so it was treated as a
big deal. So the reporter came out after to do a story and sees me running
around my parking lot and jumping over potholes during my training run. It
wasn't a big deal to me, but he couldn't believe it. We don't have a track so
we run in the parking lot, but to me it's no big deal.
What
keeps you busy when you're not running?
I'm really involved in school. I'm the
president of two clubs, the National Honor Society and a math club called Mu
Alpha Data. For that one there's a big math convention at the University of
Southern Mississippi where they put on a math competition. We all take a test
and complete against other clubs. I've been involved in a lot of other clubs
too like the Student Council all throughout high school. I think kids say they
don't like school but they're just not involved enough. If you're going to
school just to go to class then you're not going to like it. I think that's why
I like going so much.
