You may
recall sometime last winter I posted about Peter Callahan. Actually put up a
picture of “Burn with Vern” that he and his teammates had drawn on the
whiteboard in their weight room. Peter just graduated from Northshore Country
Day School in Winnetka, Illinois and will attend Princeton University next
year. That is an accomplishment in itself. The real story is that Peter is now
the number four ranked prep miler in the US with a time of 4:05.2 run at the
Midwest Distance Gala this past weekend. That was an 11 second PR – not a
misprint an 11 second PR! This accomplishment is a real testament to the
Athletic Development model that his coach Patrick McHugh used to develop this
young man. He trained as an athlete. In his freshman and sophomore year he
player both soccer and basketball, in his Junior and Senior year he just played
soccer in the fall for his school, did run not cross country. This spring he
ran his first 30 mile week! A testament that to run fast does not require mega
miles, remember that guy named Seb Coe? In the Illinois State meet he ran and won the
Mile, 800 Meters (Division State record) and anchored his schools 4 x 800 team
so he certainly has the stamina to run a series of races. Most of all this kid
competes and follows a race plan.
Patrick instilled in him that the key to running fast is to compete and follow
the race plan. The better the competition the faster he runs. It should be
pointed out that Northshore does not have a track. He runs the 800 meters this weekend at the
Nike Nationals – Good luck Peter!
