Mareno, Davidson and Yearian rack up miles

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The convergence of three big shoe-company sponsored meets on the same weekend of the track calendar caused many coaches and athletes to make a choice.

For Jack Yearian, Libby Davidson and Nevada Mareno the opportunities were so enticing that they competed at two of the three events – and wrestled with a busy travel schedule, fatigue and their ambitions to run fast in two places.

For Yearian, of Bellarmine Prep WA, and Davidson, of E.C. Glass VA, that meant back-to-back cross country flights. For Mareno, it meant three high quality races in three days.

All of them said, in the end, that the effort was worth it.

“It was worth it,” Davidson said. “I’m glad I did it. It was a little hectic, but it was fun.”

Here is a closer look at how all three of them navigated the weekend of New Balance Nationals Outdoor, Brooks PR Invite and the adidas Boost Boston Games.

Nevada Mareno, Leesville Road NC – 1,500 at adidas Boost Boston Games (4:18.48); 2-mile a New Balance Nationals Outdoor (10:00.44); Mile at New Balance Nationals Outdoor (4:43.39) = 3 new PRs

Mareno remained in the Eastern time zone but made an ambitious choice to run in the Dream 1,500 at Boston before taking on Weini Kelati in the 2-mile the next day at NBNO in Greensboro and then following that up with the mile on Sunday.

Mareno said the plan to go through with the big weekend plan seemed like it was disintegrating in recent weeks when workouts didn’t go very well.

But she felt that the need for higher competition and traveling was worthwhile and good preparation for life at the college level after she graduates next year.

Mareno flew into Boston Thursday (June 16) in the afternoon and had all of Friday to rest before the evening race. The athletes went to a barbecue after the meet and she went back to her hotel at 10:30 p.m. She was on an early morning flight to North Carolina Saturday morning. She went home and then slept in the car on the 70-minute drive to Greensboro. She raced at 6:20 p.m. Saturday

“I slept four hours last night,” Mareno said after her big effort in the two mile, where she was beaten by Kelati by just .06 seconds.

The next day she was back in Greensboro and placed third in the mile in 4:43.39.

Libby Davidson, E.C. Glass VA – 2-mile at Brooks PR Invite (10:22.60); DMR at New Balance Nationals Outdoor (11:54.39/4:54.4 1600 split)

Davidson wanted to try and make two things happen: Accept the invitation to Seattle to run a 2-mile and also run with her team.

“When I got the invite to Brooks PR I didn’t want to turn it down,” Davidson said. “A lot of my friends were doing it. I didn’t want to miss (NBNO), but that one seemed like a good opportunity.”

So she and her family made plans to make it work. They drove down from Virginia to Greensboro on Wednesday afternoon to drop off a car and sleep in a hotel before flying to Seattle early on Thursday. After enjoying Friday’s festivities at Brooks and the race on Saturday, Davidson’s parents picked her up from a post-race dinner and whisked her to Sea-Tac for an 11:40 p.m. red-eye flight back East.

Davidson said she slept almost the entire way.

“We got in this morning about 9:30 or 10ish,” Davidson explained. “I came to watch my teammate run the 800 and then we had lunch and a I took an hour and a 45-minute nap.”

Davidson and her teammates – including two graduating seniors, Kamryn De Carmo and Holly Carrington – placed sixth in the championship of the Distance Medley Relay.

“I didn’t want to let my team down,” Davidson said. “If I couldn’t do the DMR, I wouldn’t have gone to Brooks.”

Jack Yearian, Bellarmine Prep WA – Mile at adidas Boost Boston Dream Mile (4:20.70); Mile at Brooks PR Invitational (4:15.17)

The Washington state champ in the 1,600 and 3,200 was invited to prestigious miles on both coasts one day apart, but an even bigger dilemma cropped up when developed a sore Achilles’ tendon.

Fortunately, one of the races was close to home. But it was still a challenge logistically.

“My goal since sophomore year was to run at the Dream Mile and I hadn’t gotten invited my sophomore or junior years,” Yearian said. “I already had an invite from Brooks when I heard from Dream. I figured, I have to fly back to Sea-Tac anyway, (so) I might as well get in one more race.”

Yearian said if he had heard from the Dream Mile first, he might not have said yes to Brooks.

“I didn’t know while I was making those decisions that the Achilles thing would happen,” Yearian said. “But I thought it would be good experience. In college I’ll have to get used to running rounds and it’s good to have to learn about traveling. I figure this is an extreme (experience) that I’ll get out of the way and it can’t get worse.”

Yearian flew East on Thurday and got to Boston about 7:30 p.m.

“I got to bed late and never really adjusted to the time change,” he said.

Yearian ran strong for about half of the mile and then faded toward the back of the pack.

“I was not in bad position but my body was completely fatigued,” Yearian said. “I hadn’t run all week and my Achilles was angry with me from Monday until Thursday.”

After the barbecue, Yearian went to the hotel and got a few hours of sleep. He was up at 4 a.m. to make a 7 a.m. flight back to Sea-Tac. He arrived at the airport at 11:30 a.m. Pacific and raced in Renton four hours later.

Yearian stopped by the home of a friend to take a shower and get dressed. His mother had driven to Seattle to pick up his Brooks racing gear.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to race based on how my Achilles was feeling,” he said.

Compounding the problem was that Yearian had a difficult time getting any sleep on the plane.

“I saw my coach and he said ‘Warm up and see how it feels,’” he said. “I didn’t think I would race, honestly, until about an hour before (it started). It didn’t feel great, but it was my last chance high school race. I figured I could tough it out for four laps.”

Yearian felt some obligation to go for it and ended up running five seconds faster than the night before.

“My family, coaches and teammates were there and I didn’t want to let people down,” he said. “Once the adrenaline was going, I put (the discomfort) aside. And based on how I performed on Friday, I can say it was a race I’m pretty happy to end my high school career with.”