Ben Sathre Talks About City of Lakes 25K, His Past, and His Future

Ben Sathre was the NCAA Division III XC champion last year, his senior year at St. Thomas.  He was also the MIAC USTFCCCA XC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2011. At the urging of others, he ran the City of Lakes 25k on Sunday.  He won.  Below he talks about how he ended up on the starting line, and where he's going from here.


Down the Backstretch: When we talked to you during indoor season, you were looking at moving up in distance, but there were disagreements with your coach, Pete Wareham, about how much you could handle, potential injuries, etc.  How did that play out last track season?

Ben Sathre: I've always been good at running distance, and it's definitely my specialty. One of my limiting factors was that I've dealt with chronic side stictches over the course of my collegiate career which prevented me from moving up in distance. We eventually found the cause, but not until late April.  I am able to run longer races now with little problems. I stuck with 5000m and 1500m last spring because I'm comfortable with those events. Now I'm just fooling around for fun on the streets experimenting with different distances.

DtB:  What have you been doing since graduation?  Any opportunities for linking up to a post-collegiate program?

BS: I went out to Hanson's/Brooks to visit and they told me they couldn't offer me much because they were taking on some high level recruits this fall with Jake Riley and Colby Lowe. I also applied to Team USA Minnesota, but they apparently don't have interest in me either. Being from a D III school I haven't done 100 mile weeks like these other guys, and I haven't had the same training/racing opportunities, but that certainly doesn't mean they are better than me.

DtB:  Was the 25K a step toward running a marathon?  If so, where and when?

BS: No, I'm not running a marathon.  I considered it, but I don't think I'm ready. Although, after today, I think I could make it happen if I wanted to.

DtB:  Are you coaching yourself or have do you have a coach?  What has your training been like since you graduated?

BS: I haven't really been doing that much running this summer. After I got back from Hansons/ Brooks I was really disappointed with the complete lack of support I was getting and decided to retire. I only started running five weeks ago when some of my former teammates were able to drag me out the door. I did the Como Relays for fun and a couple of other 5K and 5-mile races, but I haven't been doing much else. The only reason I started running again was because Kelly Mortenson contacted me and asked if I would join Run N Fun for cross country this fall. I thought about it for a week, and thought I could maybe contribute something, so I decided I would join them. I felt like it would be a good opportunity to once again show people what I'm capable of.

I always run well in cross country races, and I enjoy colder weather. Pete (Wareham, his college coach at St. Thomas) said he doesn't wan't to coach me, and he doesn't wan't me training with the St. Thomas team because he feels it limits my potential to improve. I bumped into the Bachs(owners of Run N Fun) last week though and they told me that Kelly could write a training plan for me.  I asked if he would and he agreed.

DtB:  Was the result at City of Lakes 25K a surprise? Were you confident you could run 5-minute pace for 15.5 miles?  Did it feel comfortable?

BS: Well, I felt confident that I could run that pace because I know I have talent, but I didn't think I would be able to do it today as I haven't been running much lately, and I ended on such a sour note last spring. Brian Sames mentioned to me that he was doing this race a couple of weeks ago and convinced me to do it. He told me if I grew my mustache out I would bounce back from my lows and start running well again. So I haven't shaved it, but it doesn't really grow. But it's working I guess. I really wanted to run somewhere in the 1:18s, and I started out at that pace, and really surprised myself with how easy it felt. I felt really good and picked up the pace at the end. My last miles between the half marathon split and the final time works out to about 4:55 miles.

DtB: What are your plans for the rest of the year, for 2013?

BS: I'm running the TC 10 mile and then club cross country nationals, and then I will probably retire. It takes a lot of effort to run full time and work full time, and I don't know that I have the energy or the desire to do both. But I won't make a decision quite yet. I say that I'm going to quit a lot. I think I quit the team at St. Thomas at least a dozen times over the last four years, but after a couple of days I would miss it and I would come back. I'm inspired by people like Brian Sames and Chris Erichsen who work full time and run over 100 miles a week. I just wan't to go out and run a couple of good races and hopefully inspire others to forge ahead. I hope it shows others that just because nobody believes in you, and nobody thinks you have talent doesn't mean that you don't. It just means you're a little behind, and you aren't through fighting.