After four years of high school cross-country training, two years at Brown and another on his own, Christian Escareno's '11 junior year was highlighted by a First Team All-Ivy League selection and a shot to race the best runners in the country. While other students were heading home and getting ready for Thanksgiving, Escareno was shooting off the line at Indiana State University's national championship course.
Following his strategy to post a solid first half of the race, Escareno met his goal time of 15:08 at the five-kilometer mark, putting him around 60th place.
"When I saw that there were about 60 people in front of me, I panicked, thinking I was never going to get top-40 (All-American status). I talked myself down."
Escareno finished in 204th place out of 250 runners after getting a cramp around the halfway point, he said.
"I didn't do as well as I had hoped," he said.
Escareno took last year off and trained on his own while he was living at home. The time away allowed him to appreciate running more, he said, and "just have fun with it."
"The way I see it, to run fast, you can't overanalyze it," he added. "Just relax. Everyone gets nervous at the line, but you just have to — have fun."
"That's why we train for months — it's to race, and I love to race, and that's why I train so hard."
As the running season stretches through the end of the spring semester, Escareno hopes to push himself in the 5,000-meter indoor competitions and wants to break the school record in the 10,000-meter race, he said. His goal for next year is to make it back to Indiana.
But Escareno said he has no aspirations to run after Brown. "I think a lot of people want to continue training hard after college. I don't see myself going to the Olympics. My goal is to get a job when I graduate — that's why I am here," he said. "I'll run for fun."
