This was my last hurrah. I knew that after my sophomore year 6th placing in track, my failure on all levels my junior year, and then a good senior cross country season...it was time to step it up and fuck some shit up! 

I had started to pick up a new strategy my cross season but I still wasn't that confident with it. Every since I had started running I was the kid who would sick back, not pushing myself and then out kicking who ever was 50 meters ahead of me with one lap to go. But I had started to run a few races where I would lead and and still lead and then out kick who ever was 50 meters behind me. During cross country I was not 100% confident with my this new strategy, but track season was a new chapter in my running life. It was go time, from the first meet to the last meet. 

NEW CHAPTER: Not Holding Back 

GRIZZLY BEAR OPEN

I was upset when I heard that our team might not go to the Grizzly Bear Open in McMinville. Coaches were getting upset because the meet had so many teams and that the competition was not as good. But I convinced my coach to go and I was very very happy. The reason why I had loved this meet was because ever since my freshman year the 3000m was ran at night under the lights, and to me... that was the best feeling in the world. Freshman year I got lapped by a number a guys who ran 10:34. Sophomore I won the race which was the my first win and a 31 second PR from last year. Junior year I won the race with 9:10 which was a good time for the first meet of the year. But senior year was a different story. 

The Grizzly Bear Open was a meet for all-comers to come and run, jump, and throw their way to the first mark of the year. However, I had a different goal. Looking at the meet program from freshman the 3000 meet record was 8:57.9 and everyone thought that it would never get beaten. That was all about to change. 

6 Hours earlier I had a ran 4:30 mile and the win, just going easy and conserving as much as I could for the 3000. It was 8:00 and my three friends and I were warming up, which involved us jogging around local neighborhoods at night not knowing exactly where we were at the time. After 15 minutes of struggling to find the school again we stumble into the gym of the school and stretch and go to the bathroom for a while. We were all having a good time; laughing, telling jokes, gossiping. Normal high school stuff. 

After getting warm and emptying our bladders we got to the tent where we checked in and I saw that I was not gong to have the competition and getting the record was going to be tough with no one to run with. But I was ready! This is what the off season and the early track workouts led up to. 

The gun went off and I jump to the lead and the rest was history. The crowd was not paying that much attention the race and they were all getting their stuff together to leave but I gave them something to sit and watch. The first mile I had blown away the field, starting to lap the slower guys in the group and people started watching. 

I was not paying attention to my splits I knew to get the record it was going to involve me getting out and running hard all the way around. Not knowing where I was at with a lap to go I was hauling ass! Coming around the final turn I saw the clock and I knew that I could get it. I was  moving all out at this point and my teammates were lining up along the side cheering me on. I crossed the line and I saw 8:57 but I did not know exactly what my time was so I was not sure if I had gotten the record. But nonetheless, running sub 9 the meet was good. And I was happy. 

As my other distance runners put together a 4X400 relay I hear the results from the 3000 meters and the announcer said, "With a new meet record, Dave Marks with a time of 8:57.4" At that point I bowed my head and smiled and that was that. It was now time for a 400. 

REYNOLDS INVITE

Being my senior year of cross country and me not finishing the best I could have junior year, I felt that this was the year of Dave Marks. My goal both cross country and track season was to go out with a bang and make myself a household name in the Oregon High School running world. 

There was one meet on the schedule that I circled and that was the ADIDAS Invite. Not only did I know that the course was fast but also because the competition I would be running against was better than state. We had Crater, Jesuit, Central Catholic, and many other individuals who are all top favorites in state in all the classifications. So I knew that I could really make a splash there.

The day had come. Coming into the meet I had only lost once, but was happy about where I stood training wise for the meet. I knew that I was ready to gallop because the other meets I was running in were not as high caliber as this one. 

We got to Fernhill Park in style. A.K.A. a usual big yellow, Laidlaw bus. But nonetheless, our team felt like rock stars (who cars why, we're Lakeridge) We set up camp on the baseball field against one the dug outs and my team mates and I strolled around looking for bathrooms and scouting out our competition. I love the atmosphere of cross country meets. Everyone is there for one reason. To run a race and PR. That was what I was looking for. 

We warm up like our coach always tells us. A 15 minute jog, followed by 10 minutes of standing stretches, then 1-3 minutes of race pace, then followed by another 10 minutes of sitting stretches, after that we get our spikes and head over to the start line and spike up and do a few strides. 

Our team was not the best team in the world, but I loved our team. Some of the best group of guys around. And we knew that by the time we got to the starting line, it meant that we were ready for something more than a race. It was a war. A war against everyone else who is shoulder to shoulder with you. Looking around, you see others looking around for someone to run with or someone they want to beat. Everyone does, even if you don't know it. You do it. Trust me, I was definitely doing it. 

The gun fires and we are off! I get a good start and move to the front like a started to do my senior year. It is a lot more fun to lead a big race than to sit back. I was feeling good through the first mile, and when I say good I mean 4:45 first mile good! I was moving, and so was everyone else who were right behind me. I kept this pace going and continued to lead for the first 2k until Bryce Burgess and a kid from Palmer, Alaska moved ahead of me. The started gapping everyone and then I knew it was another race starting to brew behind me. And as soon as I think that, Musa Ahmed and Josh Paul move past me as I hold on to them. The last 800 meters we are all flying. Brian Manning and Peter Magg of Jesuit and Taylor Morgan of Central Catholic start making a move and said, "Oh none of that!" and jumped on my horse. So now with 400 meters I was in all out kick mode. We make the sharp turn to head to the track and I pass Musa but Paul holds his .6 second lead on me and I finish 4th place with a time of 15:50. And .6 seconds from a new pair of ADIDAS shoes. (I'm a Nike guy anyway ) 

But the race ends and as I'm slowing down after the finish my spike catches the track and I face plant it into the ground. People thinking that I have collapsed help me up, but I try to explain to them that I tripped. Oh well...I got 4th, and I'm happy with that. 

That race I feel really got me motivated for state, because I had beaten many of the top returners from last year I knew that I could beat them again. 

Damn do I miss that race. However, with me attending the University of Portland, I am able to still go and watch. You can catch me in my capree spandex, you can miss me. 

During my sophomore year I was beating kids who had beaten me by half a lap a year before and I was getting, how do I say it, cocky. Around my friends I was the shit, but I knew that there were guys who could still beat me by half a lap or even more. But I just loved racing!

Training was going smoothly and I was running low mileage at the time, but did not know it then. I have kept a training log since the begining of sophomore year of track and looking back at I was running around 20-35 miles a week. Compared to the other guys in the state, it was insignificant. But I knew that my coach has had experience and I would trust him. 

During the season I had PR 39 seconds from last year and was getting ready for districts which were held at Oregon City High School. Going into the race I don't remember what I was seeded but there good runners who were ahead of me. Such as Ben Frisbee, Kevin Elder, Brandon Snook, Brian Saxe, Grant Eldridge, Will Gordon, and Scott Ward. 

Warming up I wasn't nervous, and I still claim that I do not get nervous for races, but I was getting focused. The gun went off and from the start Will Gordon of Clackamas High School took the lead and the rest followed. I put myself around 7th or 8th place and sat there. After Gordon had slowed down the race really started to get going. Ben Frisbee took the lead and Kevin Elder followed and the rest of the guys stayed at the same pace.

With a lap to go was in 4th. Frisbee still 1st followed by Elder and Snook stuck in no mans-land. The Eldridge and myself behind him a ways. Coming around the corner onto the back stretch I passed Eldridge and I was gone! I felt good! I remember looking ahead on the final turn and seeing Snook dying and I knew that I can get 3rd. With 50 meters left I passed him and as I finish I slowly come to a stop and catch my breath and I look up and see 9:05 on the clock as it changes to 9:06 and I think that I could have ran sub 9 ! I was really happy with my race.

However, only the top 2 qualified for state, but I was only a sophomore and I knew that the next two years were mine. Two days later it was Saturday and my family had gone to dinner at Chez Jose's. We are all enjoying the company of my older brothers who had flown into town, getting back from college when I get a call from my coach. I answer the phone and he tells me that I was going to state because Ben Frisbee dropped out to focus on the 1500 which he had also qualified for. I was shocked! I was going to state!!!

The next week of training was easy! Even easier than my 20-35 miles. My coach said that all the hard work had been done, it was just time for resting and staying healthy. 

The trip down to state was very fun. It was myself, my coach, Brandon Collier (other male state qualifier), and the other coaches rode the short bus down to Eugene. 3 and half hours later and a new tire we had made it. I was running later that afternoon, so I put my stuff down on the wooden stands of Hayward Field and started my warmup. I had no idea where to go so I ran around the campus site seeing. It was the best warm-up because it was so cool being in Eugene and knowing that I was racing against the best runners in the state. 

I continue my warm up and get onto the practice field and do my strides and I see the other guys doing there strides and I feel accepted, finally! :) I remember doing a few more laps and seeing Kenny Klotz was like seeing Jesus. It was pretty sweet to say the least. After I finish my strides I move into clerks tent and sign it, but there was one minor mistake. I didn't have the right number! My coach had given the other qualifier my number and me his number, so they would not sign me in. The people at the table gave me numbers that I had to stick onto my wrong number. (If you ever see a picture of me in that race my numbers are black and weird, not like everyone else who have red numbers. Just nice fun fact) 

After all that was taken care of, and we were led onto the track for introductions and some final strides. We line up and I was in between Jake Keyser and Kenny Klotz, it was intense! 

The gun went off and we were off! But then another gun went off, and we were not off! We line up again and this time we got a clean start.

1st-68 I got out very fast. Faster than what I have ever done before, but I was so jacked up on hormones I didn't care. 

2nd-70 I was in a good spot ready to start passing people.

3rd-68 Passed two people while running with 3 other guys. 

4th-72 Drop one guy and the other two start moving forward.

5th-72  Some more guys start moving back and stick with them until they fall more behind.        

6th-74 Joseph Carpenter and Bryce Burgess start moving up and I stick with them. 

7th-76 Still moving with Carpenter and Burgess.

200m :28 I pass Burgess with 250 to go and we both start going at it. We both pass Dylan Coleman on the final turn into the last 100 and I swing out pretty wide. I think about lane 3 or 4. I was looking over my shoulder alot during that last 100 meters but I was going so hard I didn't know what happened when I finished.

I had finished 6th place in 4A state with a time of 8:51.48. That is 10 seconds faster than my district time and 22 seconds faster than my next fastest time. It was a crazy race and I still remember to this day how much that race changed my life. It was that race that made me convince that I was a runner.  

After some comments I've decided to write about each one of my races (or the ones that I feel are most important.) This one is about my first ever track meet.

As I mentioned in "Who I am" I was a soccer player til my junior year of high school and I started running in the 8th grade, at Waluga Junior High School, to stay in shape for soccer. I wasn't able to run cross country in middle school because that was soccer season, but I was able to run track. My twin and I really wanted to do because many of our friends were doing also. So why not!

Our "Distance Coach" was a tall big basketball player who ran once and thought he was good enough to coach middle school track...

His name was Coach Johnson and we had two types of practices: Running Bryant Woods (a 1.5 mile loop) or running 800m repeats on a grass loop (supposedly 400m) 

Me, being an inexperienced runner thought that this was a good way to train. HA! 

So after weeks of Bryant Woods and 800m repeats, I was ready for my first race. Now before I start going on I feel that I must tell you that the shoes I would wear for training and for racing were a pair of hand-me-down, blue, ADIDAS Climacool with wholes in the bottom. I just thought shoes were shoes and didn't really care about them. That would soon change.

The first track meet was against Rowe Middle School, known for being on the worst teams in the league, and it was held at Milwaukie High School. The bus ride was long but we were all having fun in our large yellow track suits, a.k.a. the banana suit. We got off the bus not knowing what to do with ourselves and our stuff. So like any middle school athlete would do, we went to our coach and asked him what to do. He said to warm-up, so we did. This consisted of running around for 5-10 minutes and stretching the rest of the time before our race started. Myself and a bunch of my friends had all signed up the 1500. My friend who ran track last year said Rowe had a kid who was really good, so I was a little scared that I might get lapped. 

We all then huddled together around the start of the 1500 waiting for the started, the guy with the gun at that age, to get here. When he did, we peeled off our banana suits to our light blue singlets and our mismatched shorts. 

The gun went off: Oh shit!

No strategy what so ever going into it, I decided just to stay with my friend was better than me and see where he goes. Now at this point it had started to rain a little bit and and there were already puddles formed on the corner where the high jump are was. So every time I would run by, I would come out with soggy feet because of my shoes. The kids who I was running with all had something called, "Spikes." Which I just ignored but it obviously made a difference when they pulled away with 500 meters to go. But there was one kid who was with me when the top two made a move and I ran with him til the last 100 meters where he started sprinting. So I started sprinting. Then suddenly with about 25 meters left, I hear someone yell, "Don't fall again!" Needless to say...I was confused until I saw the kid ahead of my start stumbling and completely face plant it. The only thing I could do at this point was laugh as cross the finish line in 3rd place with a time of 5:20. 

This was a great race for me because it was my first track race, and little did I know I would soon love the sport. Now that I look back at it, I still wonder if that kid really had problems staying upright the last 25 meters. Oh welll...