Interview with Christin Wurth-Thomas
by Alison Wade

Christin Wurth-Thomas on her way to an eighth-place finish at the 2005 USA 8K Championships in New York City. (Photos by Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)

Christin Wurth-Thomas (then just Christin Wurth) runs the 4x1,500 meter relay for Arkansas at the 2003 Penn Relays.

An event that was the low point of the 2005 outdoor track season for some of the world's top middle-distance runners became a career highlight for American Christin Wurth-Thomas. Part of a star-studded 1,500-meter race at the Nike Prefontaine Classic in June, Wurth-Thomas avoided a major tumble that sent much of the pack to the track with 600 meters to go and went on to win the race in 4:09.45. Later that month, the former All-American from the University of Arkansas finished sixth in the 1,500 meters at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, just missing her PR of 4:08.76, set last one month earlier.

Wurth-Thomas is a 2003 graduate of the University of Arkansas, where she was a four-time SEC champion, but perhaps her most impressive collegiate accomplishment was that she left Arkansas — a school known for producing outstanding runners — as the school record holder in the indoor mile (4:36.94) and the outdoor 1,500m (4:10.49). She opted to stick with what was working for her and she is still coached by University of Arkansas coach Lance Harter.

Wurth-Thomas — who stayed healthy enough to use up all of her collegiate eligibility in four years — has been running at a top level for many years. The Bloomington, Illinois, native was a three-time Foot Locker finalist, where she finished 12th as a sophomore, fourth as a junior, and 18th as a senior in 1998.

After taking a training break during the latter half of the summer, Wurth-Thomas will kick off her fall season by competing in the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile Powered by Four Minutes, an ESPN2 Film, on September 24. Fast-Women.com caught up with her in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she trains and lives with her husband, Patrick.

Fast-Women.com: What about the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile appeals to you, and why did you decide to race it this year?
Christin Wurth-Thomas: New York City's such a fun place that any time you can go there and race, it's always exciting.

FW: You ran the 2005 USA 8K Championships in New York City last March. Have you done other races in New York City?
CWT: Just the USA 8K Championships and in college we went to the [Armory Collegiate Invitational]. Every time I go to New York, it's a lot of fun.

FW: Are you treating the race as an extension of the spring and summer track season, or will it be like the start of a new season?
CWT: This will kick off my new season. I just got off from taking a break. I'm running now and coming back from the break. Things are going well. We sat down and went over what I can improve on and the pros and cons of the season, so it should be exciting.

FW: Is professional running something you had your sights set on all along, or did the opportunity just present itself?
CWT: The opportunity kind of presented itself. My senior year [2003], I didn't really know it was going to happen. I ended up finishing third at NCAAs and running a 4:10 [1,500 meters], which was one of the fastest times ever run there. So then it was, 'Well since I ran this time, I might as well keep going.' Last year was my transition year; I didn't have a good year.

FW: As a full-time runner, do you find that running takes up a lot of your day, or do you feel like you have time you need to kill on a daily basis?
CWT: Running takes up a lot of my day. During the season, I run twice a day. In-between, whether it's stretching, sleeping, or trying to get recovered for my next run, it does take up a lot of my time. It's hard because you do have more time, but I also have two dogs right now and a cat, so I spend a lot of time with them [laughs].

FW: Do you ever run with your dogs?
CWT: Yes, one of my dogs runs with me in the mornings; that was the main reason for getting her.

FW: Speaking of training partners, are there other Arkansas alums in the area who you train with?
CWT: Right now, I train with my husband, he does workouts with me. [Former Arkansas runner] Erica Sigmont is going to continue running, so I'll train with her some this fall. But last year, it was mostly my husband.

FW: Why did you choose to remain in Arkansas?
CWT: First of all, my husband has a job here. But the coaching was working for me, and if something's working, why change? Lance and I get along very well, so it's been fun.

FW: What is it like training through the summer in Arkansas? Is it unbearably hot there right now?
CWT: It's about 103 degrees some days, so yeah, it's pretty hot. But you get used to it, and you try to go places where there's shade.

FW: From a distance, it seems like you've been very consistent throughout your career, and you've improved at a steady rate. Would you agree with that assessment?
CWT: I've improved pretty consistently, except for last year, and that was the transition year, and I actually went six seconds backward [laughs]. But I have been improving pretty significantly, so the goal for next year is to run 4:04 or 4:05. And we thought I possibly could have done it this year.

FW: After having a bad year last year, were you worried at all, coming into this season?
CWT: Your first race, you're always nervous, because you're not going to know where you are [fitness-wise]. For my first race, I went out to Stanford and I hit a 4:10, and then I knew I was in pretty good shape. I lost a lot of confidence last year, but coming back, I think I recovered from it. The [2005] USA 8K Championships [where she finished eighth in 26:37] helped.

FW: Having running be your profession, do you ever feel like you put too much pressure on yourself to succeed?
CWT: I think last year I did, because I felt like I had the pressure coming out of college. But this year, I went in with the attitude, 'Let's just have fun and see what happens.' I'm just going to go out there and do my best, and whatever happens happens. With that attitude, I don't think you can fail.

FW: Even though you're a professional runner, do you still get nervous before you race?
CWT: I get really, really nervous [laughs]. Whenever you're on the track with some of the amazing runners, you're always going to have nerves.

FW: Is there a one mile or 1,500 race that stands out in your mind as the most memorable?
CWT: Definitely [the Prefontaine Classic]. Going into it, I didn't expect to be [in contention for the win]. I was like, 'Great, this is one of those races where I can get pulled along, and whatever happens happens. Let's just try to be competitive.' And I came around that last lap and was like, 'I can win this!' It was kind of a shock.

FW: What was your experience during that race, were you aware that there had been a big pileup? Were you ahead of the runners who fell?
CWT: I was kind of in front. I was boxed in, behind the rabbit, on the inside. I saw one person go down out of the corner of my eye, and I could hear stuff, but I didn't really know the extent of it until I saw the pictures the next day. You saw one person go, and then it seemed like there were only three of us left.

FW: What are some of the mile-specific workouts you do?
CWT: I've always been one to come from strength, and so closer to a race, we'll do something like eight 200s. But one of my favorite workouts — and my husband got me into doing this last spring — is probably 800, 600, 400, 200, or 600, 400, 300, 200, and then you do it twice.

FW: Was your husband, Patrick Thomas, an Arkansas runner?
CWT: Yes, he ran for the guys' team. He started out as an 800m runner, and when he got to Arkansas, he ended up turning more into a 5K/10K runner. He's one of those guys who will run his heart out. Every run, he will work so hard. He wasn't one of those guys who was as naturally gifted as some, but he worked hard to get where he got. He really enjoyed the guys' team and working under coach [John McDonnell]. I couldn't ask for a better support system. Between the husband and the coach, everything is going great.

FW: Is he still running competitively, or is he just running to support you?
CWT: He's running to support me. And that's something that helps me a lot, because he's always pushing me. He sees where I am and says, 'Okay, we need to work on this.' So it helps a lot to have more than one person there with ideas.

FW: When you're feeling tired and vulnerable during a workout, do you ever feel like you're more likely to snap at him because he's your husband, or are you pretty good about that?
CWT: I'm pretty good about that. He's just out there pushing me. He's not out there for himself, he's doing these workouts just to rabbit me or help me get through them. He's very supportive. If I'm ever falling back during a workout, he'll turn around and yell, 'Come on, let's go.' So it's encouraging to me to have someone there.

FW: You focused on the 1,500 this season, but you've had success at longer distances as well. Is the 1,500 something you plan to continue doing, or do you think you might move up?
CWT: I really, really like the 1,500. I think the 1,500/mile is a great event and really fun. I have a lot of leg speed, so I'd like to stay with the 1,500. I don't know what my coach wants me to focus on, sometimes I think he wants me to go with the 5K [laughs], but I really like the 1,500.

FW: Why didn't you go over to Europe to race after U.S. nationals?
CWT: My opportunities to go overseas were very limited. There was one race that I was given the option of running about four days before, and it was just too close. So I trained for two weeks after nationals and then we called it a season.

FW: Was it frustrating to not even have the opportunity to chase the [World Championships 'A' standard of 4:05.80]?
CWT: Yes. But things happen. I've learned from it, and I have to come out stronger.

FW: Have you been watching the World Championships on TV or on the internet?
CWT: I've watched some of it. It was kind of hard to watch, because you wish you were there, but I've watched a little bit. I looked at the 1,500 today and saw the results from [the women's semi-finals].

FW: Does it frustrate you that there's only one U.S. [female] 1,500m runner [Treniere Clement] in Helsinki?
CWT: Yes, but you know, everyone else is coming on right now. Going into this year, a lot of people thought the 1,500 was going to be a weak event, but everyone's starting to hit. You have a lot of newcomers coming up, and it's going to be exciting.

FW: But at this point, anyone who can run under the 'A' standard [4:05.80] is going to make international teams. Is that something you're really going to go after in the future?
CWT: Yeah, that's the goal for next year: try to hit the 'A' standard and go into USAs with it.

FW: What will be your main goal this year for the 1,500 meters?
CWT: To run 4:04 or 4:05. I want to go into the [USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June, 2006] with the World Championships 'A' standard [4:05.80].

FW: Do you have any one goal for the sport where you can say, 'If I've accomplished that, I've done everything I wanted to do.'?
CWT: Well, I definitely would like to make it to the Olympics, and even do well at the Olympics. But I think that's what every runner wants, otherwise I don't think they'd be in it. For your heart to be in it, you have to have goals and you have to have dreams.

(Interview conducted August 12, 2005, and posted September 14, 2005)