Post-Race Interview with Tim Moore, December 8, 2001

By Parker Morse

Tim Moore battles with Bobby Lockhart down home stretch on his way to victory at the 2001 Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals. (Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)

Tim Moore Bio

Comments immediately post-race:

On considering himself a favorite:
I knew that guys weren't just going to give this up. I really planned on that because there wasn't a big favorite coming into the race like last year with Ritzenhein. I had a feeling it was going to come down to the wire.

On whether the "top returner" label was a burden:
No, last year at this time I thought I'd put a lot of pressure on myself. But coming back here, I'd achieved all my goals. I just wanted to win the Midwest Regional, and I did that, so I was just happy to be here again.

On the last quarter-mile:
That was tough. I knew Bobby was going to give me a great race. I wasn't even sure I was going to win until I crossed the line. I feel great, I've been thinking about this for a long time. I couldn't even imagine winning it.

On how the race developed:
I figured I'd just hang with the front pack for a while, and then just go by feeling. I wasn't sure if I was going to make a move at a mile and a half, or two miles, or two and a half miles. And then it came right down to the wire.

A couple times I thought I was going to make a move, but I figured I wasn't strong enough to actually break away. So I decided to put in a couple of little surges and hold back for the end.

I was thinking, I should hold on to him and wait until I got closer, because I knew if I would have took off with him, he probably would've kicked on by me. I figured I might as well conserve my energy and see what I've got at the end.

It was a great race. We just both killed each other, and that's what it's all about.

Lockhart's always says he's a strength runner, and he is extremely tough. We're very similar. We're mileage guys, strength guys, and we don't like speed.

On the weather:
The big deal for me wasn't the conditions, but just trying to stay relaxed and concentrate. I just kinda got in there, and I can't even remember the second mile. I just wasn't paying attention.

On experience being a factor:
Yeah, [knowing the course] was a slight advantage, but I don't think it's a reason I won.

On the whole weekend:
It's unbelievable. Foot Locker and Nike did a great job with all this stuff. And the athletes are hanging out with us, we get to do cool stuff like parade through Disney World, it's such a fun time.

Several hours later:

When did you decide to go to Notre Dame?
Early November. There's an old teammate of mine there, Kevin Avenius, he was a senior when I was a freshman, and I have another friend there, Todd Mobley, he went to a school about fifteen minutes away from me, and I trained with him now and then.

What attracted you there?
I like the coach, he's a great guy with a good sense of humor, and I really like the feeling I got from him. I think he knows what he's doing, so I think good things will come for me in the future.

What's the rest of the year look like for you?
I'm not really sure. I'll probably take some time off in the winter. I'm thinking about doing the Junior Nationals in Washington in February. I'm not into indoor, so it's outdoor season. I'll probably stay conservative with my racing and plan on going to the adidas outdoor meet.

So this is the high point of your year?
Pretty much. We don't go to a lot of meets because we have the travelling restriction, and Coach doesn't like us running a lot of big meets. I agree with him there.

Novi had some great relays (winning the national 4 x Mile title) last spring. Will you focus on that at all this year?
I love the team stuff, but we just don't have it this year. We lost too many kids to graduation.

Who else is coming up?
My brother is a freshman, I think he'll be good. We've got three freshman who are faster than [Chris] Toloff, [Eric] Walle and Avenius when they were freshmen. If we can develop those kids just like those other three did, we're going to be in good shape in a few years, but right now, they're freshmen, they can't really contribute too much yet.

What do you think about the kind of competition you're facing nationally now?
I think guys like me, and the others who ran well today, we just look at Webb and Ritzenhein and realize that if you work hard you can achieve anything. And that motivates us to improve, and run the way we did today.

Have you been looking to each other for motivation a lot?
Oh, yeah. When you look on the internet and see that somebody's popped a good time, you're going to want to train hard and make sure you can compete with them come the end of the year.