Sean McFarland, Kenny Rakestraw Electrify Fans at Brutus Hamilton

Folks, don't ever tick off Sean McFarland before a race.

 

Being disrespected can motivate a runner like nothing else as this tale reveals. The Strawberry Canyon Track Club had to scramble to shoehorn two entrants into the 5000-meter race Brutus Hamilton Meet held at Cal's Edwards track facility.

 

Backing things up a few days, it was an idle comment made by a Cal coach who took us too lightly which set things in motion. I was querying him about what was required to get athletes into this Cal meet and he nonchalantly responded, "I'll get them in if they want to be hamburger."

 

Bad idea.

 

Sean, who'd been somewhat indifferent about running this meet, perked up. I could tell by his body language he didn't take too kindly to this comment. The coach had insulted both Strawberries and Big Macs everywhere. Sean looked at me and then over at the Cal coach and said quite simply, "I'll run in this meet."

After some juggling and shuffling I managed to get Sean as well as new member Kenny Rakestraw into this meet. Kenny is an accomplished runner in his own right, although he was denied a walk-on spot with the Cal team when he came into Berkeley from high school in Newport Beach, CA. (Also for good measure and relevant to the tale, I also managed to squeeze another coachee, Lenin Huamin from adidas Transports racing team into the 5000).

 

After the layers of bureaucratic dust had settled, race day rolled around on Friday April 22nd. It was cool and quite breezy. A total of 27 runners were entered in Sean and Kenny's heat of the 5000 which had an impressive field including six current Cal runners. I gave them their pre-race instructions and the starter lined everyone up as the flags whipped around noisily. "Tuck in your shirt!" he barked directly at Sean, who likely gets fashion tips from his coach.

 

When the preamble was delivered and the gun sounded, Sean and Kenny patiently stuck to their pre-race pace plans. Although they were close to last at the outset, they still came through the 200 in a shade under 36 seconds, right on pace for a sub-15:00 effort.

 

After the first 600 meters, Sean and Kenny started to thread their way up through the field. By the mile they were squarely in the middle of the pack, and Sean came through at roughly 4:43.8. The runners ahead of him were starting to redline a bit in some cases, but Sean looked like he was out for a cruise. Within two laps Sean was in the top ten and Kenny had moved into the top twelve.

 

Right then, it happened, there was a moment of stillness. The sun had come out from behind the clouds. The skies became visibly brighter and the breeze washed over the track. I took a deep breath and just took in the halcyon moment. It was beautiful. I couldn't have been happier.

I snapped out of it and began hollering at random faces I recognized: "Watch this! Sean is gonna win this thing!" They looked at me as if I'd lost my marbles. After all, wasn't it too early in the race to make a call like that with a runner 10+ seconds and 10 places out of first place?

 

But I'd felt there was a shift in the tide of the race and the crowd started to realize something was building at the two-mile mark. Sean rolled through in 9:26 and Kenny in 9:30. Sean's eyes burned fiercely into the backs of his tiring competitors. I yelled at him, "You're gonna win it, Sean!" ... somehow I could sense he already knew that.

 

Kenny was hanging on gamely too, having the race of his life. Note he is a triathlete first, and here he was, handing it to the collegiate runners. He had a 15:40 outright 5K PR, although he had run a 15:08 5K leg in a triathlon. Still, it is known those are imprecisely measured distances in many cases, not subjected to the scrutiny of a certified course or the precision of the track. Kenny managed to stay in the top half of the field and fought off many challenges during the last mile of the race.

With 800 to go, Sean McFarland surged past Transports runner Lenin Huamin into the lead and only Lenin went with him. They began to gap the field and I saw two Cal coaches with their mouths hanging open. A surge of electricity went through the small but raucous crowd as the excitement began to build like a volcano of energy.

 

There was no stopping the rush of excitement as Sean and Lenin were now in a two-man war of attrition. Both runners flew around the track, and with 400 to go I've never heard 500 people make that much noise, ever. This was a remarkable race ... the Strawberry Canyon TC fans had been screaming for every lap, but the entire crowd was getting into it now.

 

Sean was rolling but Lenin had him in his sights, never quitting, only a half-step behind Sean, and with 200 to go it was ON. Lenin tried his damndest to close on Sean, but Sean was not going to be outkicked by anybody on that day. Sean opened up his long stride and surged to the finish as the clock ticked off the seconds: 14:36, 14:37, 14:38, 14:39 when he snapped the tape.

 

There was absolute pandemonium as Sean's new club record of 14:39.30 (a 25-second PR) flashed on the finisher's scoreboard screen, ahead of Lenin's 14:40.03 mark. Kenny rolled in next in tenth overall with a very strong 15:00.73 mark, missing that 15:00 barrier by the slimmest of margins but beating three of Cal's runners.

 

Looking back, that was a race for the ages in the annals of the Strawberry Canyon Track Club. Everyone who was present felt very fortunate to have witnessed such a remarkable effort by Sean and the competitors who pushed him to this first of many breakthrough performances.

 

And the moral of the story is, ya don't ever wanna tick Sean off before a race.