Pierce Murphy: Local Runner and NCAA Champion HSM: Congrats on your National Championship, tell us first a little bit about the race. and second a little bit about how you got to where you are now. PM: Thank you! The race went well. It had been raining for a few days before the race so the course was really muddy, and the temperature was in the 30s. There was a lot of wind as well, which made it feel colder. I did not mind the conditions because I knew everyone in the race would be affected by it as well. I got to where I am now from playing soccer a lot— that’s where I noticed that I had good endurance and would not get tired as fast as other people. I started doing small races as a kid and was good at them, and when high school came around I ran cross country and track. I did not think anything of it until junior year, when I started focusing a lot on running. I kept improving from there and now I am running on the best college cross country team in the nation.
HSM: What are your plans for the near future, and what happens after college? PM: In the near future I am getting ready for indoor and outdoor track. I run the 5K and 10K in outdoor track and I hope to PR in both those events. After college, if I am fast enough, I would like to run professionally. If not, I hope to get some kind of job in the film business because that is what I am majoring in. HSM: Tell us a little bit about your training, and your racing in college. PM: Training in college is much harder than high school. It’s good, though. It needs to be that way because everyone who runs in college is fast! In high school I didn’t have much competition. There were one or two guys who were fast, but nothing like in college. Everyone takes running seriously, and all the races are much larger than my high school races. Pierce Murphy and his teammates from University of Colorado, Boulder, recently won the NCAA Div. I Team Championship. Photo Credit ProMotion LTD