RALEIGH, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's track & field senior Dylan Christopher competed at the Raleigh Relays on Thursday night.
 
The Hendersonville, North Carolina native ran a personal best time of 14:30.10 in the 5000-meter run taking 106^th out of 223 competitors.
 
"About a month out is when I started preparing for this race," stated Christopher. "There was a three-week buildup of consistently trying to hit good mileage and good training. This week alone, I dropped mileage to be ready to put everything into the race."
 
Just about every day Christopher does two trainings. This week, specifically, were just shorter versions to save energy. He had to listen to his body to make sure he didn't overdo a run. The day prior to the race he still focused on doing two runs a day to keep the training consistent and keep the body in the right mindset.  
 
"This was a great opportunity to run something that feels that quick prior to the conference meet because it will be fast. It is much more difficult to go into a 5k trying to run in the 14:30's when prior to that you have only run 15-minutes or more."
 
This is the senior's fifth 5000-meter run in his collegiate career. The last one was at the SoCon Outdoor Track & Field Championships in May of 2021. On the first day of the championships, Christopher ran the 10,000-meter run finishing fourth, and then doubled back with the 5000-meter run the next day.
 
On that day, he shocked himself. He ran a personal best time of 14:35.77 in the 5000-meter run, taking seventh at the championships.
 
Christopher talked about how each race he runs, he has a different mindset, depending on the atmosphere, what meet it is, and what goal he looks to hit.
 
"For the Raleigh Relays, the plan was to sit back in the pack during the first 3000 meters. However, I ended up farther back than I wanted. I didn't panic though. I was hoping for certain splits during the race, but the leader ended up slowing down and probably wanted someone to pass him, which no one did for a bit. This threw off my plan of keeping my splits around 70-seconds. I knew after 3000 meters, my plan was to go harder, but subconsciously each time I heard a time it just added to the time to make up to hit a personal best."
 
In his section yesterday, Christopher placed third overall finishing in front of ETSU's Gavin Cooper who clocked in a time of 14:30.79.
 
"I heard people yelling my name at every corner of the track."
 
Current teammates, a Spartan alum, and people close to Christopher were in attendance at the race. He also received a bunch of text messages following his time being posted. The running community is so close and so welcoming.
 
"Everyone has a similar lifestyle, we all wake up super early, a lot of us run more than one time a day. We bond over the agony of running and it is more than just a sport. I love everything there is about running. I don't think I could go a day without training. The community of running has been so supportive to me, including coaches, parents, and teammates and I don't want to let them down. I also don't want to let myself down, because I would be disappointed if I didn't take and run with the opportunities given to me."
 
Both of Christopher's parents run recreationally, which is how he started running.
 
"In either fourth or fifth grade, I ran a local 5k. In seventh and eighth grades, I tried out for just track & field. In high school, I started cross country, so I could stay fit and make my training flow better. Each year in high school, I progressed because of being on the cross country team. I was dropping seconds each race."
 
He continued to train during COVID-19 pandemic, hoping that he could come back for his final couple of years of collegiate running.
 
Running is the most important, unimportant thing in his life.
 
His advice to anyone who is trying to get into running: Don't knock it until you have done it for a month straight. It is rewarding to see your times go down. Don't give up even if the results aren't there immediately.

Up Next
UNCG continues its outdoor schedule with the Vertklasse Meeting, hosted by High Point from Friday, April 1 to Saturday, April 2 at the Vert Stadium.