Saturday, November 22, 2008
When Austin Peay State University cross country runner Tim Hall set off for the final race of his senior campaign, his legs were not the only part of his body feverishly fluttering.
Hoping to end his career with one more personal record, Hall mentally prepared himself for the Ohio Valley Conference Championship race last Saturday, but as the starting gun fired, Hall felt something inside him quiver, but it was not his nerves.
“About when I got to the starting line, I felt my stomach churning and just thought, ‘This can’t be good,’ ” Hall said.
The race began and Hall, a former Madisonville-North Hopkins runner, sprinted down the 8K course as his condition continued to diminish. Hall crossed the finish line in 35:26.40 for 107th place, well behind his desired result.
Once Hall was evaluated, it was clear what caused his discomfort throughout the race — food poisoning.
Hall said he believes he got food poisoning from eating chicken parmesan, which was not fully cooked, the night before the race.
The former Maroon tried to block out the pangs in his stomach during the race, but combined with a hilly course and tough competition, there was plenty on his mind.
By the race’s end, Hall finished second-best on his team, just five seconds behind teammate and running partner Ryne Sexton.
Although Sexton could do nothing but encourage Hall through his obstacles, it was not the first time the duo raced side-by-side as Hall endured distress in a meet.
During Hall’s junior year, he ran nearly an entire 8K race with just one shoe after one fell off in the first half-mile. Running mate Sexton attempted to aid him during the situation.
“He was with me at that point in the race and I was like, ‘Dude, try and kick off my other shoe,’ so he tried to kick off my other shoe to make me even, but we couldn’t do it,” Hall said. “I wasn’t about to stop and take it off because that would just take too much time, so I was like ‘Alright, you got to deal with it.’ ”
With just a single sneaker, Hall finished out the race.
“Thankfully it was on a really nice golf course and soft ground. It wasn’t like I was going to come away with a hurt foot,” he said.
The same could not be said after the meet though when Hall outlasted his luck.
“The ironic thing about that is after the race we were doing our cool down and I decided to do it completely barefoot and that’s when I stepped on a rock and cut my foot,” he said.
Now, with his cross country career behind him and his final track season ahead, Hall, a health and human performance major, is beginning to apply the lessons of running to the real world.
“Training for the season starts months ahead in advance, so I guess I can take away, any career worth having, it’s going to take some time to prepare for it,” he said. “Example, four years of college. You have to go there and be dedicated.”
As for continuing his passion for running after graduation, Hall said he has a few ideas.
“In the immediate next year or two, I’ll probably keep working on getting my 5K and 10K times down,” he said.
Last summer, when Hall suffered a hip injury, he bought a road bike to help in his training and he said he might have a future in duathlons.
“And if I can become a better swimmer, I could start on triathlons just for fun,” Hall said. “If I decide to do anything competitively, I would try to start doing marathons. That’s something I’ll have to work up into.”
Still, coaching may be another outlet for Hall to utilize his knowledge of running.
“I would be looking forward to coming back to Kentucky and coaching,” he said. “That’s one of the things I’ve wanted to do.”
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