Throughout his athletic career, North Yarmouth native Ben True has competed under a variety of labels.
Cross country runner. Nordic skier. Distance track runner. Road racer.
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As of this week, another label can be added.
National champion.
In the sweltering heat and humidity of Atlanta on Monday, True won the U.S. men’s 10-kilometer road racing championship, placing fifth at the Peachtree 10K Road Race behind four African runners and one second ahead of defending U.S. champ Ed Moran.
True won $10,000 for the U.S. title and another $2,000 for fifth place among the field of 55,000. It was the biggest payday of his emerging career as a professional distance runner.
“The road races are a lot of fun and they pay quite well,” True said by phone from Hanover, N.H. “But the focus and emphasis is definitely on the track.”
A graduate of Greely High and Dartmouth College, the 25-year-old True has his sights set on the Olympic Games next summer in London. He already has achieved the ‘B’ standard at 5,000 meters. He’s shooting for the ‘A’ standard in both the 5,000 (13 minutes, 20 seconds) and 10,000 (27:45).
Last month in New York City, True ran among a strong international field at the adidas Grand Prix and posted a time of 13:24 for 5,000 meters. He plans to run in Europe later this month in hopes of achieving that ‘A’ standard so next June’s Olympic trials will be less stressful.
The European adventure means True won’t be available for the Beach to Beacon 10K, but he does plan to race in the following weekend’s Falmouth Road Race on Cape Cod.
After competing in both Nordic skiing and distance running throughout his high school and collegiate years, True opted to concentrate on running, moved out to Oregon with big dreams and a big dog (Otzi, a shepherd-husky mix) and things didn’t go well.
“Ben tends to push himself to try and make up for lost time,” said his coach, former Olympic distance runner Tim Broe, referring to the years True spent on snow. “He doesn’t listen to his body and he just keeps going until he’s exhausted.
“I think that’s what he ran into in Oregon. That uber-competitiveness and running with a group of very talented guys every day, he just ran himself into the ground.”
So last summer True packed his bags and brought Otzi back East. He joined a small running group connected with a nonprofit organization called In The Arena. The organization provides housing, health insurance, coaching and a small living stipend. In return, True serves as a role model for area youngsters, helping coach middle school track programs and working with a local school as a literacy volunteer.
“It’s been a great program, athletically and personally,” True said. “It’s been fun just to hang out with the kids.”
Since last fall, True has also been dating Sarah Groff, a former Middlebury College swimmer and member of the USA national triathlon team, who last month in Austria became the first American woman to achieve a top-three finish in the World Championship Series. Like True, she is aiming for a berth in the London Olympics.
“Life,” True said, “is good.”
Broe has been his coach for less than a year, but in that time True has placed second at both the Manchester (Conn.) Road Race and the U.S. 15K championships in Jacksonville, Fla., was the top American at the world cross country championships in Spain and was the winner of the Boston Athletic Association 5K — worth $5,000 — on the day before the Boston Marathon.
“It’s good for him to have a smaller group here,” said Broe, also speaking by phone from New Hampshire. “He does a lot of easy days where he’s on his own and doesn’t feel the need to race easy days. And more than anything, he’s had nine good months of training.”
There have been frustrations. A 10K on the Stanford track in Palo Alto, Calif. in early May went poorly, largely because True was ill. He wound up in the hospital after the race, taking fluids intravenously.
In a tactical race at the outdoor nationals in Oregon in late June, two weeks after that NYC race cut 19 seconds from his personal best in the 5K, True placed 10th in a relatively slow 13:52. He had been hoping to qualify for a world championship team that will compete in South Korea in August.
“That was the big goal for this season,” True said, “but I didn’t have a very good race.”
After running so fast in New York, True and Broe had tried to push the envelope with hard workouts in the two weeks between races. The strategy backfired.
“I think I burnt myself out,” True said. “It’s hard to figure out when you’re in such good shape what you can and can’t do. Things feel so easy and all of a sudden it blows up on you.”
Winning the national title at Peachtree, however, proved to True that his fitness was not in question. Amidst the hottest race conditions in 14 years in Atlanta, True stayed close to the leaders and put on a strong finishing kick to beat Moran and the other top Americans.
Of course, as competitive as he is, he’s still kicking himself for not catching the two African runners just ahead of him, one with an identical time of 28:28 and the other a second faster.
“I was too focused on being the top American to realize that third place was only one second in front of me,” he said. “But it was great to mix it up. They took it out hard. Ed and I started to reel them in at the end. It was fun racing.”
Broe remained behind in New Hampshire. The news of True’s victory did not surprise him.
“It’s hard for Ben to surprise me any more, even though I’ve only had him for nine months,” Broe said. “Ben is a really gifted athlete and I think, for multiple reasons, he has never really even started to reach his potential in running.”
Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:
gjordan@pressherald.com
Twitter: GlennJordanPPH
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