This week we talk with Garrett Corcoran of Villa Park High School. Garrett distinguished himself as one of the top milers in the state this spring, consistently running well under 4:15. His most notable performance came at the insanely competitive Orange County Championships, where he won the 1600 with a PR 4:10.95 performance, and led 14 Orange County runners under 4:20 in the process (see photo below). He went on in CIF post-season action to advance all the way to the state finals. I caught up with Garrett as he prepared for his senior cross country season.

Scott Joerger (SJ): You had an amazing track season topped by a 4:10.95 1600 PR and your first trip to the State Finals. Tell us about your season and how it lined up compared to your goals.

Garrett Corcoran (GC): I actually didn't reach any of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the season, but I was pleased with the way it turned out nonetheless. I wanted to take down the school record for both the 1600 (4:09) and the 3200 (8:57) but neither worked out. I didn't give myself enough chances to run the 3200 - I only ran it 4 times this season. I thought for sure I would break 4:10 after my race at OC Champs where I ran 4:10.95 because I still had quite a few weeks left in the season, but it just never clicked in any of my races afterwards the way it did at that meet. That race felt like a dream; I felt little to no pain the whole race and whenever I wanted to switch gears or speed up, it was just there. Although I never ran faster than 4:10, however, I feel like I had a great season in the 1600. I ran 4:13.5 or faster 8 times this season, so I was consistently running fast times and getting close to my PR, and I always competed well in my races, finishing close to the top and holding the lead for a significant part of the race in most of them. I surprised myself a bit in the 800 this season; I didn't expect to run it very much, but running 1:55 in CIF competition felt really good.

SJ: The Century League has become one of the deepest leagues in the state (especially in the distances) with Brea Olinda, Canyon, and El Modena in addition to Villa Park. Tell us what it's like facing that kind of competition week in and week out and how it prepares you for bigger competitions down the road.         

GC:  It's awesome to face those guys all the time and to go to school so close to them. Having that high level of competition around makes it easy to transition to competing at the CIF-Southern Section and State levels because I'm already running against some of the best guys in the State almost every week. It's tiring to run against guys like Austin Tamagno, Brennon Koryta, Sidney Gidebuday, and Austin Goins every week, especially when we're dipping way under 4:20 in the 1600 in dual meets, but I wouldn't give it up for anything. We all became almost like a team in CIF this year; even though we were big rivals once we stepped on the track, we warmed up and cooled down together before and after most races and Austin Tamagno and I even went on a couple of training runs together in May. I owe a lot of my success to the fact that I compete against those guys.

SJ: When did you start competitive running, and what was your previous sports background?

GC:  I started running in spring my freshman year. I played football and basketball that year and I joined the track team instead of trying out for the baseball team, and I fell in love with running after that. Before high school I played soccer, baseball, basketball, and football. I ran cross country and track for the school team in seventh grade, but I never trained; I did very well in all my races but I didn't really enjoy running much back then, and I never thought I would run track or cross country in high school. It appears I've proven myself wrong though, doesn't it?

SJ: Can you tell us what your summer training is like?  When did you start back training and when will you reach your peak mileage?

GC:   My summer training isn't anything special. I just get out there and run hard every day. I've never really run that much mileage. Last summer I didn't run any doubles and I only ran more than 50 miles in a week once. I'm going to change that this summer and run 2-3 doubles a week and do lots of swimming and biking. I started my training again on July 1st and I will probably hit my peak mileage in August.

SJ: As a middle distance specialist on the track, how do you adjust to running cross country?  Is there anything particular you do to adjust to the longer distance?

GC:  I don't really change my training much between cross country and track. Everything just becomes a little longer for cross country training. Long runs become 10-14 miles instead of 8-10 and 200 and 400 meter repeats become 800 and mile repeats. Coach White has me do this because cross country is more about guts and outlasting your competitors than being fine tuned and making a calculated sprint at the finish. You run until you're about to pass out in cross country and there's a lot less strategy involved, so the biggest aspect of my running that I work on is endurance and making it comfortable and easy to keep a fast pace for a long time. I also run a lot more hills to train for cross country so that when I run hilly courses like Mt. SAC I know I've run much tougher hills; it makes it easier to power up the hills in races.

SJ: Who has had the most influence your running career to this point and why?

GC:  My Century League competitors have definitely had a huge influence on my running career so far. Having guys that are up at the same level as me to push me every race allows me to post a lot of fast times. My coach, Dave White, has also had a huge influence. I have a lot of confidence in him as a coach because he has a lot of experience both running and coaching. He was a sub-9:00 2-miler in high school when he ran for El Modena, he ran in the Olympic Trials Marathon in 1976, and he's coached a lot of great athletes and teams in all his years at Villa Park since he started coaching here in the 70's. His guidance has been a huge help for me in my running career.

SJ: What are your goals for the coming cross country season? 

GC:  Go undefeated. I don't want to lose any races and I want to smash a lot of course records.

SJ: What do you like to do outside of high school sports?

GC:  I love spending time in the mountains with my family and friends, especially in the summer when I can hike, mountain bike, and take the boat on the lake where and swim or wakeboard.

Quick Stats

Performance you are most proud of:  4:10.95 1600 PR at Orange County Championships

Favorite Athlete:  Mo Farah

Last thing you read:  Life of Pi

Favorite subject in school:  Chemistry 

Favorite food:  Do I have to choose just one? I love all food 

Favorite movie:  Caddyshack