Ketchikan Man is running through the best time in the world

Isaac Updike wins the 3,000-meter obstacle race at the Oregon Relays in Eugene on Saturday. (Courtesy photo by USTF)

Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – Former Ketchikan Kings cross country runner Isaac Updike drove his fastest, fastest in the US this season and the world’s best time of the year for the 3,000-meter obstacle race at the Oregon Relays in Eugene on Saturday.

“It’s definitely still setting in,” said Updike, 29, on Sunday. “At that point it was only been a crazy 12 or 14 hours to respond to a lot of really positive and encouraging messages and people who come up. It was exciting. “

Updikes 8: 17.74 on the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field Oval erased his previous best time of 8: 25.38, which was set in Belgium in 2018, and hit the qualifying time for the Olympic Trials of 8: 32.00.

The Oregon Relays included professional runners, US track and field races, and college races. The Oregon State High School Championships are also held at Hayward Field.

Updike said he was unaware he was on track for a personal best and only knew a time from 1,200 meters away.

“I was kind of lost track of the current time at this point in the race,” said Updike, who trained at altitude for the Oregon Relays in Flagstaff, Arizona. “In the race itself there was so much crowd and movement that I just focused on staying in touch with anyone who tried to move. I had no idea what was going on until I got over the last barrier and when I was running down the home straight and saw that 8:10 was happening and I was still in race mode. But there was excitement right before the finish line. “

The obstacle race basically consists of seven laps with four barriers and a water pit at the 250-300 meter mark of the rear curve.

Nobody has combined the oval’s run, jump and splash event this year in a faster time, and its brand is the standard athletes are now pursuing for this season.

“There was really excitement and a sense of achievement and confirmation that what I had done was right and the speculation that I and my coach had for my season were on par and frankly a little short for that, what i think i’m doing. Said Updike. “I knew I had it in me. I just had to wait for the right race. “

The world record for the event is 7: 53.63, which was set in Belgium in 2004 by Qatari athlete Saif Saaeed Shaheen. The Olympic record is 8: 03.28, which was set by Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and the American record is 8: 00.45, which Evan Jager set in France in 2015.

“It’s very gross,” said Updike of the global brand. “I can’t understand how good these runners are.”

Last year’s pandemic changed his training pattern.

“The silver lining is that we got to try new workouts and new training plans in terms of volume and intensity,” he said. “Lots of flexibility because you didn’t have to worry about meetings and travel … the downside is that you don’t have the races to continue sponsorship and things like that that you need.”

Updike is a professional athlete. He has not renewed his contract with Hoka and is not sponsored.

“I have a good idea that it should change at some point,” he said.

Updike trains under the Empire Elite out of New York.

Updike already has a stint in the Olympic Trials under his singlet and finished 12th in the 2016 US Olympic Trials at the same Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus at Eugene.

“I reached the final through the skin of my teeth,” he said. “I did a lot of heat training because it was very hot this year. It rained this race and not my day. “

With 500 meters to go and in last place, Updike was just trying to finish.

“I honestly had just checked out,” he said. “Ever since I ran home I thought not to fall.”

One runner fell on the final barrier and three others on the final lap. Updike said he started chasing runners.

“And then someone fell into the water pit,” he said. “It really shows you that the steeple isn’t over until you cross the finish line.”

This year was actually the last Olympic attempt for the historic old field. Updike set his personal best in the newly updated stadium, which is still in the same location and on the grounds for the June Olympics and next year’s World Championships.

“From here, I’ll be going back to Flagstaff next week and going into Kansas City to drive another church tower. Then we’ll probably sit down and reevaluate how the rest of the season is going because things have changed a little.” “, he said.

Updike uses Flagstaff training because “I find it very beneficial to run fast and my body seems to like it. They just seem to be walking, breathing, and living up there, around a ton of really good athletes day in and day out, and that’s a big plus, and obviously you have the physiological benefits of hemoglobin and all of the science behind high altitude plugged. “

Updike ran for four years in Ketchikan (2006-10) with his twin brother Lucas under then coach Dan Ortiz, who is now a legislator.

Ortiz said he remembered seeing her run in middle school.

“You could tell even then that they had a natural ability,” he said. “The best part was when he was in college his coaches said he didn’t get there overtrained. I think that was my gift to her, I didn’t over-exercise him. He was a nice kid, easy smiling, easy to work with, and very trainable. He’s still a very nice guy. We still have conversations when he returns to Ketchikan. “

Updike said his brother got through middle school and half high school faster.

“I always followed him,” he said. “Then something happened and he chased me. It’s always been fun and positive. “

He said he ran in middle school because a student could get out of his final grade if he ran. He ran high school cross country and did three years (56th place, 13th and then fourth as a senior) in preparation for football.

“I was just running,” he said. “In soccer, I was the guy who played both JV and varsity, and in basketball they put me on the guy they didn’t want because I would watch him the whole game.”

Updike attended college in Eastern Oregon and won the NAIA National Obstacle Racing Championship as a senior in 2015.

“I wanted to play sports in college, but Southeast Alaska doesn’t get a lot of traction because we’re so isolated. I contacted the trainer and he responded. That was a big plus because I had a lot of coaches that didn’t. My sister (Bethany) was there so I knew someone there, and she had a car, which was a big plus too, and coach Ben Welch was from Alaska. He said I could go on and that was all I needed. “

Updike jokingly said that running over skunk cabbage and logs in Alaska was key.

“When I definitely grew up in Alaska, I was always in creeks, breakwaters and driftwood and avoided fighting in football and having a bit more agility while running helped,” he said. “If you’re a multi-part athlete in high school it’s a really good option, not a lot of people do it, it’s a tough race but pretty enjoyable.”

Five years in college with technical coaches honed his obstacle race and as a freshman he learned, “If you didn’t fall, you kept going.”

After college, he moved to Team Run Eugene and qualified for his first Olympic trails in 2016. He finished eighth at the 2019 US National Championships.

He would come back to coach the Kayhi Kings under Leigh Woodward when his schedule allowed.

“That’s exactly who he is,” said Woodward. “He’s a giver. He had extra time and knew he could help. If he was in town he would run with the kids. He could push my top runners … but then he would fall back and give words of encouragement to some of the back of the pack. He would visit with every single runner. He is unique. “

Updike said he learned psychological lessons, grit, and patience from Ortiz. While working with Woodward, he learned how to give back to the community and reassert the love and fun of running.

If possible, he also trains at a private high school in New York.

“That really helps me come back to why I started at the beginning and what it means to keep doing it, the purity,” he said. “It’s interesting. You can go anywhere in the world and just run on a trail and meet someone who just does what you love to do.”

Though he now has to use his marketing degree on his athletic image and says the best marketing is “running fast,” he said his inspirations come from a place most would not consider.

“To be honest, when I see someone running who might be a little overweight or run very slowly and it’s actually harder and takes more to be out there,” he said. “When people say they’re impressed, I’m out there, I say they should be impressed that this other person is out there. Some people spend maybe an hour fifty running 10 miles. I don’t know if I have that determination or determination to do so. They spend more time on their feet than I do. I can do more volume, but I’m also calloused. Many average runners are a lot tougher than they think. “

On Sunday, Updike met up with friends for a leisurely 14 mile run.

“We could all just go out and talk and run and just enjoy being in the woods together,” he said.

Above – Isaac Updike wins the 3,000-meter steeple hunt at the Oregon Relays on Saturday. Below – Updike on a training photo shoot in New York.

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