Unlike all other track and field events that happen at every meet, there is only one 10k race every season. On Friday, April 18, junior long-distance runner Abby Tapajna represented the Hamline University Track and Field team as the only 10k runner this season.
Traveling nearly two and a half hours to La Crosse, Wisconsin, Tapajna prepared for the long race ahead of them. A 10k is usually a breeze for Tapajna, since they have been running since the age of six. However, with changes in rules on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) end, this 10k brings on new challenges for Tapajna.
“I’m a little nervous because I have to wear spikes. The NCAA recently banned racing flats, which is what I wore last year. So my spikes have like half the cushion, and with my injury history, that I had years ago. So I am a little nervous, but I have been working on building confidence on that and working on getting comfortable with that. So I think I’ll be good, it just might hurt the next morning,” Tapajna said.
Tapajna started their collegiate running career at Hamline by running mid-distance in their first year. Before qualifying to run a 10k, Hamline requires student athletes to run for at least one year. With the change in miles being run comes different training to work on different aspects of running.
“Compared to my freshman year, my mileage has gone up drastically. I’m up to a maximum of 45 miles compared to 25 [in] my freshman year. And when I was in more mid-distance, my coach was worried about my form, so a lot of [training] was a lot more focused on speed, working on my form and doing more of those mid-distance races, which I hated. But it was good for me cause I had some pacing issues I needed to work through,” Tapajna said.
Currently, Tapajna is being coached by the Head Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach and Director of Track and Field Operations for Distance, Devin Monson (Class of 2012). Monson competed as a long-distance runner for the Pipers as an undergraduate himself. During his time here, he was named a three-time Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Champion in the 2010 men's cross country meet and in 2012, where he won the 5k indoor race and 10k outdoor race. Monson was also named a three-time All-American for his cross country season in 2010 and his track and field 2012 season for both 5k and 10k.
“Almost all of the situations that they will experience, I was in their shoes at one point. Everyone's college experience is different from their priorities, how they handle stress, to what sacrifices they make towards their goals academically and athletically. I make sure to sit down with each athlete and ask what they are hoping to get out of their college experience. Then I make a plan for those goals to be achieved,” Monson said via email.
Having a coach who was in their shoes, Tapajna has not only been learning from Monson but also has been looking up to him as a source of guidance when it comes to running long distances.
“He was a 10ker, so that definitely helps. Sometimes he motivates me by reminding me that I will run more 10ks in college than he’s run ever … and he’s done it before, so he knows. And when I was nervous about the spikes, he was actually like, ‘yeah, that’s what I did when I was in college, except the spikes were way less technologically advanced, so [they] were not that great, so you actually have better spikes, so you’ll be okay. I did it too.’ So it helps knowing he lived through it, and he’s still here, so clearly I’ll survive,” Tapajna said.
Tapajna was able to complete this year’s 10k race with a time of 40:31:01. With a long race running solo, Tapajna has to get creative to keep themselves running 25 laps solo.
“You’re going to think for the first five laps, you’re going to think for the last five laps and you’re going to zone out for the middle 15. My coach Devin has me clicking to a singular pace so all the laps start to blend together,” Tapajna said.
Tapajna might be the only person to represent Hamline at the La Crosse 10k race this year, but next year they will be joined by four more teammates and will have to pass their guidance and wisdom down to the new kids on the track.
Monson not only wants his team to excel in their Hamline athletic track and field careers, but he also wants to help them become confident in themselves outside of their time as a student-athlete at Hamline.
“You learn to deal with problems [and] failures weekly in your training. There are many people who have never struggled once in school, and then they get into their job and get yelled at [or] fail for the first time and they lose all confidence and can become shells of their former [selves].” Monson said via email, “My athletes learn to talk with anyone; they work on their social skills daily and with people they have never met before. They learn their self-worth [and] value and that is huge when looking for, applying to and during the interview for your first job. Grades are great, but no one is going to look and see if you got an A or a B+ in that class. They want to know if you can talk [and] socialize with others and articulate the knowledge you have.”