A Dozen Questions with Megan Venables
Megan has the distinction of being the fastest returner at Holmdel with an 18:01 to her credit at the Meet of Champions, which is 9th all-time at that venue. She also ran 10:33.25 in the Group 3 race last spring and has a track PR of 17:22.84 which she ran at the Nike Indoor Nationals last March.
Megan sure started the XC season off with a blast. At Briarwood she bested not only super-soph Sara Sargent but also the course record (by a whopping 46 seconds), becoming the first girl ever to run under 18:00 there at 17:39.4. Brian Gould, coach at West Windsor North was there to watch his sister run and proclaimed Megan’s race “equal to or better than Joe’s (Rosa) record last year” on the same course. Quite a compliment.
So here are our questions and Megan’s answers.
1. I’m going to guess that since “XC” is part of your e mail address and you keep running 5000s at the nationals, your first love is XC and the longer the distance, the better you like it. That about right?
Megan: Yes! For me the farther the distance, the better. I don’t have as much speed as I would like, but when it comes to distance I feel like I am much stronger. My favorite season is XC because of the challenge. The hills, sand, and different terrains make it so much more challenging, which I love. If it were longer than 3.1 miles it would be even better!
2. When did you start running seriously – high school?
Megan: I ran track in middle school, and even before that just to keep in shape, but it was nowhere near as competitive as high school. It was just something to do after school. But starting freshman year I completely dedicated myself to running. I became much more serious, and now it is pretty much my life.
3. So you’re the top returner at Holmdel this year, sitting at 18:01 which puts you at # 9 all-time, ahead of some great names – Smith, Trotter, Guiney, Sedberry, etc. Any specific goals for Holmdel this year or the season in general?
Megan: It feels amazing to be in the company of such great runners. My main goals this year are to win Meet of Champs and to make it to Foot Locker Nationals. I would love to come close to the record at Holmdel, but I know that is not an easy goal. I just have to keep pushing myself and stay focused and see what happens. I think if I stay healthy and keep training like I am now, I can improve tremendously on my times from last year. I would love to get 17:40 at Holmdel.
4. What about track? What do you see yourself doing there?
Megan: I want to break 17 minutes in the 5000 on the track and run low in the 10 minutes in the 3200 during track. If I feel good and stay focused the entire race, I really think I am strong enough this year to do it.
5. How much hill work do you do during XC season?
Megan: I do a little bit of work on hills, but not too much. In August my team goes to XC camp, where we pretty much run hills constantly. But after that we only work on hills a couple times. Most of our workouts are either repeats on XC courses or on the track.
6. What kind of art are you into?
Megan: Behind running, art is my second favorite thing to do. I take art lessons every week, where we use mediums like pencil, colored pencil, oil paints, and watercolor to create realist art. I love painting in watercolor, but any kind of art interests me. Mostly realist art and portraits.
7. You are one of the few females I know that has read Once a Runner. What did you think of it?
Megan: I loved the book! I usually hate reading, but I could not stop reading it. I think because as I was reading it was so easy to relate to everything that was happening. People who are not runners don’t really understand all of the thought, time, and pain that go into it. So it was nice reading a book that completely understood the life of a runner.
8. What school subject makes you want to pull your hair out?
Megan: I love school so much, but history is not fun at all. I don’t understand anything in history, and I cannot remember any historic facts for the life of me. I have no idea what is going on half the time, but if I just look like I’m listening and writing notes it usually works out fine.
9. What are you looking for in a college? Big/small, near/far, academics, athletics, etc? Have you narrowed your choices yet?
Megan: I am still exploring a lot of college stuff, and I do not have any strict specifications as of right now. I do want to stay fairly close to home, and I lean towards smaller schools. Academics are definitely important to me, but I think I would choose a school more for running than for the academics. I’m not completely sure, and I do not want to limit any options right now, but I think once I actually start taking official visits I will be able to be more specific about what I want.
10. So you know you are going to be marooned on a desert island for 2 weeks and you can only take 5 things with you (besides food and clothing). What are they?
Megan: Well, the first two things I would take anywhere would be my running shoes and my watch because I would go crazy if I couldn’t run there. I also have problems running without my watch, so that’s a must. I would take my phone to text my friends, and my laptop (until they ran out of batteries). The fifth thing I would take would be my watercolor painting supplies to paint there.
11. Were you born with your hair tied up in a bun and has anyone ever seen you without one?
Megan: It is so funny because people comment on my bun all the time. They always ask if I ever wear my hair down, and guys on my team threaten to pull it out ha ha. I just like it up and out of my way when I’m running. But surprisingly I do wear my hair down once in a while to school, and I even wore it in a ponytail today at my meet.
(NJR note: our undercover reporter discovered this photo which is proof that Megan can go bunless!)
12. At meets you are pretty much withdrawn and keep to yourself. Is that just race preparation and you’re different away from the track?
Megan: The day of an important meet I am extremely focused and I hate distractions. I like to go through the race in my head and think about what I am trying to achieve. It’s easier for me to prepare away from everyone. I even have to sit by myself on the bus (in the same seat every time). But once the race is over I’m fine. I love talking to runners from other teams after the race and on the bus home I talk to everyone.
photos fr Belmont Plateau courtesy of Don Rich (Penntrackxc.com)
