Interview with Cabell Midland sophomore Jacob Burcham,

Q: What were your thoughts about your race? How did it unfold?

Burcham: I ran the race just as coach and I planned to. I started the race in the pack and just held on and waited until the end to make a move.

Q: This was the biggest race of your life. Talk about what this experience was like for you as a whole - racing in France against the very best, training there, reflecting on far you have come to get here, etc.

Burcham: When I arrived in France the coaching staff told the athletes not to change anything training wise. We were told to do whatever we usually do before a big race and they just let us do our thing. They did influence us to drink water and eat, although the food there wasn't what I normally would eat. The competition was a little more intense than the dream mile that I ran in New York. The only differences were the international competitors and everybody in the race was either 16 or 17, allegedly.

Q: What was the key moment in your race that set the tone for how you finished?

Burcham: The anticipation that was building up every lap from holding back and staying in the midst of the pack was the key to my race. I was patient and waited for the right moment to make a move, which was about 300m out. I could feel the pack starting to fade and I knew that I had been waiting to leave them.

Q: In comparison to other races this season, how did you feel physically and mentally during the race? Did the jetlag affect you at all?

Burcham: I have never experienced jet lag, so no, it did not affect me. I felt great mentally because I had a coke and a good mindset before the race. That was the first coke I had had in a long while and I strongly believe the caffeine helped the mental aspect of my race. Physically, I felt great. The race didn't seem to take that much out of me. I actually felt worse after the 3:51 in the preliminary round than I did in finals where I ran 3:46.

Interview with Cabell Midland Coach Chris Parsons:

Q: How did he fare in the prelims? Place and time? Splits?

Parsons: He did what it took to make the finals. (4^th in heat and time qualifier for finals). It is one of 3 goals he set out for the World Championships. He now wants to place in the top 8 and score for Team USA and also wants to run sub 3:50. In the finals he went above and beyond by setting a new American Record for the 16-17 age group. He ended up 7^th (only .04 from 6^th) and by setting a new record and going sub 3:50. He hit all his goals at the World Championship. His 4:46.44 equates to a 4:03.20 1600 meters and a 4:04.61 mile.

Q: What does this mean for him?

Parsons: He knows his time equates to a 4:03.20 1600 and 4:04.61 mile and by setting a new American record for 16-17 age group, he is very pleased he hit all his goals at the Worlds.

Q: Tell me how his race unfolded. What was the strategy, considering he was going up against the best in the world?

Parsons: Not to go out too fast and just run the race you need to make finals. The African runners don’t play around and go out hard from the get go. Jacob stayed back from the 2 leading runners who took it fast and led the chase pack. This is a strategy he will adjust for the finals and just stay in the pack and get pulled along. By being the leader of a chase pack, Jacob was still doing all the work. In the Finals, he stuck to his strategy and stayed in the depths of the chase pack. Despite the African runners going out fast, so did the chase pack. Jacob said after the race, it was an easier effort being pulled along. He made his big move with 265 meters left in the race to go past the chase pack and only James McMurray from Great Britain responded to his move. Jacob got out leaned by only .04 by McMurray.

Q: How did you feel about his race? Where does he go from here to prepare for his junior season?

Parsons: Needless to say, I was ecstatic and the crowd around knew it, too by my reaction. I felt he executed the perfect race for himself and by doing so, he produced that monster time. Before Jacob Burcham traveled to Lille, France, for the IAAF Youth World Track & Field Championship, he had 3 goals on his mind. He wanted to make the 1500 Finals, which he did. He wanted to place in the top 8 and score for Team USA, which he did. And lastly, he wanted to run sub 3:50, which he crushed and set a new American Sophomore record with a time of 3:46.55, which the old record stood for 33 years. Jeff Warwick of Florida had the record of 3:48.40 set back in 1978. He also set a USATF age group record for 15-16 year olds. The old record was 3:54.02, set by Nathan Mathabane in 2007. For his Junior year, we just progressively increase his workload and stick to the 4 year plan we set before his Freshman year. Jacob has a promising running career ahead of him and it is my responsibility to make sure he receives the correct training program.

Q: As a coach this must be so exciting for you to watch your athlete compete overseas. Tell us what it was like to be there.

Parsons: The biggest challenge for me was the language barrier. I should have brushed up on some French, but we (Mike Burcham & myself) managed to get around and never get lost. I credit this to Mike Burcham. As far as watching Jacob compete on an international level is a credit to his running ability and the way he has responded to our training program. I know any coach would be proud of a runner like Jacob Burcham.