New York Is a Step Toward Olympics for Ambitious Smyth

Patrick Smyth was 15 years old when he had his first Olympic experience. Nine years later, he hopes to take a step toward his second one in the NYC Half.

Smyth, a native of Rock Springs, WY, was a student at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City in 2002 when the Winter Olympics came to town. His school made the most of the opportunity. “Judge gave us two weeks off to immerse ourselves in the experience,” Smyth recalls. “We took mini-courses related to the Olympics, and I took one focused on biathlon. I learned how to cross country ski and shoot, using a paintball gun. We also studied the rules, and we even got tickets to the gold medal round at the end of the course.”

The Olympics also offered a practical benefit for Smyth. The Utah Olympic Oval, built for speed skating, is surrounded by a 442-meter indoor Mondo track. It was there that Smyth began to shift his athletic focus from basketball to running. From the track in Salt Lake City, he went on to podium finishes in the last two USA Half-Marathon Championships.

“The Olympic Oval was a great facility, and it helped spur my running because I was able to get quicker times than a lot of high schoolers who were running on tight 200-meter flat tracks. I was able to put good times on the board early on.”

His older sister Kathleen was also instrumental in the switch. She’d traded soccer for track at Judge, and she eventually earned a running scholarship to Boston College. Judge coach Daniel Quinn helped her develop as a runner, and he suggested that Patrick try cross country to get fit for basketball.

“I ended up making the varsity squad in cross country wearing hand-me-down running shoes and basketball shorts,” Smyth says with a laugh. “It was great to find a sport I was good at, and a good coach who believed in my talent. By my senior year of high school, I was completely focused on running.”

Smyth’s breakthrough came in October 2009, when he placed third in the USA 10-Mile Championship in Minneapolis. A month later, he took a leave of absence from the University of Notre Dame to pursue a professional running career. (He has since completed his BA in history.)

In January 2010, Smyth finished second in the USA Half-Marathon Championships in Houston, running a PR of 1:02:01. In March, he was the first American finisher in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, placing 35th overall, and in June he took third place in the 10,000 meters at the USA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, IA.

As a member of the Mammoth Track Club in Mammoth Lakes, CA, Smyth now trains under coach Terrence Mahon alongside running stars like ING New York City Marathon 2009 champion Meb Keflezighi. Having begun 2011 with a third-place finish at the USA Half, he’s looking to PR in New York.

A good result in NYC would set Smyth up for his marathon debut in London on April 17. From there, he’ll focus on the U.S. Olympic Trials and a return to London for the 2012 Olympics. This time, he aims to be a competitor, not a schoolboy spectator.

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