Interview with Jorge Torres

By Shannon Martin Morehouse

Jorge Torres, 27, of Boulder, CO, won his first national championship at age 11. He was a three-time Illinois high school cross country champion and he won the 1998 Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships and the 2002 NCAA Cross Country Championships. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 2003 and made the 5000-meter final at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships that year. In 2006, he won the 10,000-meter national title in his first race ever at that distance.

In 2007, Torres set a PR of 27:42.91 for 10,000 meters, but he also struggled with injuries and sub-par performances. Things changed when Torres and his twin brother, Edwardo, joined the Tempo Sports training group and began training under the guidance of their new coach, former marathon world record-holder Steve Jones. Torres was runner-up at the 2008 USA Cross Country Championships in February, and he won the U.S. 8K Championships in March. Later that month he finished 19th and was the first American at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Despite his successes so far this year, few counted Torres among the favorites in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field. But Torres made his first Olympic team with a third-place finish in the 10,000 at the Trials, behind Abdi Abdirahman and Galen Rupp.

New York Road Runners caught up with Torres in July and learned about what has contributed to his incredible performances this year, as well as his plans for Beijing and beyond.

New York Road Runners: I read that your junior high school track and field coach had you write down your long-term goals, and one of those goals was to make the 2008 Olympic team. Explain this goal-writing process.

Jorge Torres: I wrote down a couple of things, and my coach looked at the list, and said “No, no, no . . . I want you to write down everything you’re thinking of” [laughs]. So I sat there for another 15 to 20 minutes really thinking this through, and I wrote a list of things I wanted to accomplish in junior high, high school, college, and all the way to the professional level, which was the 2008 Olympic Games.

NYRR: Wow. Did you accomplish many of the other goals along the way?

JT: I would say I accomplished about 85 percent of the goals.

NYRR: What made you think of the 2008 Olympics? I find it very impressive that you envisioned such a huge goal at such a young age.

JT: Well, I had written down 2004, but I wrote down a question mark next to it. I then put down 2008 as the “for sure” year, figuring at would be at the right maturity level and about the time when I’d peak physically.

NYRR: And do you still have that piece of paper?

JT: [laughs] I do, actually. It’s in a shoebox that has all of my important papers from junior high and high school. It’s in my attic; I saw it just the other day and was thinking ‘Wow, I still have this thing.’

NYRR: Let’s talk about this year. You were runner-up at the USA Cross Country Championships, you won the USA 8K Championship, and now you’re an Olympian in the 10,000 meters. What sparked this resurgence?

JT: My new coach, Steve Jones, is definitely one of the reasons. Secondly, my training partners have been fantastic and supportive not just of me, but of one another, and that kind of synergy, you cannot buy. It’s something we feed off as athletes; I noticed this day in and day out that we’re all excited to be there. We’re all excited to help each other out. That was something I was lacking before.

I can train by myself, but there comes a point when I need an extra little help to get out the door or to focus on a workout, and I get this from the guys I’m working with now.

Also, because of developing this group, Tempo Sports, a bunch of runners here in Boulder meet more often. Before, there were just a bunch of runners scattered all over the place. We’re trying to make it so that all the runners in Boulder are welcomed to join. We’re in the first year of this idea, and it’s building steam. We’re hoping to keep it going in the right direction.

NYRR: It sounds like a great sense of community.

JT: Yes, exactly, and I have to say that the support of community organizations has helped me to reach my goals. For instance, Rally Sports has given us their gym to use for training. The staff there is fantastic and very enthusiastic about us training for our goals. New York Road Runners has been a big support to us too, and we really appreciate that.

NYRR: One of the things you have mentioned before about Steve Jones is that he works you guys hard, but that it feels easy. How exactly does that happen for you?

JT: That definitely has to do with the team synergy. When there are other guys doing the same thing that you are, it makes you happy to be doing what you’re doing. It could be a tough workout or an easy workout, and because we’re out there together, it’s always enjoyable and it makes the running that much easier.

NYRR: Do you have any specific role models that you look up to in the sport of running, or even outside the sport of running?

JT: In junior high and high school, it was difficult to find role models in our sport, because they just weren’t talked about, and there wasn’t the Internet craze back then. I guess you could’ve read bout people in publications, but I was just a high school kid [laughs], so I didn’t subscribe to anything.

But I did hear about Bob Kennedy at Foot Locker [the national high school cross country championships], and I aspired to be like him. In college, I started to hear more about Frank Shorter and Steve Jones because they lived in the Boulder community. As I came to know Steve Jones more over the years, I realized that he is one of the guys that I hope to be like when I’m older, not only as a runner, but also as a person.

NYRR: Have you started thinking about goals for Beijing and beyond the 2008 Olympics?

JT: You know, I have actually. I’m always reaching for new heights. I made the 2008 U.S. Olympic team; it took me a couple of days to digest that, and now I’m re-focused, training hard, and getting ready for Beijing. I think now is the most important time to focus because these opportunities only come once in a while. My focus is on trying to do well on a world stage. The Olympics are held for a reason, and the Olympic moments are the moments that everyone remembers. I want to be a part of one of those moments. I want to run a smart race and take advantage of this opportunity to be in the Olympic Games.

Beyond 2008, I’ll be focusing on 2012. I’ll still be at the right age, and I’m looking to move up to the marathon. I look at the success that Dathan [Ritzenhein] and Ryan [Hall] are having at that distance, and I believe I can run at their level. I’d like to be part of the marathon powerhouse that this country is becoming. We’re getting the ball rolling, running at a higher level, and it’s exciting to see.

NYRR: What’s going on between now and Beijing?
JT: I’ll do a time trial before I head out to Beijing, and then the next race will be Beijing. After that, if my body is still willing and wanting, I’ll go to Europe and try to run a couple fast 5Ks or at least a 5K and a 3K.

Interview conducted July 16, 2008 and posted August 15, 2008.