The scenarios under which North Yarmouth native Ben True could qualify for his first appearance in a world championship track and field meet are varied and could get complicated. He prefers a more simple approach to this weekend’s national meet in Eugene, Oregon.
“It’s a race,” he said. “If you win the race, you’re going to make the team. That’s what you’re trying to do when you get on the line.”
TRUE WINS in 2015
March 14: Gate River 15K in Jacksonville, Fla.
April 18: BAA 5K in Boston
May 30: Healthy Kidney 10K in New York City
June 13: Diamond League 5,000M in New York City
MAINERS AT NATIONALS
Six Maine athletes will compete in the USATF outdoor championships in Eugene, Oregon. Distances are in meters. All times Eastern.
THURSDAY
Women’s shot put: Becky O’Brien, 9:25 p.m.
Men’s 1,500 prelim: Will Geoghegan, 9:45 p.m.
Men’s 10,000: Ben True, 11:15 p.m.
FRIDAY
Women’s 1,500 prelim: Rachel Schneider, 8:55 p.m.
Men’s 3,000 steeplechase prelim: Henry Sterling, 9:10 p.m.
Saturday
Men’s 1,500 final: 5:20 p.m.
SUNDAY
Men’s 5,000: Ben True, Riley Masters, 1:45 p.m.
Women’s 1,500 final: 5:40 p.m.
True is one of the six Mainers scheduled to compete at historic Hayward Field this weekend. He plans to run the 10,000 meters Thursday night and the 5,000 on Sunday morning. Joining him in Sunday’s race will be Riley Masters of Bangor.
Will Geoghegan, a Brunswick native and fellow Dartmouth alumnus, will run the men’s 1,500 preliminary Thursday night in hopes of advancing to Saturday’s final. Similarly, Sanford native and Georgetown graduate Rachel Schneider will run the women’s 1,500 prelim Friday night with the final scheduled for Sunday.
Cumberland native and fellow Greely High grad Becky O’Brien will take part in the women’s shot put Friday night and is ranked 10th. South Freeport native Henry Sterling, another Dartmouth graduate, will run the 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday night.
For the most part, a top-three finish in any event translates to a berth on the United States team scheduled to compete at the world meet in Beijing at the end of August. But a qualifying standard must be met as well and within a certain window of time (which opened in October and continues until Aug. 9).
True already has the 10,000-meter standard of 27 minutes, 45 seconds, but not the 13:23 needed for the 5,000 – even though it’s a time he passed repeatedly last year and went as low as 13:02 last May.
Four runners in the 10K have faster qualifying times: Galen Rupp, Diego Estrada, Hassan Mead and Shadrack Kipchirchir. In the 5K, only Rupp and Mead are ranked above True.
Two years ago in Iowa, when True tried to qualify for the worlds, he was a frustrating fourth in both events. In the 2012 Olympic trials, also in Eugene, Lyme disease led to a sixth in the 5K and a 12th in the 10K.
“I think he’s a better 5,000 runner,” said True’s coach, Tim Broe, “but there’s an element of … he needs to make a World Championship team.”
Broe likened True’s plight to Phil Mickelson, who long held the title of Best Golfer Who Never Won a Major before breaking through at the 2004 Masters.
This year True has won four major races and more than $60,000. He set an American record of 13:22 at the Boston Athletic Association 5K in April and earlier this month became the first American man to win a Diamond League 5,000 track race when he outkicked two Olympic medalists (Nick Willis of New Zealand and Thomas Longosiwa of Kenya) under brutally hot conditions in New York.
He also won his third straight national 15K title at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville in March and, against a strong field, the Healthy Kidney 10K in New York in late May.
“He’s got all the skills to beat anybody right now,” Broe said. “I think this is going to be a big weekend for him. Everybody in Ben’s camp is looking forward to it because they know it’s his time.”
All this success comes after True had one of his worst races in February at the U.S. cross country championships in Boulder, Colorado, failing to make the team for the world championships in March in China. True had trained at altitude in Boulder instead of his home base of Hanover, New Hampshire.
“Altitude really didn’t sit well with me,” he said. “I kind of knew going into the race that I was a little run down, but thought I still could be all right and still make the team. I felt fine at the beginning of the race but the way altitude works, when it hits you, it his you hard. A couple miles were excruciatingly painful.”
True’s turnaround will be part of the story this weekend in Oregon. A much larger story involves doping allegations surrounding Rupp; his coach, Alberto Salazar; and the Nike Oregon Project. On Wednesday, Salazar posted a 28-page response to accusations of doping and misuse of prescription drugs.
“There are rumors that have been ongoing for years,” said True, 29, who first competed against Rupp at the 2002 Foot Locker cross country meet while both were high school juniors. “To see the allegations come out to the public is interesting to see. I think 20 or 21 people have come forward as witnesses, so it’s looking like there’s probably some truth behind the matter.”
If the allegations prove true, True wants swift punishment.
“Anytime you have cheaters, it’s disrespectful not just for other runners but for the entire sport,” True said. “It’s sad. I hope more investigation goes on and the truth comes out.”
Improved testing has led to a cleaner sport, True believes, although he cannot be sure.
“I don’t run in those circles,” he said. “The biggest thing you can see is that people just aren’t running the same ridiculous times they have in the past.”
Whatever happens in Oregon, True plans to compete in Europe in July on the Diamond League circuit, probably at 5,000 meters, particularly if the qualifying times from Sunday’s race (moved to 10:45 a.m. locally because of 90-degree temperatures expected in the afternoon) don’t meet the world standard.
Last October, True married an Olympic triathlete, Sarah Groff, and both seem on track to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
She’s currently ranked among the country’s top three triathletes.
Last August, True came back to Maine for the Beach to Beacon 10K and finished third behind a pair of Kenyans. Although unlikely, True didn’t rule out a return.
“We’ll see,” he said. “It’s not written off. There is a faint possibility.”
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