Fur Seals, Steeplechase, and Big Head Todd: THE SCOTT Dvorak Story
By
Woody Green
of
RUNNERS NICHE
Scott Dvorak has been running at a high level for many
years. He started at Ocean Park High School in Florida,
where he feels that a wise coach held him back from doing
too much training early in his career. He ran a 4:27 mile
and 9:35 two-mile, then moved on to Bevard College and
North Carolina State. A solid performer through his college
career, he discovered he was a good steeplechase runner in
his senior year when he clocked 8:57.
Scott managed to lower his steeplechase time to 8:39.6 and
make a name for himself nationally as a top distance
runner. Now concentrating on the 5,000 and 10,000 he has
continued to improve and placed 6th in the 1997 USATF
nationals for 5,000 meters. While he had a down year last
year due to injury, Scott is upbeat and has his eyes on the
big prize, a spot on the Olympic team in 2000.
This North Carolina resident's interests are certainly not
limited to running, though. He enjoys music, drawing,
windsurfing, mountain biking, and he even does some
modeling to earn a few extra bucks. He also spends a good
deal of time in front of his computer, working as a
WebMaster and updating his personal web site.
When asked how he balances all his interests and active
lifestyle with his running, he said, "It's always
difficult, and I really have to focus sometimes on making
planned time for my training, and not merely trying to
'fit' it in. Certainly, there are times when 'life's little
hand grenades go off', and I have to replan things, but
I've found that if I begin each day with a set plan of when
I'm going to train, where I'm going to train, and how I'm
going to train, then it becomes more the priority, and not
an afterthought. Running is not the number one thing in my
life, but when it's time to do it, it is!"
Good employment situations and a support crew of friends
and family have helped as well. "I've been fortunate enough
to find jobs that are somewhat understanding of my running
and my goals. I used to work for a sports management
company, and they gave me a lot of latitude when it came to
training and racing. Now, I work as a WebMaster for a
company called Self Source here in Charlotte. My boss is a
guy named Bill Taylor, who was a national class runner in
the late 80's and early 90's. Having an employer who
understands what is needed to achieve the goals that I've
set for myself in running is definitely a plus! I generally
do my morning runs at lunch now, and if an employer is
understanding of that, it makes it a whole lot easier."
While it may be tough to fit running into a busy schedule,
not running at all due to an injury last year was worse.
Then, he had the long road to recovery. "Fortunately I had
the understanding of a lot of people including Christie
(his fiancee), my family, my coach Jim Cooper, and my
sponsor Brooks, who still had faith in me."
"I had some chronic knee pain that wouldn't go away. I had
also had some other things happen in my life that left me a
little emotionally wrecked as well, and at that point, I
wasn't sure that I ever even wanted to put on a pair of
training shoes again. I still had my goals in running, but
I wasn't sure if I had it in me to do the work to get back
to where I was. I was just drained all around."
It wasn't easy for this elite runner to start over after a
long lay-off. "It wasn't until August that I really started
to train again," he said, "and regain some of the 'fire and
desire'! I told my coach Jim Cooper recently, that if I
ever miss that much time again, I don't know if I will make
it back. It's just really difficult when you fall out of
your running routine for a long period of time, to try and
make it a daily part of your life again. The fact that I
would go out and suffer through a 4-mile run didn't make it
any easier, knowing where I had once been. And believe me,
I suffered through a lot of them this past summer!"
Scott seems to be quite the adventurer. He has traveled to
faraway spots like Vietnam for a bicycle trip and
Antarctica, where he competed in the Antarctica Marathon in
1997.
Of his travels to the southernmost reaches of the globe, he
says, "When I agreed to do the event for World T.E.A.M.
Sports, I decided that I would try and not deviate too much
from the plan that I had set for my spring and summer
season. The focus for me was to just get through it without
damaging my upcoming track season. I basically continued to
do the same work that I would have done otherwise, but I
bumped my long runs up a little from 14 or 15 miles to
around 16 to 18 miles. Don't misunderstand me though, I
went down there with a serious frame of mind."
Running in the Antarctic summer, "it was 28 degrees with a
wind chill of -2 degrees. The first part of the race we
went into the wind, so I had a lot more clothing on. The
wind was by far the worst part, especially on the run up
the glacier. It was a crosswind, and you really had to dig
in to keep from getting blown down the thing.
"The race was predominantly run on a dirt road, which was
muddy at times, but for the most part fairly dry. We ran
about 3 miles up and down the glacier, and there was some
very rocky terrain that we had to navigate before and after
hitting the glacier. For the most part, I was able to carry
a good pace over the terrain. I ran 2:23:11, a Continental
Record for Antarctica. Only 7 people in the world can make
that claim! It's stretching it a little for a 'claim to
fame', but I'll take it!"
During the run he came upon a couple of fur seals in his
path. These animals can be vicious at times, so he had to
take a wide path around them. "That wasn't so much a
frightening experience as it was a wake-up call," he said.
"Up until that point, it had just been another cold run. I
mean, I knew where I was, but I could have been in the
middle of North Dakota in 28-degree weather and wouldn't
have known much of a difference, it would have felt the
same. But when I came around that turn and saw two big Fur
Seals in the middle of the trail I was like, 'Holy $#%@,
I'm at the bottom of the world running a marathon!' It just
really sunk in of what an incredible experience I was
having! One that only a handful of people would ever
experience!"
For many people, just trying to run the 3000-meter
steeplechase, a track event run over heavy hurdles with a
water jump each lap, would be wild enough. This was Scott's
primary event for a while, but he says, "I think my steeple
days are coming to a close. In '94 I was in Vancouver, at
the Harry Jerome Meet. It had been raining all day, and the
conditions were pretty ugly. I was boxed pretty well. We
were a mile into the race and I wasn't getting a clear view
of the barriers as I was approaching them. Going over a
hurdle on the backstretch, I slammed my trail leg knee into
the barrier and it completely flipped me. It was probably
one of the most shocking things I've every experienced."
Leaving the steeplechase behind makes sense in ways other
than simply saving body parts, too. "With the improvement
that I've had in 5000 and the fact that my knees aren't
what they used to be, I'm more inclined to stay away from
the steeple. I'm also hoping to run my first 10,000 on the
track in the summer, so I may focus on either the 5,000 or
the 10,000 for 2000."
When asked why the Kenyans seem to have such a strangle
hold on the Steeplechase in international competition,
Scott said, "I think they're just really talented and do a
lot of work. Most of them aren't really beautiful hurdlers,
but they can run like mad in between the barriers. They
also have a fearlessness... They have a strangle hold on
distance running in general, not just the steeple. I would
prefer to concentrate less on why they're so good, and more
on how we, as Americans, can get that good!"
What will it take for that to happen? "I think U.S.
distance running is taking the correct steps to see
that there are Americans once again competing with the best
in the world. The programs that are being instituted are
right on target. When I first came out of school there was
very little. Now, with some of the grassroots programs that
are starting, I think there is the potential for great
improvement. The training groups that are starting to form,
like the guys in Boulder and in Washington, D.C. will help,
as well the grants that are being made available. Also,
more opportunities to race, like the CAN-AM Series, will
help. I think they need to continue to focus on the
developing athlete, but also not forget the guys like
myself who have been at the grindstone for longer. I only
wish that they hadn't waited for things to get so bad
before they started trying to make improvements."
One of the programs that helped many U.S. distance runners
was the high altitude elite distance camp in Utah in 1997.
Scott was one of the participants there.
"That was another great experience! I would like to see
more of that take place in the future. The camp brought
together some of the best guys in the country to train for
4 1/2 weeks in Park City, Utah. Guys like Brad Barquist,
Dan Middleman, Dan Browne, Scott Strand, Gary Stolz and
Francis O'Neil. By spending time with them, we were able to
not only trade off on training ideas and thoughts, but also
developed a lasting camaraderie and friendship between us.
There was a study that was taking place around us as well
which focused on the 'Live High, Train Low' Theory, the
idea being that by living at 8000 feet, and doing our
interval work at 4000 feet, we were able to get the
beneficial effects of living at altitude, without the
taxation that it brings to the body when training at high
altitude." Scott hopes to take advantage of some high
altitude training later this year, perhaps in the mountains
of Arizona.
Scott's focus for this year and next are pretty clear.
"Obviously the big one is the Olympic Team in either the
5000 or possibly the 10,000. Everything else is focused
around that, the World Trials this June, possibly Europe or
the CAN-AM Series, Mt. SAC or Penn Relays the following
year.
"I feel like I'm capable of running in the 13:20's this
year, but I've got some work to do to get there. I'm
mentally very rested and hungry right now. Taking that time
off was the best thing that I could have done. I'm very
optimistic. I feel like there is a wave of momentum
beginning to be built with running in this country again.
Guys are talking about running fast again and there is
excitement in the air when you hear people talk about the
near future."
With his running back on track and his employment situation
looking good, you might think that completes the story.
But, Scott is more than just a runner and an important part
of this man's story happened in April at a rock concert he
attended with his girlfriend, Christie.
Scott tells it like this, "Her name is Christie Webb, and
she is an incredible person! She works as the Director of
Wellness for the county, basically overseeing the physical
wellness programs for all county employees. I asked her to
marry me on stage at the Big Head Todd and the Monsters
concert here in Charlotte. The group is her favorite band,
and I thought it would be a great way to do things and make
it something that she and everyone else would remember. I
was able to get in touch with the band's manager, and
although he wasn't quite sure how we'd do it, he said that
they were game to give it a try.
"When she and I got to the concert, I sneaked away to a
port-a-john and called the band's manager on a cell phone.
He had 2 backstage passes for us, but I had to sneak away
to get them. I came up with a bogus story of having to go
find one of my friends, and went and got the passes. The
plan was that Jeff (the band's manager) would act like he
was an old college friend who was now a roadie with the
band, and that he'd gotten me the backstage passes. I went
back and found Christie and let her know that an old
college buddy of mine had managed to come up with the
passes and we were going to get to watch the show from the
side stage. She was elated! We said good-bye to our friends
and proceeded backstage.
"I had made sure to tell all of our friends, as well as
Christie's parents, what was about to transpire, so they
were all in the crowd. We went backstage, and were hanging
out with the band and Jeff. It was funny because, Jeff and
I were having this false conversation about our college
days that never happened. Meanwhile, all the guys in the
band knew what was going on, so they keep giving me a hard
time behind Christie's back. About 10 minutes before the
band was supposed to go on, Jeff asked me if I could help
him move some things up on stage, so I went up on stage
with him. Then I asked Christie to come up and check it
out. She wasn't really wanting to get up on the stage where
people could see her, but after some prodding she did. We
were sitting off on the side stage looking out on this sea
of people and talking about how cool it all was. Christie
still had no idea was about to happen. There was a big
group of our friends right down in the front row. At this
time I was pretty nervous. Then Jeff comes up to me and
says, "Hey Scott, the band's about to go on, could you go
out and introduce them?" Without missing a beat I said
'sure,' got up and began walking out onto the front of the
stage. I turned around to see Christie sitting there with
her jaw dropped wide open, wondering what the heck was I
doing?
"I took the mic in complete tunnel vision and yelled, 'Are
there some Big Head Todd fans out there?' The crowd
erupted. I went on to tell them that the band would be out
there in a minute but first I had a little personal
business to take care of. I said that I've got a huge Big
Head Todd fan back stage, and I needed their help to help
me get her out, cause she has know idea what's about to hit
her. The crowd erupted again. I looked backstage and saw
Christie with her hands in her face either laughing or
crying hysterically, I couldn't tell! I saw Jeff run over
to her and tell her something, probably that she needed to
get out there! Christie came out, and when she got up to
me, I dropped down on bent knee, took out the ring, and
simply said, "Marry Me!" It was awesome, she took the ring,
and gave me this huge hug and a kiss, and the crowd was
going nuts."
When Scott talks about his future in running, he says,
"I'd like to be thought of as a legitimate shot at a spot
on the Olympic Team at the end of this year. Whatever it
takes to do that."
With a rock concert proposal and an Antarctic marathon he's
gone literally and figuratively to the end of the earth in
pursuit of his life goals. You've got to figure the man's
got a shot at anything he puts his mind to.
Visit Dvorak's web site at:
http://www.concentric.net/~steepler/
