Athlete: Bethanie Brown
Year: Senior
School: Waterville High School
Location: Waterville, ME
Mile PR: 4:51.54
3200m PR: 10:13.90
Bethanie Brown of Maine — whose diverse running experiences include a 10-mile workout with Joan Benoit Samuelson, a breakthrough performance in a race against boys, and severe dehydration issues in both track and cross country — collected four gold medals last Saturday in the Maine State Class B Championships on a scorching hot day in Bath. Brown, an 18-year-old senior at Waterville High, won the state 1600m, 800m and 3200m in a three-hour time span, and then topped off the day by anchoring her team to the 4 x 400m relay title.
State triple: At 12:50, Brown won the 1600m by 11 seconds in 4:56.34. At 3:00, she won the 800m in 2:16.30. And at 4:00, Brown captured the 3200m by 49 seconds in 10:36.36. About an hour later, her foursome concluded the meet with a 4:10.19 4 x 400m victory. “I could have gone harder in the 1600,” she said, “but I had to watch how I spread out my energy.” Waterville swept the boys and girls class B team championships.
Heat issues: With a sudden heat wave gripping the East, Brown was careful to take in sufficient fluids, keep ice on her neck, and walk around with an umbrella for some shade. “Bethanie minimized her warm-up to avoid overheating but still ran well in every race,” said Waterville coach Ian Wilson. “It’s the best triple I’ve ever seen her do.”
Weather worries: At state, Brown said she was nervous about the heat because of previous episodes. Last year at New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., after running the 5,000m (17:11.14 for seventh) and 2-mile (a faltering 10:47.33) on successive days, Brown felt dizzy and was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was treated with an I.V. solution. Doctors told Brown that she had actually drank too much water — a condition known as hyponatremia, which can result in death. Overnight Brown lost nine pounds of water. The next day Brown flew home, upset that she had to skip the nationals mile.
More racing: This Saturday in New Britain, Conn., Brown will run the New Englands, in which she is the defending 1600m and 3200m champion. She was unsure of her events. “But not a triple,” she said. Then, on June 14–16, Brown will conclude her high school career with another 5,000m and 2-mile at Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro. She should contend for all-American honors in both events.
Great coaching: “It has not sunk in yet that I will not be returning to Waterville track,” said Brown. “It’s been such a great experience.” Brown attributed much of her success to coach Wilson, who, she said, inspired her to work hard and “would get the whole team excited with his motivational stories.”
Moving on: Brown will do her college running at the University of Connecticut. Brown said that UConn offered an array of educational options, was only a four-hour drive from home and that overall the team “felt right.” She also visited Dartmouth, Stanford, Oregon and Virginia.
Mixed success: On May 13, Brown achieved her best performance to date, a nationally-ranked 10:13.90 3200m PR, in a race with both boys and girls. It was a small league meet and officials combined the girls and boys into one race of 20 runners. Brown chased the boys through a controlled 5:07 first mile and came home in 5:06.90, in fourth place. (A week earlier at the Loucks Games in White Plains, N.Y., Brown set an all-time Maine girls mile record of 4:51.54.)
Smart training: Brown, 5-foot-3 1/2 and 115 pounds, built up to 50 miles a week as a senior, with a weekly long run of 11 to 13 miles, but had done little interval work until this spring. After she started doing 200s and 400s, Brown felt that much stronger in rounding out her program.
Winter work: Running through the Maine winter in below-zero wind-chill is no picnic. Brown bundled up, put on her ski mask, and ran. Once, during a heavy snowstorm when school was closed, coach Wilson notified the team that they could do a weight-training workout that evening at school — if they could get there. Wilson had to maneuver his four-wheel drive truck through snowdrifts to make it to the school. Once he did, he said, “In walks Bethanie, sweaty and covered in snow and slush. She’d run through the storm.”
Cross country: Brown won the state class B 5K cross country title last fall by 64 seconds. She took seventh in the New Englands with another heat illness (this time drinking too little) and was 11th at the Foot Locker Northeast, just missing a top-10 nationals qualifying berth for San Diego. Brown shrugged off the near-miss. She was exhausted from doing all of her college visits last fall.
Joanie journey: After meeting that other notable Maine runner, Joan Benoit Samuelson, at a 10K road race a year ago, Brown was invited by the Olympic marathon champion to visit her at her Freeport home, about an hour from Waterville. They went on 10-mile run and Joanie gave Bethanie some advice on choosing a college and being a team leader. “It was so exciting,” said Bethanie. “She’s so humble and sweet.”
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
