By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka High senior Joei Vidad looked like an Arctic explorer Saturday, clad in dark blue sweats and a large hoodie tied tightly over a runner’s hat exposing only a determined expression.
“I like to bundle up for three reasons,” Vidad said. “The first is to keep my muscles warm at all times, regardless of the temperature outside.”
It takes a lot to set a record: preparation, focus, fuel and climate.
“Second is how I don’t want to be exposed to the sun until I finish all of my races,” Vidad said. “Our coach taught us how the more exposure we have, the more energy it drains from our body. Of course I want to conserve as much energy as I can.”
Joei Vidad wins the 100 meter dash during the Region V Track and Field Championships in Juneau Saturday. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
Time will stay constant, moving second to second, minute to minute, until, eventually it passes by those trying to slow it down. Vidad has learned to flow along with the ride.
“Third, being bundled up sets the tone out for me,” she said. “It definitely helps me focus, especially when I have my headphones in. When my headphones are in and my hood is cinched, that’s when I think to myself that nothing else matters except the race I’m about to run.”
When the season started, Sitka coach Jeremy Strong posted a sheet of all the Region V records so his athletes could set goals for themselves.
“The 400 meter was an event that I was certain to run this season,” Vidad said. “My goal for the season was to PR and claim another school record. The 400 meter was my target. So yeah, I guess it was kind of on my mind for some time. The thought of the record definitely motivated me when we were running 400 repeats or doing broken 400s.”
Those early-morning and late-evening practices, in which her body strained against itself, fast twitch muscles firing, a caloric furnace igniting each stride, seemed so long ago when the starter’s gun sounded on Thunder Mountain High School’s Falcons Field.
Fans begin screaming once the smoke leaves the barrel. Each athlete explodes forward.
“The race is very painful,” Vidad said. “But you forget about that. You feel like you accomplished something just finishing it.”
First off the block, Vidad hits full stride in six to seven steps.
Her race strategy for the 400 meters is to go max velocity for the first 100 meters, just as Olympic sprinters approach the event.
The plan then is to float, or strong stride, the back straight stretch for another 100 meters to 125 meters.
“After that, you would want to begin accelerating again on the curve and hit max velocity,” Vidad said. “From there, you just gas it and use whatever is left in the tank until you cross the finish line.”
Vidad will hit roughly 14 seconds in the first hundred meters, and then 15 seconds each subsequent 100.
The last 150 meters are when the body has ignited every muscle in unison, draining a highly explosive fiber expansion, and now relies on the mind to clear the pain threshold.
At this point Vidad is 10 yards to 20 yards ahead of her opponents.
“It felt really good until about the 250 meter mark,” Vidad said. “In my opinion, the hardest part of that race is just gutting it out for the last 150 meters and just using whatever is left in the tank. It honestly feels like a fridge is strapped onto your back and every muscle in your body wants to give out in the last 150 meters.”
The finishing line flashes underneath.
Nineteen years ago, Haines runner Sarah Lende set the Region record with 1:00.3.
A more precise electronic timing shows Vidad has crossed in 59.71 seconds.
Vidad doesn’t slow after crossing the line. Her body does. She just deeply inhales the moment.
In five seconds, she has slowed to a walk, turns and searches for the nearest competitor to congratulate. Some are still finishing.
“The race felt painful but in a good way,” she said. “I felt that I did what I need to do. My hope is to go faster but that’s not always guaranteed in such circumstances. It really depends on strategy.”
The 400 was not Vidad’s fastest run of the day.
Earlier she won the 100 meters in 12.81. A respectful time for an athlete heading to the University of Alaska Anchorage on a track scholarship.
But it was the run later in the day, after the 400 and just prior to running the anchor leg to help three teammates (senior Haley Bartolaba, sophomore Lindsey Bartolaba, freshman Tawny Smith) win the 4x400 relay in 4:17.36.
It was a run that she would not set the Region record in.
Twenty-five years ago, Ketchikan’s Pam Daubersmith wowed the 1990 track crowd with a 25.91 in the 200 meters.
In that day and age, everything was hand timed. Now, if an event less than 400 meters is hand timed, 0.24 is added to the finishing time, since reaction to the gun time is slower, meaning runners have a minuscule advantage.
Today, electric timers are connected to the gun. Time starts instantaneously.
In winning Saturday’s 200 meters, Vidad hit a personal best 25.93, just .03 off the record. A record, that if all the numbers geeks crunched, would show she won by 0.21.
“Yeah, I was .03 seconds away from the record,” Vidad said. “I’m not too stressed about it though because I’m still pretty happy with my result. I PRed in the 200 meters! I care more about beating my own personal record than anything else other than helping my teammates run. I’m very excited for state. My goal isn’t necessarily to win, but definitely to PR. I’ve learned to enjoy PR’ing way more than winning.”
