By Peter Gambaccini
John Crews is surely the only American runner of the 21st century who has run three marathons and still proudly remains undefeated. Crews, now a doctoral student in chemical engineering at North Carolina State in Raleigh, debuted at 26.2 miles with a 2:21:28 at the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh in 2008. This past May, he ran 2:19:31 at the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington and on November 22, he improved to a 2:17:15 at the Philadelphia Marathon. Crews came in first each time. He was the first American male winner in Philadelphia in nine years and earned $3,500. He warmed up for Philadelphia by winning the half-marathon at the Under Armour Baltimore Running Festival in October in 1:07:24. Crews competed as a North Carolina State undergraduate and was the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference indoor 5000-meter champion. While in high school in Virginia, he was second in the 5000 at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. Crews has run 3000 meters in 8:07 and 5000 meters in 14:01.
How soon after the end of your college eligibility did you do that first marathon, City of Oaks? Had you been thinking all along "when I get into the longer stuff, that's when I'm going to really start to shine?"
John Crews: I finished up my college eligibility that spring (of 2008), so basically, my next training cycle was geared toward City of Oaks (in the first week of November). And I always kind of wanted to run a marathon. I wasn't sure how serious I wanted to be. A former teammate of mine, Bobby Mack, was still running and working at a shoe store. And the owner, Mike Zimmerman at the Athlete's Foot in Raleigh, said "well, if you run in our jersey, we'll support you. Hop in some local races and see how you do." So I decided to get ready for City of Oaks and it ended up going surprisingly well.
You ran 2:21:28 there. Going in, what did you think you'd do?
JC: I thought I would be in-between 2:30 and 2:40, and I thought I'd be happy with anything under 2:30.
But obviously, you committed to a faster pace fairly early in the race, because you can't pick up all those minutes at the end.
JC: Right. I had no idea what I was doing. I was running with a former teammate who was a lot older than me, Devon Swann. He and I were running together through 15 miles, maybe about 17, and I was supposed at how easy they were feeling, the pace we were clicking off. It kept getting quicker and quicker, and I'd say "hey Devon, I think we're going to run 2:20 low." We were on 2:25 pace and it just kept going, and I ended up negative splitting that one, I think.
How much more mileage were you doing for that marathon than you'd done as an undergraduate?
JC: I would say about 20 miles per week more. Usually (now), I like to average 120 to 130 and a couple a little higher than that, but sustained around 130. Every cycle, I try and stay at 130 a couple of weeks longer.
After that first marathon win, were you thinking "maybe I can become a serious marathoner for awhile?"
JC: Yeah. the Raleigh course is a tough course. I haven't been on that many courses, but it's definitely the toughest of the three I've been on. And that first one really beat me up, too; it probably took me six weeks to recover from that, with knees and stuff having issues from that. Once I got back into training again, I started looking around for a spring one and everything I read said Key Bank in (Burlington) Vermont was the place to go. So I contacted them and they were just unbelievably supportive. They just made me feel very welcome and it was an absolute pleasure to participate in that race. I won that one with 2:19:31. That was a little tactical, but in that one I finally felt like a marathoner.
Well, you're an undefeated marathoner, then. After Philadelphia, you're three for three. Who else can say that?
JC: (Laughs). Yeah, that's true. Everyone's saying I've got to jump in one where I'll get beat. That'll come.
How'd you feel about your 1:07:24 half marathon in Baltimore as a lead-in to Philadelphia?
JC: On that one, I went in thinking there would be some 64 or 65-minute guys in it. I didn't know the others' PRs in the field. It was a windy day, in my opinion. I wanted to get closer to 65 or 66, but when it was windy earlier, it turned tactical between me and two others.
Well, now we have an American, Ryan Hall, who's run a 2:06 marathon and another, Meb Keflezighi, who's won the ING New York City Marathon. But it wasn't too long ago that a 2:17 like you ran in Philadelphia would get someone deals from certain professional groups and shoe contracts and all of that. You're still probably pretty high on the U.S. marathon list for 2009. What does this do to your desire or your feasibility of thinking of yourself as a professional runner?
JC: Well, right now, I'm pretty happy with the situation. I'm in graduate school, working on my doctoral degree. And Mike Zimmerman at Athlete's Foot gives me all I need. Although he probably cares a little more about the local races, he's very excited when I go win the bigger ones. I've recently started talking about "well, where do we go from here?" He gave me that initial support to keep running postcollegiately, so anything I do, I'd like to stay with him.
Are you still a volunteer assistant with the cross country and track program at North Carolina State?
JC: Yes. I'll hop in (to their workouts) more when it's beneficial to me than for them. They have a pretty big support group, but if Coach (Rollie) Geiger ever needed me, it wouldn't be a problem. But it's more that on long runs, things like that, I'll hop in and stuff.
Do you think of Coach Geiger as your coach still, or do you not have a coach?
JC: The assistant men's coach, Chris Seaton, was also a 2008 Olympic Trials qualifier, and I bounce ideas off of him. I would consider myself mostly self-coached but if I have something that I'm not sure is a good idea or not, I'll bounce it off of him.
We understand your fiancee is from the Philadelphia area, so at that marathon, you had a bit of a cheering squad.
JC: Yeah. It was nice having people at different points along the course. Cousins, aunts, and all her sisters were there, and she was running the 8k that day.
Obviously, your doctorate is a high priority. It doesn't sound like you're anticipating that much of a change in your situation. If some professional running group says "you have promise, come out and visit us," you aren't going to interrupt your life for that, are you?
JC: Well, hopefully, if I really get in gear, I could finish my doctorate by August or maybe next December. That leaves, what, a two-year window before the Trials ( actually, we don't know that answer to that yet)? That's when I might start entertaining other ideas.
Are you anxious to get in a spring marathon?
JC: Yeah... well, I think I might mix things up a little bit, hopefully step on the track some more in the spring. In my first marathon, I still had that track speed, that track feel, even though I wasn't a great track runner. I haven't contacted them, but right now, I'm leaning toward Vermont (the Vermont City Marathon) again.
So in the brief period you've been out of the NCAA ranks, this level of success and continual success as a marathoner has to be awfully gratifying to you?
JC: Yeah. After graduation, I definitely wanted running to still be a part of my life somehow, and it's definitely been better than I imagined.
And maybe in the spring, you'll be shooting for 2:15 or so?
JC: Yeah. Vermont took such great care of me there. I'll have some confidence to go after it a little bit. And after that, I'll probably start shooting for some of the bigger ones (marathons).
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