Interview with Neely Spence

By Shannon Martin

For Neely Spence, 17, from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, running is a family affair. Her father, Steve Spence, was a 1992 Olympian marathoner and now serves as the cross country and track and field coach for Shippensburg University. Her mother, Kirsten, a certified teacher, boasts a 17:00 5K road PR, and her 14-year-old sisters, twins Reynah and Margeaux, are already running sub-7:00 miles in 5Ks that they compete in for “fun.”

Spence is a home-schooled high-school senior who has been able to run for Shippensburg High School for the past two years. She won the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships last year and this year. She finished eighth at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships last year and hopes to finish in the top five on Saturday, December 8.

For the past two years, Spence has reaped benefits from training under her high school coach Randy Holtry during the dual-meet season and training under her father’s direction during the post-season. She also feels that horseback riding has greatly benefited her as a runner.

Fast-women.com spoke with the eloquent and upbeat Spence after she finished a long training run with her father. She talked about her love of cross country and how she has tweaked her training this year. She also informs us about her decision to attend Shippensburg University next year and compete for their cross country team,.

Fast-women.com: Let’s begin by having you discuss the workout that you did today.
Neely Spence: Okay. Today, I had a long run. I ran with my dad and one of his former athletes. We ran for 90 minutes at about 7:00 to 7:15 pace.

FW: How did that run feel for you?
NS: It felt really good today. I really enjoy long runs [laughing]; they’re kind of one of my specialties. I had the race of course this past Saturday [the Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships] and then Monday I did an endurance-based workout on the track and then I did a recovery run yesterday and a long run today, so the last two days felt great.

FW: Can you share with us the workout that you did on Monday?
NS: I did a 10-minute warm-up and then 20 minutes around the track at six-minute pace, and then I did 3 x 400 at 75 [seconds], and then I did a mile at six-minute pace and then I did a cool-down.

FW: That sounds tough!
NS: It was; the 20-minute part was the hardest. I hadn’t done a tempo like that in a long time so I really had to focus to get through the last 10 minutes. It went well; I was pleased. I think I was still a little tired from Saturday and it was pouring down rain and 40 degrees on Monday, which didn’t help.

FW: That doesn’t sound pleasant at all. That’s great that you were able to tough it out. Tell me about your race on Saturday. You won again this year; how did you feel out there?
NS: It was less stressful this year than it was last year. Last year, my goal was just to qualify [for Foot Locker] and I started feeling good in the middle of the race and just kept moving up and I took the lead with only 100 meters to go. Last year, I really had no clue that I won until I crossed the finish line. I thought to myself “Wow, did I really just do that?” [laughs]

Foot Locker is really the reason why I started running. When I was in eighth grade, I watched Katelyn Kaltenbach win it and I looked over at my dad and said to him, “You know, it would be really cool if I could do that.” And he said to me “All you would have to do is qualify for the race, and there’s no reason that you couldn’t, so we gotta start training.” So, I was 14th at regionals my freshman year and 19th my sophomore year because I was struggling with low iron. So, coming back last year, all I wanted to do was qualify, and to win was just a dream come true; it was amazing. I went out to nationals with lower expectations because I had already accomplished my goals.

This year, my ultimate goal was to make it to nationals again, and if something went wrong, I felt like I still had a pretty large margin for error, which is nice. Last year, I didn’t have that confidence at all! [laughs] I actually did have to use that margin for error this year because I had a couple of incidents at the beginning of the race. I had two girls go down right in front of me and I had some girl accidentally trip me and I almost fell. The first three quarters of a mile were just crazy because I think there were a lot of girls who thought they had a chance to place in the top 10; it was just ruthless out there. Everyone was jostling for position and it went out really fast with a lot of girls in the mix.

I was thinking to myself, “It’s a good thing it’s my fourth time running in this race.” I know if this would’ve happened my freshman or sophomore year, I would’ve flipped out. So, I think my experience with this race definitely helped me to win it again.

FW: Do you have any specific goals for nationals this year?
NS: Well, I’d like to finish higher than I did last year. Last year, I was just hanging on at the end of the season and I had started my peak for states in the beginning of November; I was able to hold that peak through regionals but then started a downward spiral by the time I hit nationals. I was happy just to make it, and to finish in the top 10 was awesome. To be eighth in the nation was a really exciting accomplishment for me, but this year I haven’t even peaked yet, so these past couple of weeks I’ve been focused more on nationals and less on the races leading up to it. I think entering nationals this year a little bit differently will help a lot. I would like to go for top five. I see two girls who are doing really well this year—Jordan Hasay and Claire Durkin—so they’re definitely going to be two of the top runners. I know what to expect this year, so that’ll help me too.

FW: In terms of strategy, do you try to look for particular girls to stick near, or do you run more of your own race?
NS: Well, it’s hard because at the national race, none of the girls can be counted out. Each girl who makes it to nationals had to work very hard to get there, so they’re all hungry for a good performance. Everyone there wants to finish as high as they possibly can. Last year, both of the winners [Kathy Kroeger and Chad Hall] placed second in their regional race. I think for me, my experience from last year will really help, but strategy-wise, I’ll have to run my own race. If I start to run somebody else’s race, things can go pretty wrong. On the other hand, you have to stay in contention because if you let them go, it’s hard to reel them in on this course.

FW: Is that the approach you took last year? Did you go out with the leaders and try to hang on them throughout the race?
NS: Actually, last year I got out in about 20th; I was boxed in at the beginning. About 200 meters into it, the course narrows down to a place where you can only run with three [girls] across. It’s really tight. If I was able to go out in the top 20 last year and work myself up into the top 10, then I think this year, I’d like to go out in the top 10, and work myself up into the top five. It will set me up better.

FW: Is your father your main coach?
NS: For the most part; he’s my club coach, so he is my main coach in the post-season. My high school cross country coach and my track coaches work with me, though, throughout the dual-meet season. I work with them, but they’re also really open to letting me put in my own ideas and also talking to my dad. They all work together and put together things that are going to be best for me.

FW: When you first started running, you ran as an individual. For the past two years, you’ve been part of the Shippensburg High School team. How does it feel to be part of a team?
NS: I ran initially as an “unattached” runner, but I practiced with a lot of the college girls . . . and guys that my dad coached, so I had them to train with, but I was 14 and they were 20, so it wasn’t exactly a peer relationship at all. They watched out for me and accepted me, which was helpful.

It was a new experience entering my junior year; that was the first year I was allowed to run for my high school. I didn’t really know what to expect. The summer going into my junior year, I called my new high school cross country coach and spoke to him for about two hours. We talked and talked about everything. One of the things I was uncomfortable with was no longer being able to do my long runs in mountains throughout the early fall when it’s still light out and the high school can’t bus us up there or anything. That’s one of the nice things I had before running for the school, that I thought really contributed to my success. The coach was great and suggested I continue to do those runs on my own on Mondays as opposed to coming to practice. So, we worked through a lot of things like that.

To have a team experience was such a new thing for me; I was so nervous the first day because everyone had grown up together; it’s a small town! They spent time together from kindergarten all the way to high school; their parents went to school together and their grandparents went to school together. I didn’t know how they would accept someone new, but they welcomed me with open arms. It was a really neat experience. I had a great fall and this year, I actually became the team captain and that was a really neat experience! A lot of the girls look up to me. I like to lead by example more so than telling people what to do so we had a really good experience. I’m going to miss it a lot next year, but I’ll be moving on to different things.

FW: Onward...and upward.
NS: Definitely.

FW: So tell me how your curriculum works with home schooling?
NS: Well, because I want to run in college, I have to work with the clearinghouse [the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse], and they have a window about as big as a pinpoint to get through. They have very specific classes that they accept so throughout all my high-school years, I’ve been very particular about classes so I have all the credits I need for college and I won’t need to sit out a year.

My mom is my teacher and she has worked really hard to make sure that we’re doing everything correctly, that everything is legal, and that we don’t hit any problems. She’s a certified teacher so she really knows the system. I feel like it’s more of a college atmosphere though because I pick my own classes and the work is much more self-directed. I have to be self-motivated to get everything done. It’s been a great experience. Last spring, I took a class at Shippensburg University and I’m taking another class this fall, so I’m making the transition already and [laughing] getting a couple of extra credits under my belt before I start.

My worst subject is math, but I have to do it. It’s been the hardest subject for me especially since my parents don’t really remember it so I have to find friends and family to help me with that one, but for the most part it’s gone really well.

FW: What’s your favorite subject?
NS: I’m taking German at the university right now and I’m really enjoying that. Also, I took mammalogy last year, and I really like that because I really like animals.

FW: Do you still ride horses? I know that you were into horseback riding before you got into running.
NS: Yeah, I do. I started taking riding lessons when I was 8 years old, so that was a long time before I started running. I think it’s a really great supplement to running. It works weak areas for runners, particularly women distance runners with their hips and IT bands. It has helped strengthen my legs and it’s more of a mental break for me. I really enjoy it and have actually been volunteering at a barn a couple miles away from my house. I really enjoy working with animals. We have horses at my house. It’s become a family thing; my sisters and brother are really into horses now, and even my parents are getting into it. It’s a lot of fun and I think it’s a unique situation for me.

FW: How did your sisters get into running?
NS: They’re going to be 14 in a couple of days. They’re in eighth grade. They did basketball for about three years. This is the first year they’re not doing it. They were really struggling with some of the team dynamics like sitting the bench and having the ball hogs, the snotty girls, and the crazy parents. This year they decided to stick with their horses throughout the fall. This past summer, they started running and they didn’t like it at first. They liked it as long as they had people to run with; it was more of a social thing for them. They slowly started to enjoy it. They actually ran a race last Saturday—they’re starting to see their times drop and they really like that aspect. They just ran 20:36 and 20:40 on a very difficult cross country 5K course. They’re running pretty fast already so it’s exciting for me to see them excel.

They say they feel like my shadow, always being referred to as Neely’s sisters and Steve Spence’s daughter. They find it so annoying [laughing], but they’ll slowly start to break out of that. I think once I’m out of the high school running scene and they become a part of it, they’ll be able to make names for themselves.

FW: Are you excited to run for Shippensburg next year?
NS:  Yes, I am! My dad’s probably my number-one training partner right now, so I’ll still have him. The girls on my dad’s team are also really excited; we’ve built a friendship over the past couple of years. I promised one year to my dad. That one year will be really special and a stress reliever. It will give me an extra year to decide exactly what I want to do. My dad’s program works for me; I’ll just be adjusting to the college atmosphere, not a new coach and new teammates, which would be a stress if I were far away.

FW: So you’re considering transferring after next year?
NS: Yes; I’m taking some official visits in January and currently I’m looking at Baylor and University of Colorado.

FW: We’ve yet to talk about track. You seem to really like long distances, so I’m guessing that you enjoy cross country more than track.
NS: Cross country is definitely my favorite; I pretty much don’t do indoor track. I’ll do one or two races and that’s it. My track season is long enough as it is and I don’t really need to add those winter months going around in circles [laughing]. I do take track seriously. I was second at Nike [Outdoor] Nationals last year [Spence ran a 10:25.78 in the 3200 meters]. I do work hard and I enjoy it to some extent. In track I like to work my weaknesses, so I focus on shorter distances. I actually only ran a 3200 once the whole year just to qualify for nationals and then I ran it at nationals. I focus on the 800 and 1600, and I even run on our 4x400 team, which is kind of crazy [laughing].

I really like the randomness of cross country; I love it!

Interview conducted November 28, 2007, and posted December 4, 2007.