Alan Culpepper–a top contender at the Trials

Will his mental toughness earn him another chance to compete on Team USA?

By Cecil Harris

If it’s a major race, then Alan Culpepper is going to be on the starting line with an excellent chance to win. In the 2004 Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon in Birmingham, Alabama, Culpepper outkicked Meb Keflezighi in an exciting dash to the tape to win in 2:11:42.

Nobody would dare disregard his chances to repeat as Trials champion in Central Park. Indeed, there may be no one in the field more respected by his peers than the two-time Olympian.

“He’s one of the best competitors American distance running has seen in the last 10-15 years,” said Matt Downin. “He’s definitely not a guy who’s going to show up on race day and give you half an effort.”

After Culpepper won the USA Cross Country Championships in February in a time of 37:09, Peter Gilmore, one of the elite runners who lost to him that day, said, “The reason he won is because he sat down before the race and figured out that he was going to win by running the smartest race he could.”

Culpepper, 35, is like the baseball player you can count on to deliver the big hit in the clutch, or the football kicker who nails the field goal with the game on the line, or the golfer who sinks the big putt with the championship at stake. Big occasions do not faze him. Instead, they seem to bring out the best in him.

Why?

“I don’t know if mental toughness is something you learn; I think you just have it in you,” he said. “You have it at an early age, where you’re just able to harness that nervous energy and use it in a positive way. You’re able to rise to the occasion. All the way back in the ninth grade, I was able to win the races I wanted to win, the important races. It’s that in combination with knowing myself, knowing what motivates me and what doesn’t motivate me, and knowing how much I can withstand over the course of a year or over the course of 10 years. When I was very young my first coach, who was my coach throughout high school, always instilled in me to be ready. Be ready when it counts. So I’ve just always had that mindset.”

Culpepper dominated high school distance-running events in his home state of Texas before starring at the University of Colorado. He won the NCAA Division I 5000-meter title in 1996 and represented the USA at the World Championships the following year. In 1999, he became the USA Outdoor champion at 10,000 meters. A year later, he competed in that event for Team USA at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

In 2002, Culpepper ran a 2:09:41 at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. It remains his personal-best time, and it tied Alberto Salazar for the fastest debut marathon by an American. (Ryan Hall broke that record in London this year.)

While most Trials competitors would consider one berth on an Olympic team a fulfillment of a lifelong dream, Culpepper already has made two U.S. Olympic teams, something that could give him a mental edge over other competitors.

“I look at it more from an experience standpoint,” he said. “Not necessarily that I won the last Trials, but that I’ve competed in marathons at the highest level—from Boston to New York to the Olympics. I guess I look at that as more of an advantage than winning the last Trials.”

Culpepper, who twice has finished in the top five at the Boston Marathon, coaches himself. But he relies heavily on the advice of his wife, Shayne. They married in 1997, have two children, and reside in Lafayette, Colorado. They also share the distinction of having made the U.S. Olympic Team as husband and wife in 2000 and 2004; in 2000, Shayne competed in the 1500 meters. Shayne won the 2004 Trials in the 5000 meters to go with Alan’s victory in the marathon Trials.

“There have been a lot of scenarios where without her input I would have made a lot more mistakes,” he said. “Just from a training and support aspect, she has been invaluable. And just from the level of us both enjoying what we do and having an understanding of what each other does, it’s been great.”

Perhaps the best is yet to come. For Culpepper, competing in New York City provides an opportunity to lift not only his career, but also the sport, to new heights.

I think that’s New York Road Runners’ goal—to take running to a higher level,” he said. “That’s why they wanted to host this. It will help the promotion of the sport as a whole. That’s why from the very beginning I was in favor of having the Trials in New York, on a large stage, because the more we have people talking about it, the more we have people seeing it, it’s a positive all around for everybody.”

It would be especially positive for Culpepper if he earns another shot at the Olympic medal that has eluded him, a missing entry on an otherwise superb resume. And as elite marathoners get younger, he knows this is his last shot.

“I don’t necessarily feel like I’m on the downward end,” he said. “I don’t feel like I’m going to end on a bad note. But I know just emotionally what I have in me, and it’s not four more years. It’s two more years. I’ve been at this for a while. Physically and emotionally, it takes a lot. I’m trying to use that as fuel to do my best.”