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[somber music]
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- Set.
[whistle blows]
[light music]
We did it.
We did it, young lady.
Half second to spare.
Full recovery, then three more.
- Okay. - Proud of you, Brittany.
Proud of you.
- Thanks, Coach.
[Courtney applauding]
Hey.
- Hi, how are you?
- [Brittany] I'm good, I'm good.
How are you? - Good.
I'm so glad to see you.
- Yeah, me too.
Oh, Coach Michaels, this is my high school
cross country coach, Coach Donnelly.
- Ah, so you're the one that discovered Brittany?
- Well, I think that Brittany discovered herself.
- Jeffrey Michaels, please to meet you.
- Courtney Smith-Donnelly, nice to meet you, too.
- And yes, she's the one.
- Her friends Anna and Heidi talked her into coming out
for cross country her senior year.
- Yeah and coach, I had never run before in my life,
thought I was gonna hate it,
but I ended up making top seven.
- I saw she had some natural speed,
so I encouraged her to go out for track.
- She begged me. [Coach Michaels chuckling]
- I begged, I did, I begged.
- I'm sure glad you did.
- Me, too.
She ended up setting the record in the 800 meter
at Orange Hills Academy and wound up a state champ.
- And that's where I came on the scene.
Sure nice to meet your first coach.
- Thank you.
- [Coach Michaels] Perhaps we can talk some more
at the conference. - Yeah, I'd love that.
It starts tonight and goes all day tomorrow.
- Is it just for high school coaches?
- No, actually, it's for middle school,
high school, college, officials, administrators,
all the Christian schools in the state.
Just a way for everybody to get to know one another.
- Sounds like fun.
- Yeah, I think it should be.
But enough about me, tell me about you.
- Well, I like my classes, the school,
I have some great friends, I like track and I love my coach.
Coach Michaels trains the distance runners
and he's also the head coach.
- He seems very nice.
- Yeah, he's the best.
Oh and I have a boyfriend.
- Oh? - Yeah, his name is Chris.
He's on the track team and he runs the 800.
- Okay, okay.
So, can you beat him? [Brittany laughing]
- And now we'll get an assistance plan
setup for you immediately.
- Well, Doc?
Dr. Harris?
- Have you ever thought about retiring?
- Yes.
But if I retire I won't have anything to do.
- Do you play golf? - No.
- Why not?
- 'Cause golf is the most frustrating game ever invented.
- [Dr. Harris] I can't argue with you there.
- You didn't answer my well.
- Something's not right with your heart, Jeff.
You really should retire before it retires you.
Like in the ground, six feet under.
- Well, we don't wanna go there just yet.
[somber music]
What is it?
- It's probably too much stress.
Look, you teach classes all day long,
you coach cross country in the fall,
indoor track in winter, outdoor track in spring
and you've been doing it like what, 100 years?
The stress is too much for you.
- 27 years.
I love coaching.
- Then the love of it is too much for you.
You're gonna need extensive rest until
we can get this thing figured out.
And Jeff, you need it now.
[muffled talking]
[light music]
- So, what events do you coach in track?
- Oh, I don't actually coach track.
- [Coach Michaels] You coach cross country,
but you don't coach track?
- Right.
- You ever run track?
- No again. [Coach Michaels chuckling]
Okay, when I was in high school I played golf in the spring
and couldn't do both, so.
- Golf, golf is the most frustrating game ever invented.
- Sounds like you play. - No, not anymore.
For the exact same reason I just stated.
Must be a pretty good golfer
if you didn't run track in high school.
Orange Hills Academy,
that's where you coached cross country, right?
- Right.
- [Coach Michaels] That's about an hour from here.
- Yes, sir.
- Brittany's a junior, I can't believe
we've never met before now.
- I know, I've been meaning to come out to watch her run,
and I'm gonna make it out to a meet this year.
- Good.
Got a home meet coming up this weekend.
- [Courtney] Yeah, I'm planning on being there actually.
- She'll appreciate that.
She's ranked second, you know?
- Brittany's ranked second in the conference?
- Conference?
She's second in the nation, NCCA.
- I did not know that Brittany
was ranked second in the nation.
- National Christian Collegiate Association,
not the NCAA, we don't get 'em confused.
[Courtney giggling]
We're a Christian college, small.
NCCA is made up of many schools around the country like us.
We're not gonna get the elite athlete to come here,
but now and again God'll bless me with a little gem.
- She never told me she was ranked that high.
- She a ran 2:09.8 her first race this year.
Granted the top girls in the NCAA are gonna be faster,
but anytime a young lady runs under 2:10 in the 800,
pretty good. - Absolutely.
- Last year during the regionals a girl tripped and fell
and Brittany and some of the other runners
went down with her.
She didn't qualify for the national.
This year the goal is to get to the national,
place in the top three and stand on that podium.
- You must be doing a great job training her.
- Thanks.
You gave her a strong endurance base.
Her high school track coach did okay.
She's under my watch now.
I'm pretty old school.
Actually, my doctor is saying that I'm just old.
[Coach Michael chuckling]
- Hey. - You ready?
- [Brittany] Yes, I am.
- Wait, what'd you say?
- I said, "I'm ready."
- Hi, McKenzie, did you hear that?
- Hey, hear what?
- This is the first time she's ever been ready
when I came to pick her up.
- It is not. - Yes it is,
you're never ready.
You're always in there with the door closed,
right, McKenzie?
- Don't drag me into your family squabbles.
- Oh, I see, two against one.
I can't win with you two, huh?
- Make sure you have her home by 10:00.
- The movie doesn't get out till 10:15.
- Guess you'll have to miss the ending then.
- See ya, mom.
[light music]
- She's never been ready and you know it.
[McKenzie giggling]
[door slamming]
- Put everything together.
All right, is that it?
- Let's see what we're doing today.
200 repeats, 16 of them.
We just did this.
Coach Simpson, we just did 200 repeats a couple days ago.
- [Coach Simpson] Yeah, I know.
I combining everybody today.
- Well, can the 400 girls do something different?
- Sure, you can do 20 of 'em, how's that?
You know, Leah, you question almost
every workout I give you.
- Sorry Coach, it's just we just did these.
- Well, I think you need 'em again.
Our relay team has a lot of ground to gain
if we wanna qualify for the regional.
[Leah sighs]
- I don't like her. - Uh, yeah, we can see that.
- She doesn't know what she's doing.
- Come on, Leah, she's a good coach and you know that.
- I'm not a fan.
[fist knocking] - Mrs. Price,
you wanted to see me?
- Yes, Coach Donnelly, come in, come in, take a seat.
Oh, how many times have I told you to call me Karen?
- I lost count, I'm a science teacher, not a math teacher.
- Ooh, funny. [Courtney giggling]
So, how you doing? - Good, good, how are you?
- Well, normally my job as Assistant Principal
is about putting out fires,
but today I have some good news to report.
I got approval from the board and next spring we're going
to field our first ever golf team at Orange Hills Academy.
- Oh, that'll be good.
- Every other private school in the state's had golf
for years and we're just now getting around to it,
but we finally arrived and I need a coach.
That's where you come in.
Now, I know you're a good golfer,
so don't try to tell me you're not.
I'd like to offer you the job first.
The pay's about the same as you get for cross country,
so I know that's not really much incentive.
But here's the agreement.
- Thank you so much.
I'm honored and flattered and definitely interested.
If it's okay with you, I'd like to talk
it over with my husband first.
- Of course, of course, take your time.
Take the agreement home, talk it over.
Like I said, we're in no hurry.
It won't start till next spring.
[crowd cheering] [crowd applauding]
- [Man] Good job, Brittany!
[crowd cheering] [crowd applauding]
Good job, Brittany!
- 2:08.5, that's a PR.
She bettered her own school record.
- I was hoping to break 2:09 and we did it.
- We did it.
I've very proud of you, young lady.
- Thanks, coach.
- That's a great time, Brit, congratulations.
- Thanks and Coach Donnelly, thank you so much for coming.
It really means a lot.
- Well, I'm happy to be here.
I wouldn't have wanted to miss it.
- Brittany! - Oh, it's my dad.
- Go, go.
She's the best female 800 runner I've ever had.
- I'm really glad for her.
Hey, would you mind if I asked
a quick question about the race today?
- Sure, go ahead.
- I just noticed that she ran her first lap
4.2 seconds faster than her second.
Do you think that if she evened out
those splits she could go even faster?
- I would agree with you except it's the 800.
800 is the most unique running event there is.
- Ah, I'm not sure I understand.
- You run the 5k in cross country, right?
- Right. - That's pacing.
This is an all out endurance sprint.
Check the world records in the distance events,
they are basically all even splits, so I agree with you.
This 800, it's different.
Almost every world record in that event through
the years has been with positive splits.
- Uh, well, she did one and it was her best time.
- She did and it was and she ran great.
- Yes, she did.
Hey, it was good to see you again.
- Thank you.
Thanks for coming.
- Glad to be here. - We appreciate it.
[light music]
- Uh, since 9:45.
- [Chris] Oh, it's Leah and Tonya.
Hey. - Hey.
- What's up, guys?
- [Chris] We are celebrating.
- Celebrating what? - You got engaged.
- No, no, no, no, not even close.
- Chris! - I mean, we're close.
We are so close, just not yet.
We are celebrating a great athletic achievement.
- We know, good job, Brittany.
- Yes, congratulations.
- Uh, you mean good job, Chris and congratulations?
I broke 1:55 today.
- Are you kidding, that's nothing.
She broke 2:09 and beat her school record.
You're just jealous.
- Jealous, why would I be jealous?
I beat her by 14 seconds.
[girls giggling]
- So, my doc says I gotta take an extended rest.
Says I gotta take it now.
I told her track season just started.
- Can your assistants finish this out for ya?
- They can keep doing what they're doing and run the team.
My graduate assistant can help coordinate
the distance runner's workouts, though he doesn't understand
the different training I'm giving 'em.
- Can you write the workouts for 'em then?
- I did that.
I got an idea.
The team is just average with
the exception of Brittany Ward.
She's my only athlete that can get to national,
she's got a real good chance of making the podium.
I'd like to recommend we bring in another coach.
- All right, do you have someone in mind?
- So, coach Michaels is having trouble with his heart,
and his doctor said that
he has to stop coaching immediately.
- I'm sorry to hear that.
- I know, me too.
He doesn't have an assistant coach to help with
the distance runners and he asked me if I would help out.
But specifically if I would coach Brittany.
- Okay, but, how are you gonna pull all of that off?
- He was thinking that I could drive
over there three days a week.
And on those days, practice could just start later
to accommodate my drive and it would pay
and the school would cover my expenses,
he's gotten it approved by the athletic director.
What do you think?
- I think it's totally up to you.
What do you think?
- In here are all the workouts I've done with Brittany
and the other runners so far this spring,
and also what I have planned
for each of them the rest of the season.
- Thank you.
- If you look at everybody's times
you'll see that Brittany's my only distance runner
who can qualify for the regional.
That's why I want your help.
Even though you don't coach track,
you've coached Brittany and she respects you.
I think that's a good fit.
- I appreciate that.
- You have any questions?
- Yes, sir.
Coach, I'll leave everybody else the same,
but I'd like the liberty to modify some of Brittany's
workouts as we get into this if that's okay with you.
- That's okay with me.
I brought you on board because of what you've accomplished
at Orange Hills, also because of what Brittany told me.
I trust you.
- Thank you.
- Keisha Thompson set the NCCA record last year in the 800.
She ran a 2:04.6.
She runs for Zion College and it's about three hours
from here, about two hours from where you live.
The regional meet is there this year and also the national.
National moves around to different parts of the country,
but this year it's in our region.
Zion has a very nice facility;
The Henry Hall Track and Soccer Complex.
I know Mr. Hall, he's a legendary coach,
but he's retired now.
He's built a very strong program there.
- Coach, what do we have to do to qualify?
- For Brittany to qualify for the nationals,
she has to place in the top four in the regional.
She will be ranked second behind Keisha.
We have six regions, so that means 24 runners
would make it to the national.
- Gotcha.
- I've been coaching for 27 years.
I've never had an 800 meter runner,
male or female, make it to the podium.
Brittany is our best chance.
- I'll do my best to help.
- Thank you.
I've asked the distance runners
and the coaches to stay after practice.
Let's go meet 'em.
[runners talking over each other]
Okay, everybody, listen up.
May I have your attention please?
This is Coach Donnelly,
she coaches cross country at Orange Hills Academy.
She was Brittany's coach when she went to school there.
Let me introduce you to the staff.
This is Coach Simpson,
she used to run for me a few years ago.
She coaches the springs, the 400, and the hurdles.
Coach Rogers, he's the male counterpart for the same events.
He ran for me in the day, too.
Coach Maxwell handles all field events and he's our trainer,
and then Jess is my graduate assistant.
He helps with the distance runners.
And all of these beautiful young men and women
are my distance runners, 800 and up.
Coach Donnelly is temporarily joining our staff.
She's gonna drive over here three days a week and basically
she'll get here when you're done with your workouts.
Brittany, I want you to wait and work
with Coach Donnelly personally on those days.
Now, some of you may be thinking that this is a step down
going from a college coach back to a high school coach.
I would be thinking the same thing,
but I can assure you that you're wrong.
Coach Donnelly will have all of the workouts
I have planned for you this season.
Okay, I'm gonna be taking an extended vacation.
It doesn't mean I'm gonna relaxing on some beach.
[runners chuckling]
I'm gonna resting at home,
so you can come and see me any time.
I love each and every one of you.
I'm gonna miss seeing you everyday.
[Coach Michaels sighs]
[somber music]
God bless you.
That's it.
[muffled talking]
- Hey, coach.
Um, I just wanted to say thank you
for everything that you've done for me.
- You're welcome.
Listen, whatever Coach Donnelly tells you to do, you do it.
Got it? - Yes, sir.
And I'm gonna work really hard
to make that podium this season.
And if I do, then we did it.
- That's right, we did it.
God bless you.
What do you want, Chris?
- Coach, I just wanna say thanks for everything and--
- Hey, I couldn't help but overhear.
What does we did it mean?
- Oh, well, the first thing Coach Michaels
told us as freshmen is whenever we run and accomplish
something it's not I did it, but we did it;
athlete, coach and the Lord together.
He says to never leave the Lord out
of anything that you do in your life.
So, his saying to remind us of that is, "we did it."
- That's really nice.
[soft music]
Hi, so, what do you say we take
a little road trip tomorrow morning?
- Yeah?
What'd you have in mind?
- A track meet.
- Track meet?
- Yes, Keisha Thompson has a home meet
and I'd really like to watch her run.
- How far away?
- Uh, two hours.
[Michael sighs]
- You know, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do
on a Saturday morning with my wife.
[light music]
[crowd talking over each other]
[birds chirping]
So, why all the way up?
- Okay, I wanna be able to see
the 100, 200, and 300 meter mark.
Keisha's won the national championship
in the 800 meter for three years in a row.
Nobody in any of those races has even come in under 2:10.
- Meaning? - She's had no competition.
- Ah.
- Okay, once the race starts I am going to click
my watch on her 100 meter splits.
Can you write down the times that you see?
- Sure. - Thank you.
[gunshot banging] [crowd cheering]
[light dramatic music]
[crowd applauding] [crowd cheering]
- [Man] Go Keisha!
Yeah!
- [Woman] Go Keisha!
[crowd applauding] [crowd cheering]
[light dramatic music]
- Let's go Keisha! - Let's go Keisha!
[crowd applauding] [crowd cheering]
[car doors slamming]
- So, if Keisha's four seconds faster than Brittany,
how does she ever expect to beat her?
- In all honesty, she can't.
It's too much time to make up.
- So, this was a wasted trip?
- No, I wanted to find out how Keisha ran her race,
and now we know she goes out fast and then slows down.
- Well, it didn't look like she was doing much slowing down.
I mean, she killed everybody.
- Her first lap was five and half seconds
faster than her second.
And all the other girls slowed down, too.
- Ah, I see.
- All right, look at her splits.
She gets a little slower every 100 meters.
There's gotta be a way to beat her.
- So, we drove two hours to watch a two minute race?
- We drove two hours to watch a 2:06.3 minute race.
[both laughing]
[upbeat music]
- Hm? - Those are cute.
- Okay.
- Hey, Chris just came in.
- [Brittany] What's he doing here?
- Does he know we're here?
- No.
Hey, let's sneak up on him.
[light dramatic music]
- [Chris] Hi, I'd like to pick up my shoes.
We had to order them.
- Okay, I'll check.
- Oh, can I ask you something?
I'd like to get a gift for my girlfriend.
I wonder if you had any ideas?
She runs track for Bethany.
- Um, I'm not sure.
Did you have anything in mind.
- Mm, not really.
Maybe a shirt she can wear in practice.
- Like a training shirt?
- Yeah, um, do you have a shirt with writing on it
that says, I don't know, "My boyfriend is the greatest?"
You know, something humble like that?
[employee chuckling]
- I don't think we have anything like that.
- Okay, how about a shirt that says,
"My love for my boyfriend is 800 meters wide."
No, wait, I got it.
How about I shirt that says, "Why are you two spying on me?"
[girls giggling]
What are you up to?
- Hey, I didn't know you were coming in here tonight.
- Well, I didn't know you were coming.
I got a message my shoes came in.
- Ah, I see.
- Actually, she was gonna get you something.
Right, Brit?
- Uh, yeah. - Well, that sounds great.
Don't let me stop you ladies then.
- Um, do you have a shirt that says,
"My girlfriend is the greatest?"
You know, something humble like that.
- [Michael] Hey, what you doing?
- Watching some 800 meter finals from the Olympics
and a couple of other championships,
trying to see how these people run.
- Hm, picking up on anything?
- Yeah, Coach Michaels is right.
Every single race has been won with positive splits,
so the first lap is faster than the second.
It's just not the best way to run.
- I mean, do you know anyone else
who thinks the way you think?
Yes, Dave Wottle, he won the 1972 Olympics with even splits.
He wasn't the favorite, but he outsmarted the competition.
- Hm, sounds like your kinda runner.
[light music]
- There's gotta be a better way.
- Hi, coach.
- Hi, Jess, how's it going?
- It is going.
We just finished up 800 meter repeats.
Everyone hit the pacing Coach Michaels
had written for them except for Chris.
- What happened with Chris?
- He ran them a lot slower than he was supposed to.
- Do you know why?
- I do not.
Oh, hey, coach.
Coach Michaels left a small present for you on his desk.
Be sure to grab it before you leave.
- A present? - Yeah.
You'll understand when you see it.
- Okay, thanks.
[birds chirping]
Hey, Chris, what's up?
Are you injured?
- Oh, you mean my repeats?
Nah, I took it easy because I wanted to run
with Brittany and push her along if that's okay?
- Uh, sure, that's okay.
It's just that Brittany's not doing
the workout the way you supposed to, so.
- You're kidding?
Okay, yeah, a brilliant move on my part.
- You know what, you can run with her.
It'll work out.
- Hey, coach, I'm all warmed up and ready to go.
- Okay, good.
We're doing 800 meter repeats today
and I want all them at 2:36.
- 2:36, that's pretty slow.
- Give me your first lap in 80 seconds, the second in 76.
- I've never run 'em like that before.
- Run 'em that way a few times
and you'll see 2:36 isn't too slow.
[light music]
Okay, I want even pacing on both of these laps.
You're gonna have to 100 meters in 20 seconds,
200 meters in 40 seconds,
300 meters in 60 seconds,
400 meters in 80 seconds.
- Sounds easy.
- Yeah right.
- When you come through and you start your second lap,
you're gonna have to tell yourself to pick it up a step
'cause then you've gotta do 100 meters in 19 seconds.
- Tell myself to pick it up a step, got it.
Uh coach, how many of these are we gonna do?
- 78, 79, 80!
Good job, right on pace.
Pick it up a step.
So, how long have you two been dating?
- About two years.
We started dating end of track season freshman year.
- And I've been letting her hang around me every since.
I gotta admit, coach, that workout was different.
- Yeah, we usually do 800 meter repeats pretty hard.
- I don't see how running 800s at the pace we did
helped Brittany get any faster.
It was too slow.
It doesn't make any sense.
- Well, Chris, if there's anything I've learned
since becoming a Christian it's that there's a lot
of things in life that don't make sense.
I can think of examples
of those from running or Christianity.
- All right, I'm all ears.
- Okay, all right, um, running.
Take today for example.
Brittany ran slower, but look how many 800 meter repeats
she was able to do and with limited rests in between.
That's what makes the workout effective.
She's building strength and endurance and over time,
those are the things that make you faster.
- Okay, I'll buy that.
I think.
- Okay and Christianity.
Jesus said, "Whoever will save his life, shall lose it.
"But whoever will lose his life for my sake, shall save it."
- I've never really understood that verse.
What does it mean?
- It means that in Christianity you win by losing.
- Win by losing?
That doesn't make any sense.
- I think I get it.
As Christians, we surrender our lives to gain his,
and with running you can get faster by training slower.
So, win by losing.
- Yeah, you got it.
- And now you see why I've been
letting her hang around me very since.
[light music] [birds chirping]
[gentle music]
[package rustling]
- Morning, Sharon.
I just got off the phone with Coach Michaels,
and there's a real good chance that he will
not be back in the fall, so it looks like we're gonna
need to start a search.
- [Leah] Coach Donnelly, you're here early today.
- Yeah, we're on spring break at Orange Hills,
so I can actually get here when you guys do.
- Coach, I'm Leah. - And I'm Tonya.
- I'm Candice.
- Nice to meet you guys.
- We run the four by four and we were wondering
if you might have any advice on how we could get faster?
- Oh, well, I'm sure that your coach is doing everything
she can to help you run your best.
- She is, but we see how you're working with Brittany
and it's different than what she normally does,
so we were just wondering if maybe you had some advice.
- I'm sorry, I'm not your coach.
You'll just have to ask Coach Simpson.
- Coach Simpson said it would be okay if we talked to you.
- Really? - Yeah.
- Um, okay.
What times are you guys running right now?
- My best 400 is 54.8.
Janine's run a 58.
- I've run a 56.4.
- 57.5.
- Do you remember what your 200 meter split
was on that 54.8?
- I ran 26 seconds for my first 200.
- Okay, and you came back on almost 29?
- Right.
- Try going out at 27 and maintaining that.
That'll get you down to 54.
Same with you guys, even out your splits.
- On the 400, you sure?
- Yeah, try it and see.
- Okay.
- And what order are you guys running your event in?
- I lead off, then Jenny, then Candice, and Leah anchors.
- Okay, so you're starting with your second faster runner,
handing off to your two slowest
and then finishing off with your fastest?
- Right, coach likes to get a good start.
- Okay, well, I would try starting with Jenny,
handing off to Candice, then Tonya, then Leah.
- Why in that order?
- Because you wanna get faster
each time you hand off the baton.
- Oh, okay.
Well, thanks.
We'll try that.
[keyboard clicking]
[light dramatic music]
- Hey, coach. - Hey.
Coach Donnelly, do you have a moment?
- Sure.
- Um, look, we appreciate you helping Coach Michaels with
his distance runners, but I don't need any help with mine.
- What are you talking about?
- Well, quite frankly I don't appreciate you coming
to my relay team, changing up their order
and then telling them to go out slower for even splits.
It's a 400 meter run, it's not a 5k cross country race.
- Coach Simpson, they--
- Plus we don't need a high school coach coming in here
and making it seem like we don't know
how to train our athletes.
That's very embarrassing.
Do you understand?
- Yeah, yeah, of course.
- Thank you.
[muffled talking]
- Why'd you do that today?
- Do what?
- Tell Coach Donnelly that Coach Simpson said it was okay.
- 'Cause I don't like Coach Simpson.
- That doesn't make it all right saying what you said.
- It's no big deal.
- [Tonya] Leah, come on, girl.
- Come on, girl, what?
- Tell the truth, don't tell lies.
- I didn't lie.
- No?
So what was that you said to Coach Donnelly?
- I didn't lie, I told you I don't like Coach Simpson,
and that's the truth.
- So, the gun sounds and I decide to go right for the lead
and my reasoning is is that both Strong
and Wicoff are in the race,
and those guys are better than me.
So, I thought let me grab the lead
and maybe I can hold them off.
Wrong.
I hit a wall after 500 meters, ended up finishing dead last.
I should've been no worse than third.
- Yeah, well, Chris, that's what happens when you try
and run somebody else's race.
- [Chris] What do you mean?
- Well, I would know because I did the same thing.
When I was 13 I played golf and I entered into a youth
tournament on my home course,
kids from all the surrounding counties came in,
I was put in the top foursome and ranked number one.
God on the first hole, three other girls
go before me and all hit great drives.
So, I start getting worried.
I go out and on my first shot I drive it 20 yards.
Yeah.
I dubbed my next two shots and ended up
with like a nine on the first hole.
I lost that tournament by 12 strokes
even though I was ranked first.
And I went back the next year when I was 14 and I lead it
wire to wire and ended up winning my three strokes.
The difference was that when I was 13 I was looking
at everybody else and worried what they were doing.
The next year I focused on my game.
So, you gotta do that.
Focus on your race, you do what you do best.
Can't expect to win by running someone else's race.
- Well, I finished last, so I can attest to that.
[runners laughing]
- All right, you guys, Jess has your workouts.
Hey, Brittany, I'm not gonna be here Friday,
so can you meet Saturday instead?
- Yeah, sure. - Okay, good.
We're gonna take a little drive
and do a really important workout.
- Sounds good. - All right.
I know you recognize this place.
- [Brittany] Yeah, it's where we run
the state cross country meet.
- That's right, they've got something here
that's hard to find.
It wasn't apart of your course, but it is right next to it.
All right, that's 400 meters right there.
You see where I marked 100 meters,
200, 300, and now 400 meters.
- Right.
- All right, let's go back to the start,
and talk about how you're gonna run this thing.
Now, what's special about this course
is that it's slightly uphill the entire way.
Each time you pass a flag, I need you to tell yourself
to speed it up a little, okay?
First 100 meters, run at about 20%.
Your second you're gonna pick it up to 40%.
Third, ramp it to 60% and finish your last one at 80%.
You don't have to run all out, okay?
The main thing is, each time you pass a flag,
you have to tell yourself to pick it up a step, okay?
- [Brittany] Got it.
- I'm gonna go about half way.
From there I can get your 100, 200, and 300 splits,
but when you run across at the 400,
throw your arms up so I know you're done.
You're gonna walk back to recover and you're gonna go again.
- Got it.
Uh, coach, how many of these are we gonna do?
[Courtney laughing] [light music]
- All right, way to go girl.
Pick it up to 60%.
[light music]
- Hello, this is John Duncan,
the Athletic Director at Bethany University.
- Yes, sir, Karen Price,
Assistant Principal Orange Hills Academy.
- Well, it seems we have one of your coaches
helping us out over here this spring.
- Yes, I heard, Coach Donnelly.
- Yeah, I'd like to ask you about her for a moment if I may.
- [Karen] Sure, how can I help?
- Well, I'd like to know
if you could give her a recommendation?
- Can I recommend Coach Donnelly?
- Yes, ma'am.
- Oh, Mr. Duncan, I've been an administrator for 14 years
in three different schools both public and private,
and Coach Donnelly is as fine as they come.
- Well, that's high praise.
I'm glad to hear that.
- May I ask what this is about?
- It looks like our cross country coach
is going on an extended leave, so we're starting to look
for somebody to take his place.
- I see.
- I'm aware that Coach Donnelly has her Master's Degree?
- Yes, she does.
- Well, I appreciate the good word about her.
Thank you for your time.
- Yes, sir.
Goodbye.
[light dramatic music]
- [Announcer] Shecky Greene now drops back.
Coming on a bit is Forego.
Our Native on the outside.
Now and they're in the stretch.
It's Secretariat, Secretariat on the outside
to take the lead.
Sham holding in second.
It's Secretariat moving away.
He has it by two and a half.
Sham and then on the outside Our Native.
At the wire it's going to be Secretariat.
He wins it by two lengths.
- I just saw a perfect race.
Your best time is 3.9 seconds behind Keisha's.
Now, in an 800 meter race that's a long way.
- Yeah, I know.
- So, we've got two tasks.
One, we've gotta get you two to three seconds faster.
Two, we've gotta get Keisha one to two seconds slower.
- What?
- Our first task is to get you faster.
We're gonna change the way you run your race.
You're not gonna be going out fast and then slowing down
on your second lap the way that you're used to.
You're actually gonna be doing the exact opposite.
Secretariat is the horse that won
the 1973 Kentucky Derby in record time.
The race is a mile and a quarter long,
and each quarter mile he got faster than the one before.
These are his splits.
The science behind running says you maximize
your ability with a 51 to 49% split.
Meaning, starting out slower
and getting slightly faster as you go.
It's exactly what Secretariat did,
it's exactly what you're gonna do.
All right, I want you to run your first 100 meters
in 16 seconds with 3/10ths of a second on either side.
Now, it may take a few times to get the pacing down,
so let's try a few.
Start in lane two for me.
[light dramatic music]
Set.
[whistle blows]
[gentle music]
All right, 15 seconds.
Let's try it again.
[whistle blows]
17 seconds, try again.
[whistle blows]
16.8.
[whistle blows]
16.7.
[whistle blows]
[light dramatic music]
15.3
- Coach, I can't do it.
It's too hard.
- Brittany, do you remember the story in the Bible
about the rich young ruler who asked Jesus
what he had to do to have eternal life?
- [Brittany] Yeah.
- That story kind of asks the ultimate question, right?
What do you have to do to have eternal life?
And you'll remember in the story it says that he asked
Jesus and Jesus told him, he didn't like the answer,
so he walked away and the Bible said that he was sorrowful.
Think about that.
Here's somebody asking how to have eternal life,
he was standing there staring right at it,
and he walked away.
Why?
'Cause he didn't want it bad enough.
You wanna try this again?
[triumphant music]
15.5
[whistle blows]
16.5.
16 seconds.
[light music]
- Hey.
Your favorite thing to do as of late.
- I know, I'm sorry.
I found Keisha's championship race from two years ago,
and the one from last year and she ran
them both exactly the same way.
There was nobody near her, they were easy wins.
- And she's the one you need to slow down?
- Right.
- You know, I've never heard of a runner intentionally
slow down so that a slower one can beat her, have you?
- No.
- So, how do you intend on beating her then?
[light dramatic music]
- I have an idea.
- The last two years we ran together everyday in practice.
Now I hardly see you.
- Coach Donnelly said you can come to my practices.
- Yeah, but I gotta run with the guys.
I don't know why Coach Michaels brought her on anyway.
You could just run with us.
I'm just sayin'.
- What's wrong?
- Nothing.
I just don't understand why
you get your own personal trainer.
It's like we don't matter.
- [Brittany] That's not true and you know it.
- Oh, how come I don't get my own personal trainer then?
I'll tell you why.
'Cause I'm not going to regionals or nationals, that's why.
- Chris, Coach Donnelly is my
high school cross country coach.
She's the one who convinced me to go out
for track in the first place.
I wasn't going to.
If I didn't have track I wouldn't have you.
- Yeah.
- That was hard.
- Really, I thought the test was easy.
I bet I aced it.
- Yeah, right.
- No, really, I bet I got every question right.
- How'd you know all that?
- I studied.
- There is no way you knew all of that.
- Okay look, she gave the same test yesterday.
- So? - So, one of my friends
snapped a picture.
- You cheated?
- No, I had advanced information.
- 32.1, good job.
I want five in a row just like that.
- Five?
- Yeah, make sure they're all
within 4/10th of a second on either side.
You gotta get the pacing down.
- Coach, I can't run five 200s in a row at 32 seconds.
- Uh, yes, you can.
And we're gonna stay here till you do.
[whistle blows] [light dramatic music]
33, try again.
[whistle blows]
32.9, half a second off.
[whistle blows]
32.2, great job.
Four in a row, one more.
- Coach, I can't.
I'm too tired.
- Yes, you can.
- No, I can't.
That's too many.
- Brittany, this is exactly how you're gonna feel
in the final 200 meters at nationals.
You're gonna be this tired.
So, what are you gonna do?
Are you gonna stop or are you gonna keep going?
[Brittany sighs]
[triumphant music]
[Brittany panting] - What was my time?
- Most athletes would have given up a half hour ago.
- Did I get it?
- [Courtney] Most athletes would have quit.
- What was my time?
- 31.9.
There's an inter satisfaction that comes when you work hard,
when you don't give up and when you give it your best,
and I'm really proud of you.
Good job. - Thanks.
- All right, take tomorrow off.
I'm not gonna see you Friday,
but I want you to get a workout in, okay?
I want you to do 10 100 meters in a row at 16 seconds.
You gotta get the pacing down.
- Okay.
- Have Chris time you, text me when you've done it.
- All right. - Hey, you did it.
- We did it.
- Hey. - Hey, so, I got a call
from the athletic director at Bethany this afternoon
and they are looking for somebody
to coach cross country this fall.
And they need a distance coach for track in the spring,
they've got a science position available.
- You're serious?
- Yeah and he asked me if I was interested.
- Just like that? - Just like that.
- [Michael] So, what did you tell him?
- Well, I told him I had to talk to you about it first.
- Wow. - Yeah.
- I just didn't expect it. - Yeah.
- Okay, so what do you think?
- Well, my first thought was that Coach Michaels
is either retiring or that his condition's more serious
than he's letting on, and I'm flattered.
I just, I don't know, Michael, I don't know.
- My girlfriend, she's training to run like a horse.
[runners laughing]
We're all practicing to run and she's learning to gallop.
[runners laughing] - Will you stop?
- I'm just kidding.
- Well, it's not funny.
- You know that horse set a record in 1973
that still stands today.
Can't think of a runner that's done that.
[Courtney snapping] - Ooh.
[Chris snapping] [runners chuckling]
[light dramatic music]
[birds chirping]
- Hey.
- You okay?
- Yeah.
[Brittany sighs]
I just hate it when he makes fun of me.
He does that a lot.
- When I was a freshman in college I dated a guy that made
jokes about me like that and I hated it, too.
We were together for six months before we split up.
And when I was a sophomore I started dating Michael,
and he's never made fun of me and embarrassed me not once.
I'm really glad I'm married to Michael.
- Why does he do that?
- He's jealous and joking like that is his way
of covering up his own insecurity and hurt.
Brit, he may say that he loves you,
I just think he probably has a little bit to learn
about what real love and commitment are all about.
- What makes you say that?
- Well, the Bible says love isn't envious.
So, you should be happy for somebody's success
and not jealous of it when you really love them.
- Well, then how will I know when he really loves me?
[Courtney sighs]
- You'll know.
[light dramatic music]
We can start whenever you're ready, okay?
- Uh, not tonight.
I just got in and I have a lot of homework.
No, I don't want you to help me study.
[keys jingling]
Look, I just need to get a shower and get to work, okay?
Um, no, no, I'm just gonna eat something here.
[Brittany sighs]
I just don't feel like talking right now, okay?
I need to go.
Chris, I need to go.
Bye.
[Brittany sighs]
- You're gonna run your first 200 meters in 32 seconds,
the second in 31.5, the third in 31,
and your final 200 meters at 30 seconds.
You do that, you're in at 2:04.5.
- That would beat her record by a 10th of a second.
- Yeah, but I'm not trying to beat her record,
I'm just trying to give you a chance to win the race.
Today, we're gonna work on your first 400 meters,
so let's go to work.
[light dramatic music]
- [Woman] Would you like something to drink?
- I'm okay, thank you so much.
I was just gonna stop by for a minute.
- Okay. - Thank you.
- Hey, Coach Donnelly.
Forgive me for not getting up.
Please come on in and sit down.
- I thought I might stop by to give you an update
on how Brittany was doing, but first, how are you doing?
- Well, not doing too good.
Doc says I'm gonna need surgery.
- I'm sorry.
- Me too. [Coach Michaels chuckling]
So, how are things going?
- Brittany's doing well.
We're working on strength right now
with some hill workouts, she's learning pacing.
It's not easy, but you know she's a hard worker.
And I think the combination of things
that we're doing is gonna give her a good chance.
- Give her a good chance?
- To beat Keisha.
- Nobody's expecting a miracle.
I just wanted to make the podium.
- I do too, sir.
I'm just aiming for that top spot.
Uh, I just wanted to stop by for a minute.
I still gotta make the long trip home,
but we'll be praying for you.
I'm not just saying that.
My husband and I, we have been praying for you.
- Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Hey, coach?
Mind if I ask you, you been a Christian long?
- Uh, yes, sir.
Since I was a junior in high school.
- You take Christianity very seriously, don't you?
- Yes, sir, I do.
- Do you ever think about death?
- Occasionally.
- I've been thinking about it quite a bit lately.
[somber music]
And even though I'm a Christian,
death is something I am not looking forward to.
- I understand.
- What do you believe, coach?
- What do I believe?
- About life and death, God.
- Well, I believe that the God of the Bible created me,
and I was born a sinner.
And that means one day I'll die.
I also believe that Jesus is God, that he came to Earth,
he died on the cross for our sins.
He rose and he's seated at the right hand of the Father
and he'll return one day.
I believe that faith in Christ
is the only way to go to heaven.
I believe that there's nothing,
nothing more important than following him in this life.
- That is very well said, young lady.
- Thank you.
- Thanks for coming by.
- I hope you get better, sir.
- Thank you for helping with Brittany.
- You're welcome.
[somber music]
Coach?
I think she can beat her.
- Can I ask you a question?
- You just did.
- Still not talking to Chris?
- I'm taking a break from Chris.
- Why?
- Why do you ask?
- 'Cause he keeps asking me what's wrong.
- I told him we needed a break from each other.
- Yeah, but he doesn't know why.
- That's for him to figure out.
[light dramatic music]
- 1:33.8, okay, good job.
Half a second faster than you wanna be,
but you still got something left, right?
- Yeah.
- Good, this is where those hill workouts are gonna come in.
I know you might not like doing them,
but the final 200 meters of the race,
you're gonna be glad you did.
- Okay.
- Take a full recovery.
We're gonna go again, 600 meters in 1:34.5 this time.
- Yeah, I think I've only got a couple of jumpers
that are going to regionals this year.
That's about it.
- Short workout today, Brittany?
- Uh, yeah, just three 600s, but all at race pace.
- You got your first crack
at Keisha coming up in the regionals.
Think you can catch her?
- I don't know.
She's pretty far ahead of me.
- We'll be pulling for you.
- Thanks.
- I hear you've been working the hills.
- Yeah, Coach Donnelly's pretty big on that.
- It's good for ya, help build some strength.
- She's trying to get me a couple of seconds faster.
- That would still leave a couple of seconds
to gain though, wouldn't it?
- Well, yeah.
But Coach Donnelly said she's gonna
try and slow Keisha down.
- Wait, what was that?
- She's gonna try and slow Keisha down.
I don't know how or what she means by that.
Well, see ya.
- Bye, Brittany.
- Bye.
Slow down a runner?
- Beats me.
[muffled talking]
- Save one second for her and who knows.
[light dramatic music]
- See ya. - See ya.
See you guys.
- See ya, Jess. - Later, Jess.
- Coach Donnelly we were just talking with Brittany
and she mentioned you had a plan to slow down a runner.
I've been around track a long time,
and I've never heard a coach say
they can do something like that.
Especially with somebody like Keisha Thompson.
You do know she's a three time champ?
- I'm well aware of her success, yes.
- I saw Keisha run the final last year.
She'd have to trip and fall before
anybody would have a chance to beat her.
Is that what you have in mind?
- No.
- Okay, well, I didn't know 'cause I've been to some
high school meets and stranger things have happened.
- Well, I can assure you the thought never crossed my mind.
- Please don't do anything
to disgrace the name of this school.
Slow down a runner.
What's Keisha gonna do?
Run right up to the finish line, stop just before crossing
and go, "Come on, Brittany, it's all yours."
[coaches laughing]
- No, she hasn't said anything yet,
but I don't believe for a moment
she's going to turn it down.
She'll get to coach at the college level,
teach a couple of entry level courses,
and her pay will double.
Well, maybe not double, but it'll surely go up.
You could always match funds with some
of your principal salary and keep her here.
Oh, here's the clincher.
Her husband's an accountant and their firm has two offices.
Guess where the other one is?
[light music]
We're going to need to look for a nice science teacher,
a new cross country coach and a golf coach,
because Coach Donnelly is not going to be here in the fall.
Yeah, I'll be sorry to see her go, too.
[Coach Simpson applauding]
- [Coach Simpson] Nice job, ladies.
- [Jess] How's it going?
- It's not.
We've got one meet left to qualify for regionals.
My relay team has a lot of time
to make up if we wanna get in.
- How much?
- A little over three seconds.
- Ouch. - Yeah.
Right now I've got Leah going in the open 400,
but she's my only runner.
Relay team is a long shot.
- Can Leah make the national?
- No, no, not a chance.
I mean, at least she's going to regional.
I can't seem to get these girls to go any faster
or put together four good legs.
- Well, why don't you try a couple of different things then?
- Oh, grad assistant has some advice.
This should be good.
- Have you considered having your girls go out slower
the first 200, so that they can come back faster?
- Even splits for a 400 meter run?
- Yeah, something like that.
And change up the order of who leads off.
Start with your slowest runner
and always hand off to a faster runner.
- You sound just like that high school coach.
- That's where I got it from.
- What did she do, talk to everybody about my relay team?
- She didn't talk to me.
- Well, how do you know what you just said then?
- Your girls went up to her and asked her
if she had any advice for them?
- Wait, what?
My girls asked her?
- Yeah.
- How do you know that?
- I was standing right there when it happened.
- Wait, so they asked for her advice on what exactly?
- How they could get faster.
- And Coach Donnelly told them?
- Not at first.
- What do you mean not at first?
Explain.
- She won't answer the phone, when I see her on campus
she says she doesn't wanna talk.
What's going on?
- I don't know. - But you're her roommate,
you must know something.
- Well, I'm sorry, I don't.
- Something happened I don't know about.
- Could be. [somber music]
- I never knew how much I really cared for her.
- Well, you should tell her that.
- How?
She won't talk to me.
[somber music]
[fist knocking] - Coach Donnelly,
can I talk to you for a minute?
- Sure.
Is everything okay?
- When we talked to you a while ago about our relay team,
Leah told you that Coach Simpson said it was okay,
but Coach Simpson didn't know anything about it.
And I felt guilty every since,
and I wanted to come to you sooner, but, I'm sorry.
- Thank you for telling me.
- Coach, Leah's not doing so good.
- What do you mean?
- Well, she lies, she cheats in school,
and she doesn't seem to have any conviction about anything,
and I'm scared that she's not a real Christian.
- Why'd she come to school here then?
- She has a partial scholarship and her father went here,
and he's a pastor.
- And you're not sure she's a believer?
- She's herded her whole life,
but I'm not sure she's ever really herded.
- I see.
- I'm sorry that we lied to you and I went along with it.
But I'm a Christian, coach, I struggle with things,
but I'm a Christian.
And Leah's my friend, she just needs help.
- Well, Tonya, thank you for coming to me.
[spoon clinking]
- So, we can transition over
to the new office whenever we're ready.
It's totally up to us.
- Wow, that, that's good to know.
- Yeah, seems like everything's falling into place.
- Yeah, it really does.
- So, the decision's all yours.
- No, the decision's ours.
- No, it doesn't matter to me either way.
I can stay here or go there.
I mean, this decision's all up to you, miss Courtney Smith.
[light music]
[rain pattering]
[keyboard clicking]
- [Courtney] Hey, Jess, how'd it go today?
- It didn't.
No one ran.
- How come?
- We don't run when it's raining hard.
- Is Brittany here?
- Yeah, she's in there.
- He's so cool with that dance.
[fist knocking]
- Coach, I didn't think you'd be coming today.
- You do know they run track meets in the rain, right?
- Well, yeah, but it's raining pretty hard.
Coach Michaels doesn't make us practice when it rains.
[light music] [rain pattering]
- [Chris] Yeah, I mean it's this year.
- Hey, coach, does your high school team
run in the rain like that?
- [Brittany] Yeah, as long as it's not lightning we run.
- But why?
- Because we're runners and that's what we do.
I mean, nationals could be in the rain.
- It was pouring, that's ridiculous.
Why would you run in the rain?
- Do you really wanna know?
- Sure.
- Seriously, Chris, do you really wanna know?
- Yeah, sure.
- Can I ask you, are your parents together or divorced?
- They're together.
- Anybody else here have parents that are divorced?
Raise your hand.
Yeah, mine too.
Anybody here with their hand up wish
that never would have happened?
[somber music]
Look, chances are you're all gonna get married someday.
You'll pledge to make a commitment for life and there will
come a day in your marriage that you experience rain.
You're gonna have a really big decision to make.
You can choose to do the easy thing like
our parents did and get divorced or you could choose
to stay together in the rain.
Chris, it's really easy to run when the weather is nice.
It's easy to follow the Lord when everything's good,
what about when it's not?
It's not fun to run in the rain,
and it's not easy to follow the Lord when nothing's
going right and you're wondering where God is.
But regardless of the conditions, you still run.
And regardless of the circumstances, you still follow.
That's why we run in the rain.
Brittany, good job today.
I'll see you next week.
[light dramatic music]
[light music]
[phone buzzing]
[light dramatic music]
[phone buzzing]
[gentle music]
- [McKenzie] Where are you going?
- To see Chris.
[door slamming]
[light music]
- Okay, your surgery is scheduled for Saturday the 18th.
Here's some information for you.
I want you to come in a couple days early,
so plan on being here on the 16th.
- Saturday is the day of the national.
What time's the surgery?
- Two o'clock.
- One of my runners should be in the 800 meter final then.
They're gonna run her race at 2:30.
I wanted to listen to it over the phone.
- Sorry, coach.
- Can't you push it to another day or time?
- Jeff, the line waiting to get a table
at this hospital is 800 meters long.
- I'd rather listen to the race.
- And I would rather not have to perform this surgery.
- Can we do it in the morning?
- I play golf on Saturday mornings.
- Didn't I tell you golf is the most
frustrating game ever invented?
- You better hope I have a good round,
so I don't take my frustration out on you.
[papers rustling]
[clipboard thudding]
[fist knocking]
- Hey.
- May I speak with you a moment?
- Sure.
- I, uh, I owe you a little apology.
There's been a misunderstanding.
I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you before.
I thought you had approached my girls
and given them advice on how to run.
I did not know that they approached you and told you
I said it was all right to share your thoughts.
They were wrong to say that.
I apologize for my hasty response.
- No apology necessary.
- Leah and I have had a little tension all year.
- I understand, I have been there before.
- Thanks.
- Yeah.
- They missed qualifying for regionals by 9/10 of a second.
They all tried to run even splits,
and each ran their best time.
And I like the idea of getting faster
each time you hand off the baton.
All four girls are back next year and they're pretty pumped.
- That's great, I'm really happy for you guys.
- Good luck with Brittany in the regional.
- Thanks.
[light music]
Hey. - Hey.
- Hardly anybody around, did you just finish your workout?
- [Leah] Yeah.
- Ready for the regional?
- Uh, yeah, I guess, but I don't stand
a chance at nationals.
- Sure you do.
- Uh, no, I don't.
- The only girls that don't stand a chance
at nationals are the ones that didn't qualify.
- I ranked seventh out of eight
and only the top four get in.
- Okay, but what if three of those girls
got disqualified, what if they cheated?
- Cheated?
- Yeah, you know, steroids, doping.
- It wouldn't surprise me if some of them are.
- Or what if some of their coaches submitted
faster times than they actually ran?
- That's be wrong.
- The cheating or the lying?
- Both.
- Oh.
That reminds me, in my class I have this thing
that I say to my students before every test.
I say, "Get it wrong before you cheat."
You know, that way you can feel good about yourself.
Sleep at night.
That's my only rule.
Get it wrong before you cheat.
- That's a good rule.
- Yeah.
[birds chirping]
What year are you?
- Junior.
[light dramatic music]
- Bethany University and Orange Hills Academy where I teach,
they exist for the same purpose.
That's to teach people about Christ.
We've all lied and we've all cheated,
I know I have in my life.
But that's why we need Christ.
When I was a junior in high school this girl told me
that Jesus died for all my sins.
She lead me to Christ.
[keyboard clicking]
- Uh, coach, do you have a minute?
- Sure.
Leah, you okay?
- Coach, I owe you an apology.
You and like half of the people on campus.
[muffled talking]
[light music]
- Brittany.
- I'm so nervous.
- I understand.
[Courtney sighs]
You're not gonna run your race today
the way we've been training for it.
- What?
- Keisha's gonna go out for the lead
and I want you to go with her.
Stay right on her shoulder for 600 meters and then slow down
and make sure you finish in the top four.
- Wait, why do you want me to do that?
- Stay with Keisha for 600 meters, slow down,
make sure you finish in the top four.
I'll see you at the end of the race.
- Coach?
- Hey, you win by losing, right?
[light dramatic music]
- [Referee] Ladies, move up to the line.
- Get after it Brittany, you can get her.
- Good luck, Brittany. [crowd applauding]
- Let's go, Brittany. - Come on, Brittany.
- All right, Jasmin!
- Let's go, Brittany! - Come on, Brittany.
- Come on, Keisha. - Come on, Keisha.
- Come on, Kei!
- Runners set. [gunshot banging]
[crowd cheering] [crowd applauding]
[light dramatic music]
[crowd cheering]
[crowd yelling over each other]
- Stay with her, Brittany, stay with her.
You're right there, keep it up, keep it up.
- Looking good, Keisha, looking good.
- Good job, Keisha.
- Great job, Brittany, stay with her.
- Way to go, Brittany. - Good job!
- Go Brittany! [crowd applauding]
[light dramatic music]
- Where did the girl in blue come from?
- I was just thinking the same thing.
[light dramatic music]
- What's wrong with her?
- What, what is she doing?
- Why is she slowing down?
Is she hurt? [somber music]
- [Jess] Come on, Brittany!
[crowd cheering] [crowd applauding]
- You gotta make top four, Brittany.
- Come on. - Come on, Brittany!
- [Coach Maxwell] Almost through!
[light dramatic music]
- Coach Dunn, any idea why that runner pulled off?
- Why are you afraid somebody might beat your girl?
- No, I'm just wondering why she slowed down.
I mean, she looked great up till that point.
- I mean, you know how these coaches are.
They tell their runners to start out
with the leader and try to stay with them.
Well, she did for about 600 meters.
- Yeah, but Michaels is his coach,
and I've never seen him coach a runner like that.
- Nah, Michaels ain't coaching.
He had to time some time off, having some heart trouble.
- Oh, wow, I'm sorry to hear that.
So, who's coaching her?
- Some high school coach.
I can't remember her name, but I've seen her at some
of the cross country meets when I've been recruiting.
- Something didn't seem right.
- What do you mean?
- Well, I mean, she deliberately slowed down.
- Well, if you're worried and you shouldn't be,
in two weeks when you run the national,
just tell Keisha not to go out so fast and to stay with her,
and then in the last 100 meters,
Keisha kicks it in and blows her away.
You got nothing to worry about.
- Like we talked about. - Brittany,
why did you slow down?
- Coach told me to.
- Why did you have her slow down?
She was right with her.
- Dad.
- The goal wasn't to try and beat her today.
- But that's the way she needs to run.
Just go out and stay with her,
see if you can beat her in the end.
- Brittany can't win if she runs that way.
- But she was right with her for 600 meters.
If she gets a little more training in she might be able to.
- I'm sorry, sir.
It doesn't quite work that way.
- Okay, coach, if and this is a big if,
Brittany can run a 2:06,
how does Keisha Thompson run a 2:06?
- If Keisha goes out slower than she normally does
than Brittany has a chance.
- Wait, I don't understand, please explain.
- Keisha usually goes out in 60 seconds,
finishes the second lap in 65.
So, if she goes out slower than she's used to,
then Brittany has a chance.
- How do you figure?
- Because Keisha's body is used to going out fast
and then slowing down and if she goes out at a slower pace,
it's gonna do the same thing.
- What? - If Keisha goes out slower
it's gonna be easy for her to maintain that pace.
- Yeah, and then she'll just turn on the jets
and blow Brittany away down the stretch.
- I'm sorry, I mean no disrespect to you guys.
I really don't, but I think that you're mistaken.
Keisha's body isn't used to that.
She hasn't trained that way.
She's gonna go out, she's gonna slow down like
she always does and she's not gonna be able
to turn on the jets like you guys think.
- Coach Donnelly, I appreciate all you've done for Brittany,
I really do, but I have to agree with the coaches here.
Brittany needs to do what she just did,
go out hard after Keisha and try to hang on,
and see if she can beat her in the end.
- And what makes you think her coach
is stupid enough to slow her down?
- Yeah, why would he ever do that?
- Brittany can't win by running Keisha's race.
She needs to run the way that we've been training.
You did a great job today, Brittany, okay?
See you Tuesday.
Excuse me.
[muffled talking]
- Brittany what did she tell you to do?
- Stay with Keisha for 600 meters
then finish in the top four.
- Why'd she slow you down?
- I don't know.
She didn't say. [light dramatic music]
- It doesn't make any sense.
- Wait till Michaels hears about this.
[light dramatic music]
[card rustling]
[paper rustling]
[mouse clicking]
- Hey, Jess. - Hey, coach.
The lineup for the heats came in today.
Keisha's in heat one, Brittany heat two.
- Okay, what are the top qualifying times in Brit's race?
- One of the girls has run a 2:11.8,
two are over 2:12 and the others 2:13 and above.
- Okay, thanks.
[muffled talking]
- So, what time's your race Saturday?
- 2:30, but I run a qualifying heat before it on Wednesday.
- I thought you already qualified?
- That was the regional to get into the national.
So, there are 24 runners that made it to the national meet.
So, on Wednesday there are three heats.
The top two from each heat plus the next two best times
make it to the final, which is on Saturday.
- So, eight runners total in the final?
- Right. - I see.
But we're all planning to be there.
- Thanks.
- Are you nervous?
- Nope. - No?
- No. - You are to!
- [Keisha] I am not.
- Don't get overconfident now.
- I'm not doing that.
I never do that.
I have respect for my opponents, they just can't beat me.
[friends laughing]
- What about the girl from Bethany?
- What about her?
- Is she in your heat?
- No, but it doesn't matter.
Look, see this side of me?
- Yeah.
- That's the only side any runner
is gonna see of me at the end of a race.
[friends laughing]
- Okay, so you won your heat today,
but you can't run a 2:10 and expect to win in the final.
- I know, but I didn't run my hardest.
I told you that.
- But I haven't seen you run hard
since Coach Donnelly took over.
I mean, you ran a faster time with Coach Michaels.
- Well, Coach Donnelly has a race strategy and there's been
no reason to use it yet, but we will on Saturday.
- That doesn't,
I was gonna say something negative and I caught myself.
I'm becoming a new man.
[light music]
Race strategy, Coach Donnelly on Saturday, got it.
Hey, Brittany. - Yeah?
- I hope it works.
- Thanks.
- Brittany ran a 2:09.8 earlier in the season
and then two weeks later a 2:08.5.
Since then nothing faster.
- And Keisha ran a 2:04.9 at regional,
just 3/10 of a second off her record.
- It's not even close.
[Coach Rogers groaning]
- That girl looked good for 600 meters,
I mean she was right there.
- It's a 800 meter race, not 600.
- Are you worried about her?
- No, sir.
Even if she stayed with me
she wasn't gonna beat me down the stretch.
- Look, coach, we've got two options here.
Either Keisha runs like Keisha runs
or we let Brittany take the lead
and Keisha gets her in the end.
- [Brittany] Hey, coach, I saw your car.
- Hey.
- You didn't have to come in today, all I did was run easy.
- I know, I wanted to.
I felt like it was important.
- The other coaches said they're coming to watch my race.
- [Courtney] That's great.
- Not sure what they're expecting to see.
- Keisha is gonna make history, right?
Only four time winner in any event.
That's what everyone's expecting to see.
Except me and that's why I'm here today.
I know it would really help if you felt the same way.
[Brittany sighs]
- Coach, I run a 2:08, she's run a 2:04.
I'm not even close.
- Brittany, running isn't just physical,
it's also mental.
You have to believe you can do this.
- It's easy to say.
- Do you remember the story in the Bible
about the blind man Bartimaeus?
He was begging on the side of the road
when he heard Jesus was coming.
He said, Jesus son of David, have mercy on me.
And Jesus called for him
and Bartimaeus cast aside his garment
and Jesus asked him what he wanted.
He said that he wanted to see.
Jesus said your faith has made you whole
and he immediately received his sight.
Jesus said that his faith made him whole,
but what faith was he talking about?
A lot of people don't know that in those days,
blind people wore a special garment
so that other people would know that they were blind.
So, when Bartimaeus cast it aside it was his way of saying,
I'm not even gonna need this anymore.
That's the faith.
He believes that Jesus was gonna heal him
before he was even healed.
And I believe you can beat Keisha.
I really do, but you gotta believe it too.
- Brittany was right with Keisha for 600 meters in
the regional and Coach Donnelly told her to pull back.
- Why'd she do that?
- [Coach Maxwell] We don't know.
- Brittany?
- I don't know, I just did what she told me.
- And then yesterday in our heat at the national qualifier,
Coach Donnelly told Brittany to stay with the leaders
and then win it at the end, which she did.
- I ran a 2:10.3.
- You run faster than that.
- Yeah.
- Coach Michaels, we're not here to complain
about Coach Donnelly, but perhaps you can give us
some clear direction.
I saw the regional race and for 600 meters
Brittany was right with Keisha.
She looked great.
- Yeah, she did.
And I think it's the only way to run
the final and have a chance.
It certainly can't be what Coach Donnelly is hoping for.
- Which is what?
- That Keisha will go out slower in the final.
Now, think about that.
The 800 meter champion for the past three years,
nobody even close to her, and Coach Donnelly thinks
Keisha's coach is gonna slow her down for the final.
- Why does she think that?
- No idea.
- Brittany?
- I don't know, sir.
- We came here tonight to ask if you
could override Coach Donnelly and make the decision
for how Brittany should run her race.
- I see.
- Coach Michaels, if Coach Donnelly had never come on
the scene, wouldn't you advise Brittany to go out
with Keisha and try and stay with her?
Coach, wouldn't you?
- As a former 800 meter runner and a finalist
in the NCAA, yes, I would.
Would you gentleman please excuse us.
I wanna talk to Brittany alone.
[light dramatic music]
- Told you we could get him to make a change.
[bed creaking]
- Now, you listen.
I'm still the head coach of this team,
coaching you distance runners.
We've been together now three years.
You and I have accomplished a lot.
So, I'm gonna tell you how you're gonna
run your race at the national
and I want you to do it exactly as I'm gonna say.
You understand, young lady?
- Yes, sir.
- Please, give me you word as a Christian
that you'll do exactly as I tell you.
- I will.
- I want you to run your race
exactly as Coach Donnelly says.
[light music]
- Yes, sir.
[light dramatic music]
- You warmed up? - Yeah, I'm ready.
- Okay, good.
This is what we've been working towards.
All the training, all the effort, all the pacing.
- Yep.
- If this goes the way I hope than you should be
in the lead at 100 meters with Keisha right behind you.
Let's hope her coach took the bait.
- What does that mean?
- Do you remember the story I told you
from the golf match from when I was like 13?
- [Brittany] Yeah.
- Do you remember what I said I did wrong?
- Um, you were worried about the other players.
- Right and that's exactly what we tried to do to Keisha.
We want her to run our race today instead of hers.
Having you run with her for 600 meters and slowing down,
that was get into her head.
Let's hope it worked.
- What if Keisha goes out fast like she always does?
- It doesn't matter.
Run the race that way you've been training,
but if she goes out with you that's what we want.
Remember it's not always the fastest runner that wins,
it's the one that crosses the finish line first.
- I've never been so nervous in my life.
- Hey, you've run this pace for 600 meters in practice,
so you know you can get that far.
The hill workouts that we've been doing and Bartimaeus,
they'll get you the rest of the way.
If I had to place a bet on the race today,
I'd put my money on Secretariat.
[light dramatic music]
- Never been a four time winner in any event.
I bet Keisha breaks her record by at least a second.
- What's her record?
- 2:04.6.
- 2:04.6, okay.
- Maybe she's nervous. - Yeah.
[muffled talking]
- I don't think our high school coach
knows how good Keisha really is.
- No, she'll find out in a few minutes.
800 is about to start.
[crowd applauding] [crowd cheering]
[dramatic music]
- Ladies, take your lanes.
[crowd applauding] [crowd cheering]
- Good luck, girls. - All right, Amanda.
- Let's go, Keisha. - Let's go, Keisha.
- Let's go Kei! - Woo!
[crowd applauding] [crowd cheering]
- [Woman] Yeah!
- Go, Brittany. - Let's go, Brittany.
[dramatic music]
- Good luck, Brittany.
- [Referee] Runners set.
[gunshot banging] [crowd cheering]
[dramatic music]
[light dramatic music]
[crowd applauding] [crowd cheering]
- [Man] Come on, Brittany.
- [Man] Come on, let's go!
- You got this! - Stay on it!
- You got this! - Great job, Brittany!
- Let's go. - Stay on it, Keisha.
- Let's go, Brittany. [crowd cheering]
[light dramatic music]
[triumphant music]
- You gotta go now, Keisha!
Run now! - Come on, Keisha!
[triumphant music]
[light music]
- Hi. - Hi.
- How's Coach Michaels doing?
- He's doing fine, but he's pretty heavily sedated,
so he won't be awake for a few more hours.
- Can we see him?
- I'm sorry, but no visitors.
- You guys wait here for a minute.
[muffled talking]
I think she's gonna do it too.
Thanks.
Hey. - Hey.
- She said that you could go back there
but just for a minute.
- Okay. - All right.
- Thanks.
[door latch clicking] [light dramatic music]
[door thudding]
[gold medal rattling]
- [Courtney] To be successful as a runner it takes
hard work, discipline and proper training.
And sometimes in order to win,
you have to be willing to lose.
The same is true in life.
Hard work, discipline and proper training always pay off,
but the most important thing
in this life is to be willing to lose.
Jesus said it best, "Whoever will save his life
"shall lose it, but whoever will lose his life
"for my sake, shall save it."
[light dramatic music]
[light music]
[upbeat music]
[light music]
[gentle music]