After four months of rehab, Tyler Mulder of Oregon Track Club Elite opened his 2016 outdoor season with a win in the 800 meters at the Oregon Relays.
Mulder has dealt with hamstring tendinopathy for the past four months, a rare injury found in distance runners. This injury hasn’t stopped him from running completely; it’s just slowed his progress.
Nathan Fleck of High Performance led through the first three quarters of the race, with Mulder trailing by 10 meters. With 150 meters to go, Mulder made his move, easily passing Fleck on the Bowerman curve. Oregon senior Grant Grosvenor went with him. Mulder was able to hold Grosvenor off in the last steps, claiming the victory in 1:50.50.
“It’s not a fast time or anything but most importantly I haven’t really raced much, I’ve been banged up and hurt,” he said. “Which was hard to bounce back from, so coming out here and getting a win is pretty good.”
Mulder said he tried not to think about the fact that he came into the race as the number one seed.
“I tried to come in just thinking of myself as someone who’s getting over rehab and just coming through to be competitive,” he said. “I didn’t want to take the spotlight and charge from the front which is where I feel comfortable. I like a fast pace, but not quite yet.”
Mulder is hoping to hit the 1:46 standard needed to compete in the Olympic Trials later this year.
“I like my situation,” he said. “I’m a bit of an underdog, so no one is probably expecting much of me, and I’m just going to go with that approach.”
He leaves Sunday morning to Flagstaff to join his team for a couple weeks of altitude training before competing again at the Drake Relays later this month.
