For Kimber Mattox, Friday’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Oregon Twilight Meet felt tough. But it’s the steeplechase, she said, and “it’s always a tough race.”
It didn’t appear that way, though. Mattox, a former Oregon distance runner who now competes for Team Run Eugene, outpaced the rest of the field in the final 1,000 meters by a considerable margin, ultimately winning in 10 minutes, 7.62 seconds.
Running by herself throughout the event, Mattox finished 10 seconds ahead of second-place Regan Yee.
“It’s a little tough when you’re running by yourself,” Mattox said. “It would’ve been nice to have someone to work with up front, but I could hear people behind me, which always gives me a little push too.”
One runner did challenge Mattox early. Lauren Johnson of the Nike Oregon Track Club Elite sprinted out in front of the pack and maintained a comfortable lead. But after the first 600 meters, Johnson had already decided she would bow out at the 2,000-meter mark.
“My coach left it open to me whether I’d finish or not, and fighting the wind today, I went out too hard in the first 600,” Johnson said. “2K was good for me.”
Johnson, who was a hurdler in high school and college, has been trying to break into the steeplechase recently, but circumstances haven’t really allowed for it. Her efficiency with hurdles at a fast pace was clear. Now it is just a matter of sustaining that for 3,000 meters.
“I came from sprint hurdlers in high school and college, so I’m a lot more efficient hurdling that faster pace,” Johnson said. “Whether or not I can do that for a full 3K is what we’re trying to build to.”
She’s building toward the Portland Track Festival in June, which Johnson has circled as a day she could run the steeplechase again. But, as for Friday, “it was definitely a good workout.”
On the other hand, Mattox enjoyed a reunion. She and several other former Ducks competed at the Oregon Twilight. And to her benefit, some of those same Ducks on the track with her, she said, helped offset the “tough” part about the race.
