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Runners on the Way Up
Edmund Burke: A Valuable Asset
by Drew Woodrich
July/August 2005
Washington Running Report
Photo above by Brightroom
Edmund Burke's training had been progressing OK when we met for an interview on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 at Chipolte in Bethesda. He came dressed in an American University Track & Field sweatshirt and spoke articulately. As an experienced runner and an evolving coach, he expresses the ideas and philosophy of the sport of running with a depth of knowledge: have fun doing it, inspire others by sharing information on how to train, and challenge the status quo. Like any fast runner, he has a wonderful support system of friends, family, and fellow athletes and he is eager to thank them for his achievement. He currently is sponsored by the Pacers/Brooks team.
Edmund Burke has been training under Coach Matt Centrowitz for ten years. He graduated from the College of Notre Dame, a NCAA Division III school in the San Francisco area, with a bachelor's degree in in English (1991) and received his Masters degree in English from San Francisco State University. Centrowitz was an assistant coach with the Reebok Enclave under Coach Frank Gagliano's leadership and a part time cross country coach at American University when Burke moved to Washington at the end of 1994 to be closer to his family. Matt Centrowitz has been a full-time coach for five years at AU and has worked with national class distance athletes like two-time Olympian Jen Rhines and local stars Peter Sherry and Heather Hanscom.
Edmund Burke is a native of Washington, DC, although he spent his early years in County Waterford in Ireland-his father is Irish. As a young boy, he played sports that rely on running: soccer, gaelic football, and hurling. His first competitive encounter with running was a 3 mile cross country race at boarding school when he was a 13-year-old; there were 71 boys in the run and he won it. In other sports, his ability was average.
His family moved to southern California, where he participated in track at a private high school at age 16. His parents emphasized academics and limited his athletic options to running. Burke sets one at ease with a modest manner of story telling; he emphasizes the element of fun in sport rather than a drive to compete and outperform. "I have no preconceptions about who I am," he states during the interview.
At Notre Dame College in California, he chanced into a serious running program. He started as the eighth man on an eight-man team in autumn 1987; the main requirement was to show up everyday at workouts. This took him to NCAA Division III Nationals in his freshman year! However, the coach was fired the next year and the team folded. Edmund Burke kept training and competed for three more coaches at Notre Dame. Finally, one of his friends took leadership of the program. In his senior year, at the outdoor track conference meet, he was entered in the 10,000 meters. His personal best had been a 32:40 performance from the previous year. But a teammate jokingly asked him to help defeat UC-Davis with a big effort. Burke took the friend's request to heart and ran into the lead after twelve laps (about halfway into the race). Although he had not been ranked among the top ten athletes in the conference, he ended up winning the conference meet 10,000 meters with a huge improvement in 30:44. That was fun. Burke went to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Nationals and finished 11th of 12 athletes in the 10,000 meters.
He still runs today, more than a decade later, because he enjoys it. The next day's plan was a 13 mile tempo run in the morning on the Capital Crescent Trail; he works at the nearby Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences library in Bethesda. He also runs on trails in Rock Creek Park; two to three times a week he does track workouts at American University where he is currently an assistant coach. He follows the basic hard, easy schedule. Burke prefers to run in the morning before work when his energy level is higher. He mentioned at his job interview that he would need a flexible schedule to allow participation in afternoon track workouts.
Burke's racing calendar includes a few road races during the spring but track meets are an important part of his schedule. He won the St. Patrick's Day 10K-a competitive local race-in 1996 (30:52), 1997 (31:06) and 1998 (30:50), placed third in 1999 (30:37), second in 2001 (31:03), and second in 2002 (31:06). His best recent placing in the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile was in 2002, when he finished 15th in 49:47; he also placed 19th in 2003 (50:51) and 27th in 2001 (50:28). This year he placed third in the George Washington Parkway 10 Mile (51:44). On the track, he wants to improve his 5000 meters personal best time. He spent most of last year recovering from the February 2004 Men's Olympic Trials Marathon held in Birmingham, AL. (He finished 50th with a time of 2:26:13.) Burke says he made many sacrifices to qualify for and compete in the Trials. Months later, he can enjoy life and relax a little; in December, he visited Ireland.
"It was a great honor to compete to represent the United States at the Olympic Trials and I was delighted to be there," he commented. Burke says he missed qualifying for the 2000 Trials by a mere 21 seconds, so he has the satisfaction of achieving a long-term goal. And there is 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon, when he will be 38 years old.
How did it go in Alabama? Edmund Burke says he was racing fine until 22 miles, at which point he hit the proverbial wall; his mile splits slowed from 5:20s to the 6:15-7:30/mile range. He expresses no disappointment; Burke remains positive and focuses on performance, not outcome. Yes, his friends and family were there to watch the drama and cheer for him. "A win makes everything worth it," he explains about the motivation to face a challenge. But the opportunity to race against the best and make new friends provides greater satisfaction.
Looking forward, Edmund Burke will strive to improve his time in the marathon to sub-2:18. Burke has competed in one dozen marathons and lists them: Chicago three times, Philadelphia in 1996, Austin, Sacramento four times (the California International Marathon in December), San Francisco twice, and the 2004 Olympic Trials in Alabama. Burke finished 40th and ran 2:21:53 at the 2003 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon to qualify for the 2004 Trials.
Running a marathon in October has its advantages for a runner training in the Washington area: the summer track season sharpens one's speed and the long summer daylight hours allow a marathoner to log more mileage. Track competition is a great way to train because performances on the oval stage don't lie, so it is easy to compare one's times. The difficulty of a road race can vary with hills, turns, and distance; asphalt or concrete is a harder surface than running on an athletic track.
What does he do to minimize his risk of injury? He stretches and schedules a weekly session with massage therapist Terrell Hale, who works with top local athletes. It makes a big difference to be flexible, especially as one ages. Burke has noticed that his muscles require more time to recover after a workout and get stiffer. He has also tried ice baths to speed up recovery time of leg muscles. He has only suffered one serious injury, to his Achilles tendon in 2000.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Edmund Burke's early years as a runner, Irish newspapers headlined the exploits of Olympian John Treacy ("a class act") and Eamonn Coughlan. Treacy and Coughlan were the prominent names discussed in Irish households, before the rock and roll band U2 became famous. When Burke made the decision after college to move from San Francisco to Washington, DC, he wrote to John Treacy and asked for a running contact in Washington. And so that is how Burke received advice from an Irish Olympic gold medalist to contact Matt Centrowitz, a two-time Olympian.
Edmund Burke is an assistant coach to Matt Centrowitz and enjoys being involved in the lives of American University track team members. These collegiate runners provide a lot of encouragement and enthusiasm for Burke's running. The people he wants to spend time with are these students. Fast times at races are nice, but friendships matter the most to him and bring out his best. Burke serves as an experienced and friendly resource in the local scene.
Edmund Burke still gets excited about running and continues to train for a personal best. His family-his parents, brothers and sisters--is very supportive of this running-centric lifestyle. He attended a wedding in California early this year but found time to do his morning track workout before the ceremony. Running is an essential part of his day.