Gunn's Graham defeats Gunn's Graham defeats (December 18, 2002)self doubt, finishes 12th at national finals

by Keith Peters

Ruth Graham was a little tired Sunday when she returned from the Foot Locker National Cross-Country Championships in San Diego.

One reason was her physical state. Saturday's season-best time of 17:59.2 over the 5,000-meter course in Balboa Park was her best of the year. Moreover, it earned her 12th place in the elite field of 32 runners from around the nation. Graham was the first Californian to finish, ahead of two California state champions, and the fourth-fastest senior.

That, however, really wasn't why Graham was tired. It was staying up all night celebrating her achievement and enjoying the friendship of other runners that had the Gunn High senior a bit droopy-eyed.

"I just didn't want to go to sleep," Graham said. "We got back from the banquet around midnight and some of the runners had early morning flights. So I said, 'what the heck is a few extra hours?' So I just hung out with the other runners. I just couldn't sleep."

Having that kind of race to put the finishing touches on one's high school career can have that effect. Only a few weeks ago Graham, the defending Division II state champion, had battled allergies and illness and run to a mediocre 40th-place finish in the state finals. So, Graham had a lot to prove to herself.

"I actually wondered if I could do it again, that I was a good runner," she said. "The first three days after the state meet were the longest I've had."

A week after the state meet, Graham entered the Foot Locker West Regional at Mt. Antonio College with her sights set on redemption. She had finished ninth in that event a year earlier and failed (by one spot) to reach the national finals. This time, Graham raced to a fifth-place finish and became the first female runner from the Central Coast Section to qualify to race against the nation's best.

"This was just the icing on the cake," Graham said of her race at nationals. "It was pretty much what I expected of myself. I wanted to be top 15."

During the race, however, Graham approached a mental crossroads. She started hurting around the two-mile mark and began questioning why she was even in the race. That was until she ran another half mile and heard placings being called out.

"I was 18th," she said. "It basically woke me up. I really didn't want to finish 18th. I didn't want to finish my season with a mediocre race. I wanted to prove that (she was a good runner) to myself."

And that she did, reaching for another gear over the final half mile to overtake six of the nation's top runners - including California state champs Rachel Bryan (Division I) of Elk Grove and Caitlin Chock (Division II) of Roseville. Graham had been beaten by both at the West Regional meet.

Said Graham: "It was a good way to end the season."