The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Ranked number one—in the world
Former Crested Butte Titan track standout-turned CU Buffs all-American and now professional New Balance track athlete Emma Coburn made a triumphant return to the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Saturday, May 18 (Shanghai time), winning the IAAF Diamond League race in Shanghai, China.
Not only did she win, she crushed it, leaving the entire field comprised of the best steeplers in the world in the dust, finishing almost 40 meters ahead of her closest competition. Coburn also set a new personal best time of 9:19.80, the second fastest time ever run by an American woman. She is the only American to win a Diamond League steeplechase, male or female. Coburn is now the top ranked steepler in the world.
The Universal Sports Network announcer put it best as Coburn crossed the finish line stating, “She destroyed what one would consider, on paper, to be the very best.”
It had been almost an entire year since Coburn last raced in anything really, let alone a steeplechase. In June 2013, Coburn had to step off the track with a stress fracture in her sacrum and spent 10 weeks entirely away from training and racing.
“Going back to when I was a little kid I don’t think I’ve ever had 10 weeks off from any activity,” says Coburn. “It was weird.”
She returned to her normal training regimen in November and raced in a couple of indoor events over the winter and then put in eight weeks of hard training in preparation for her trip to the Far East.
The plan for the trip was to race in a 1,500-meter event in Tokyo the week before her return to steeplechase in Shanghai. The hope was to “shake the cobwebs off” in the 1,500 meters so she would be ready for Shanghai. In the end she did more than that. Coburn paced off her training partner and New Balance teammate Jenny Simpson in the 1,500-meter race to place second in Tokyo with a time of 4:07.49.
“It wasn’t my fastest time but better than I usually do in the 1,500 meters after a long break,” says Coburn. “It felt great.”
While the second-place finish did boost Coburn’s confidence, she tempered her expectations for her upcoming steeplechase race a week later.
“I didn’t know what to expect from the field,” explains Coburn. “I had some splits to be mindful of and just wanted to run my splits and be around fifth place and maybe reel the lead pack in as best I could at the end.”
While Coburn stayed with her plan, the plan played out nowhere near what she expected.
The steeplechase race includes a “rabbit,” someone who sets a pace as decided by the steeplers for the first 1,000 meters and then peels off the track. Coburn took off with the rabbit at the start but the rest of the field did not, so when the rabbit peeled off, Coburn was way out in front.
Rather than question her pace, Coburn kept her splits in mind with an occasional glance at the Jumbotron. After three laps, she looked up to see that she had a 100-meter lead on the pack of racers and was still feeling good.
“No one joined me and I just did what I did,” says Coburn. “I was just thinking I have to keep working hard. I stayed mindful of my splits and was just on my own doing my own thing. Maybe they just assumed I went out too hard and they would catch me.”
By the time she crossed the finish line, Coburn experienced a mix of emotions.
“I was not expecting it,” says Coburn. “I was happy but overwhelmed and confused. I was happy to set a new PR [personal record] by a couple seconds too.”
Adding to the surprise, Coburn had a massage scheduled for after the race but was late as a result of her win.
“I didn’t expect I would be running a victory lap and stepping on the podium,” says Coburn. “I was a little late for my massage.”
While she is the top-ranked steepler in the world, the overall Diamond League title remains in question as Coburn and her coaches will temper her schedule this season to keep her back healthy.
“We just want to make sure everything feels perfect, and right now it does feel good,” says Coburn.
Coburn returns to the Diamond League race series on Saturday, May 31 when she heads to Eugene, Ore. to race in the Prefontaine Classic.
“I’ll be racing against the same women and this time I don’t think they’ll let me go,” says Coburn.
