by Laura Magee

Melody Fairchild is one of six two-time Foot Locker National Champions, and she still holds the course record. She owns eight state championship titles, and she was the first high school girl to break ten minutes for two miles. A collegiate career at the University of Oregon included All-American honors, Pac-10 and National titles. Melody went on to run professionally for Nike, qualifying for two Olympic Trials. She has shared her gift and love for running through coaching, and at her all-girls summer running camp, the Melody Fairchild Running Camp.

With Jordan Hasay making her indoor debut this week in the 2-mile race at Nike Indoor Nationals, there has been speculation surrounding not so much the outcome of the race as her record-breaking attempt. A tiny distance star with the recognizable ponytail certainly conjures up Hasay. Eighteen years ago, Fairchild filled that description as well, being called a "tiny dynamo" at the time.  Unfortunately, Melody's history-making race was a few years early for DyeStat coverage. She has kindly agreed to allow us to report retroactively on the 1991 Scholastic National Indoor 2 mile, as well as share some advice with young runners like Hasay, as her successor attempts to make history.

The parallels that can be drawn between Jordan Hasay and Melody Fairchild continue to mount. Besides being viewed as among the best female prep runners of all time, both women belong to the exclusive group of athletes with two Foot Locker National Championship titles, both began their indoor career as immediate favorites at nationals (Scholastic National Indoor/ NIN) and both chose to be Ducks at the University of Oregon after their high school careers.

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1) Your 9:55.92 Scholastic National Indoor Championship 2-mile victory solidified your position in history as one of the best female high school runners of all time. Looking back to that race in Syracuse, do you remember the details of the trip to New York and the meet?

I remember a big snowstorm to get out of in Denver on the way there, and sub-zero temperatures in Syracuse accompanied by gusty winds; not ideal conditions for a mountain-girl from Colorado to go out and get her kicks in.

So, I adjusted, and remember training in circles in the concession area above the echoing arena, my lungs getting used to the stale, hot-dog and popcorn scented-air. I remember my high school coach being invited to speak at a coaches clinic the day before the race, so I was somewhat on my own to feel my way around the very first indoor race of my life. I bumped into John Babington, currently coach of Wellesley College, who had been the manager of one of my Junior World Cross-Country teams earlier in my  high school career, and he helped me sharpen my focus on the pace I needed to run for the race. I remember sitting in the busy lobby of the meet headquarters hotel, arresting my nerves about the race with the pre-race ritual of replacing, or just screwing in extra-tight, my spikes, which coach Babington assisted me in doing, also.

An unforgettable detail of the then-National Scholastic Indoor Championships, was Mike Byrnes, one of the people who made the meet happen. He was extremely excited and supportive of all the athletes who made it there, a man who left a huge positive impression on me.
 
2) Can you recall the thoughts and emotions you encountered leading up to the start, throughout the race and with the post-race excitement of breaking 10 minutes?

My thoughts and emotions leading up to the race were a mixed bag, really. In many ways, my high school career was like a fairytale, with international and national travel, meeting new and interesting people, and three years of focus on a level of excellence that elevated my thoughts to  sacred ground that few people trod: "National Champion," "National Record Holder," "World Championships Team Member," "Bronze, Silver, or Gold Medalist at the World Championships..." And my trip to Indoor Nationals was just as exciting and just as much an honor.

On the surface, I was "flying high," and "invincible" as a runner. The sobering thoughts I carried inside me to Syracuse that year, if I thought about them, had the potential to weigh me down more than a record-setting run would allow. So, I kept my razor-sharp focus on the run. My mother was dying of cancer, and I was, in many ways, running scared.  That time on the clock I wanted to best, my own grim reaper, and my desire to out-run it so intense, that as race-time neared it sometimes felt as if my focus alone could crush the record, for this would be proof that my spirit wouldn't wither in the face of the challenges I faced beyond the world of running.

3) You set a 9:17.7 3k record en route to the 2-mile record, running negative splits 5:00/ 4:55. After holding strong for eighteen years, both records might truly be challenged for the first time on March 15th by two-time Footlocker Champion, 1500m Olympic Trials finalist Jordan Hasay. What did breaking ten minutes and setting the record mean to you? What do you anticipate feeling if the record falls?

Actually, I ran splits of 5:03 and 4:52 (thanks to coach Babington for recently reminding me)! I knew I had to run at least a hair under 5:00 for two consecutive miles, and when I came through in 5:03, I really put the after-burners on, and remember the feeling of accelerating each lap.

I felt powerful as I lapped the field, that's all I knew. It wasn't until after the race that I learned I had broken the national 3k record also. And it wasn't until five years later, when I won my first NCAA  national championship at the indoor meet in Indianapolis in 9:07, that I realized the significance of the 9:17, as only a handful of women in the country on the collegiate level had broken 9:20 that year. Breaking the record was a bit mind-boggling, really. It was what I came to the indoor meet to do, and when I did it, I had a very utilitarian view of it: "..one more step successfully taken toward the Big Goal: World Junior Cross-Country Champion."

If my record falls on Sunday, I anticipate feeling ELATION, knowing that there are young women in this country out there wanting to be Pacesetters and reach deep within themselves for excellence; there will be a a giant celebration going on inside me!

4) Similar to your 1991 race, Hasay’s main competitor will most likely be the clock. Taking into account Hasay’s 1500m-speed, her lack of indoor experience (this will be her indoor debut) and her 2008 outdoor 3200 mark of 9:52.13 (9:19.6) what advice do you have as she prepares to line up with the top 2-milers in the country at the Nike Indoor National meet in Boston MA?

Visualize, or see in your mind's eye, how you want each step of the race to go, including a look at the clock with (something like) 9:52 on it. Then imagine the race, not only see it unfold, but imagine the sounds, sights, smells, all the sensory data you can include, from preparation, to start, through every lap of the race, to the finish.

Let no doubt enter your mind about your ability to accomplish your goal, or your preparedness.

Keep the Fire Hot, and if the flame isn't quite as big as you'd like as you finish the first mile, don't worry, just turn yourself into a bonfire, In the Spirit of the Sufi Mystic Rumi, who said:

"When you do something, burn yourself completely; like a good bonfire, there should be nothing left."

Photo: Gray Mortimore/Allsport