Jon Mark Beilue: Not Defined by .14 of a Second

WT coach barely misses Olympic Trials, but process is reward

Snap your fingers. How long does that take? Let’s say about .14 of a second because that would be close.

Now, let your arms hang by your side. Bring your hands up to even with your elbows. Just to be accurate, widen your hands a few inches to get to 28 inches in width.

Those are two ways heartbreak is measured. Now, to add to that, imagine receiving an email that says after all those punishing workouts in the wind and cold that you’ve reached your dream only to be told 90 minutes later that you had not.

“That’s what I have to live with,” Jake Krolick said.

Krolick, 29, is the West Texas A&M University cross country coach and assistant track coach by day, and a hopeful, sometimes obsessed marathoner by evening, early morning or whenever he can get some free time. He had a dream ripped away, but as he says, that’s just part of the story that began eight years ago.  

“I was watching the Olympic (Marathon) Trials in 2012 and I remember sitting on the couch with some of my buddies,” said Krolick, then running at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. “I said that some day I’m going to be on that starting line. It was something I thought I wanted to do and thought I could do.

“You got to have something to get you out of bed in the morning. You got to have something to tell you it’s worth all the hard work.”

Krolick has always been a good, but by his own admission, never a great distance runner. Growing up in Arcade, N.Y., about 40 miles south of Buffalo, he ran a 5K for the first time at age 11 in 28 minutes. He won his age group. He was handed a medal.

“You give me a medal,” Krolick said, “and I’m going to do what I can to get another. It kind of lit a fire.”

In his junior year in high school, he was running cross country in the fall and track in the spring. His running went up another level. Though he ran solid bests of 4:37 in the mile and 9:54 in the two-mile, it never got him to the state meet.

Krolick had competed at a running camp at Edinboro University, about two hours south of Arcade, while in high school. The coach there sold him on a dream. He would later compete for three years at Edinboro in cross country.

Though not an All-American as an individual, he was on three teams which qualified for the NCAA Division II national meet. Knowing he wanted to coach, after graduation, he transferred to Adams State for graduate hours and to soak up the culture at the program renowned for distance running in Alamosa, Colo.

Missed a first attempt by 25 seconds

At Adams State in 2012, he began to run faster and faster longer. He lowered his best time in the 13.1-mile half marathon by four minutes to 1:05.52.

“I really got to training at a higher level,” Krolick said. “It’s a consistency, a culture, a mindset there. You do everything right 52 weeks a year, 365 days a year. There are no down weeks. You do that for a year straight and it can set you up to do big things.”

After some volunteer and part-time coaching at Edinboro and Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, N.C., he went to Texas A&M University-Commerce as assistant cross country and track coach in 2015. The next year, 2016, was an Olympic year.

There were two ways to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon – a 1:05.00 in the half, or a 2:19.00 in the full 26.2-mile marathon on a certified course. He chose the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in Houston.

Krolick needed to average 4:57 a mile, and through 11 miles, he was right on pace at 4:56. He had to average 5 minutes a mile over the last 2.1 miles, but just couldn’t maintain the pace, averaging 5:12 to miss the mark by 25 seconds in 1:05:25.

Disappointed, but not crushed. There was 2020. In the meantime, Krolick got the WT position in 2017. While the men have added to a streak of seven LSC titles and national meet appearances by winning three in a row under Krolick, he also has trained with his own runners as well as on his own with a focus on 2020.

He had numerous weeks of 100-plus miles, and leading up to his last attempt in January to qualify for the Olympic Trials, he had 10 runs of 22 miles or longer.  He hired a coach, Jake Phillips, of Dallas Baptist University to help. Krolick is more than familiar with the dirt roads between Canyon and Happy.

“There are cows out there, but no houses or cars,” Krolick said. “Nothing but me and the dirt road and your thoughts.”

His final chance at qualifying was Jan. 19 at the Chevron Houston Marathon. This would be his fourth – and final – marathon in the 28-month qualifying window. In races over three states, none had been faster than 2:24:15. Still quite a bit to cut for the 2:19.0.

“I had to believe I could do it even if you lie to yourself a little bit,” Krolick said. “I thought I’d be on pace for the first 20 miles, and hope things go well the last 6.”

‘Nothing is given to you’

In Houston, he latched on to Tommy Rivers, a 2:17 marathoner, and ran with him and his pack. The pace felt comfortable, and through the half, it was a confidence-building 1:08:40 – a 2:17.20 pace.  The second half of the race was into a breeze, and runners in the pack alternated taking the lead to break the wind. At mile 22, the pack started to break.

“I didn’t feel terrible,” he said, “but at the same time, I’m thinking, ‘Is it coming? Is it coming?’ I’m waiting for the monkey to jump on my back.”

His pace slowed to 5:30 per mile, but he had a buffer built up through the first 20. Would he? Could he? Constant glances at his watch tore at his emotions. With a quarter mile left, he needed 73 seconds. That’s 4:52 pace.

When Krolick rounded the final turn, he saw the clock at 2:18:45. He heard the announcer mention 15 seconds. He dug deep. His legs were wobbly. He had nothing else left as he willed himself across the finish.

There was some initial confusion. His chip time was 2:19:06, but the gun time was what mattered and that was right at 2:19. The official time was 2:19.014. He hugged his sister and friends at the finish. It was not one of celebration, but the stark satisfaction that was all he had to give.

On Monday, back in Canyon, Krolick got an email from the Atlanta Track Club. Atlanta is the site of the Olympic Trials on Feb. 29. He had made it. He had done it after all. He contacted his family, his WT runners, and put out a message on social media.

Not much more than an hour later, another email popped in, this from USA Track and Field. Knots formed in his stomach. He had not advanced. 2:19.0 is 2:19.0. Since USATF is the sports governing body, there was really no avenue to appeal.

8,300 seconds was decided by .14 seconds. 26.2 miles was decided by 28 inches.

“This happened right before practice, and I didn’t have time to process all my emotions of making and then not making the Trials,” he said. “I didn’t know how to handle it. I felt embarrassed. I didn’t know what to tell them.”

But, in fact, he did know what to tell them. And it would be what he would tell any group, be it college, high school or junior high, athletes or not. What he would like to tell anyone who might want to listen.

“If you want something, you got to work for it,” he said. “Nothing is given to you. Just because you think you deserve it doesn’t mean you should get it. That doesn’t mean you should give up on dreams nor what you really want in life. We live in an instant gratification society, such as ‘likes’ on social media, but that instant reward is not the way sports or life works.”

For Krolick, the process has been the reward. This pursuit over the last eight years, while not earning him the specific high goal of the Olympic Trials, has made him more fit, more confident, a better coach, a better person.

“I’m not going to be defined by that one second,” he said. “I am who I am because of the process leading up to the finish in Houston.”

Onward to the possibilities of 2024, and all that waits in between.

Do you know of a student, faculty member, project, an alumnus or any other story idea for “WT: The Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle?” If so, email Jon Mark Beilue at jbeilue@wtamu.edu.

—WTAMU—