- January 23, 2002

INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN BERRYHILL

LetsRun.com spoke with Brian Berryhill as he prepares to make his 2002 at the adidas Boston Indoor Games this Sunday in the mile.  2002 will be Berryhill's first full-year as a professional. Berryhill capped a standout collegiate career last year for Colorado State, where he was a 10-time All-American, as he captured both the 2001 NCAA indoor mile and outdoor 1500 meter title - leading wire to wire in both races. After NCAAs, Berryhill ended up a disappointing 7th at USATF in the 1500 meters and missed out qualifying for his first world championship team.

Berryhill originally hails from Oregon where he was an accomplished multi-sport star in high school. In track, Berryhill was a 400/800 meter runner who was a 3-time state champion in the 400 meters and 2-time state champion in the 800 meters, despite running a grand total of 8 miles per week (with his longest run every being 3 miles).  He also played basketball and football throughout high school. As a football wide-receiver, he was recruited by several Division I schools including Oregon State.  

Berryhill competes for adidas and still resides in Ft. Collins, Colorado where he is coached by his Colorado State coach, Del Hessel .

Click here if you want to read Berryhill's interview about his entire running career and specifically his plans for the 2002 season. 

The Brian Berryhill File
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 154 lbs.
Resides: Ft. Collins, CO
9th -400m:4 9.9
11th- 800m: 1:53.92
12th - 400m: 48.0, 800m: 1:51.4
Current PRs. 400m: 47.7 for 400, 800m: 1:46.01, 1500m: 3:35.4, Mile: 3:54.7

Interview conducted on January 23, 2002 by Robert Johnson.

RJ: Tell me a little about the highlights of your high school career. I know you focussed more on the 400/800.
BB: I won the 400 state title 3 times and the 800 meters twice. I ran 48.04 for the 400 and 1:51.4 for 800..

RJ: How old were you and how did you first get into running?
BB: It was kind of something I've always done from elementary school when they have those stupid little races. I had success at it and have been running ever since. I started running competitively in junior high school and kept at it. I played other sports too - basketball and football. Running may have not been my favorite sport but it was the one I best at.

RJ: How long did you stick with football and basketball?
BB: I played them all they way through high school both basketball and football. I was a good football player. I got recruited by some places to play football. I thought about doing both football and running but it's tough to be both a football player and middle distance runner so I opted at the one I was better it.

RJ: What type of schools were recruiting you and what position did you play?  Were you a lot bigger back then?
BB: I was a receiver and got the most interest from Oregon State. A couple of Idaho schools were also interested but it didn't take me too long to realize that I didn't want to play football in college.  Once, I got to college, I lost a lot of weight. My 2nd year at Colorado State, my coach sort of put me on a little diet I guess you might say.  I am 6 feet tall and weighed about 176 in high school.  Now I way about 154.

RJ: What type of training did you do in high school? You said you only did about 8 miles a week. That's simply amazing. I guess there wasn't a lot of time to train since you were so busy with the other sports.
BB: Yeah, by the time it got to track season, I only had 2.5 months so we didn't really have time to do a base. period so I'd do something like 4 x 200s or 8 x 300s. It would be mostly a speed workout . If it wasn't that we'd do stairs or go to the pool The longest run I ever did was a 3 mile loop and when I came back I was like "Coach, we're never going to do that again." I've obviously come a long way.
        It came fairly easy for me in college. I had some injuries but for the most part I got pretty lucky in bumping up the mileage.  .I went up to about 30 a week freshman year and then up 20 a year each year after that and then 80-90 the last couple of years."

RJ: Can you tell me a little bit about your experience with the collegiate recruiting process. In high school, you were a 400/800 meter runner. What type of schools were recruiting you?
BB: You know I was a 400/800 runner. I talked to a lot of different schools but the first recruiting trip I went on was to Arkansas and after that I was pretty much set on going there. You know John McDonnell the coach there is just awesome as the program. A couple of weeks before the signing period, I got a call from the head coach here at Colorado State and he wanted me to come out. I came out here and just feel in love with everything out here.  I'm a big outdoors guy and just thought for five years of my life, I could live much easier in Colorado than in Arkansas.  Arkansas is a nice place, but I'm from the West and Colorado just fit me better.

RJ: If you could give one thing of advice to a high school track and field athlete would it be?
BB: I'd tell them to keep at it and enjoy the sport. You talk to some people and they absolutely hate to run. Track and field is a tough sport to do if you don't enjoy it, so you've got to have fun if you're going to do it."

Click here if you want to read Berryhill's interview about his entire running career and specifically his plans for the 2002 season.

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