Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Apr 134 min
You would think that I would have learned my lesson by now, huh?
In our Bryan Clay Invitational preview, I predicted that Florida's Parker Valby would run 31:21 for 10,000 meters. It's a time that was only three seconds off of an NCAA record which had not been legitimately threatened ever since Iowa State's Lisa Koll ran 31:18 in 2010.
Not only that, but this was Valby's first-ever 10k! And truthfully, that same 10k field was fairly light in terms of women who could actually push her. With all of that in mind, I thought barely missing out on an arduous NCAA record in her event debut was a reasonable expectation.
And then the race happened.
To no one's surprise, Valby immediately went to the front. She sat behind only two pacers who were clearly there for her sole benefit. And after the final pacer stepped off at the halfway point (5000 meters), the clock read 15:30 as Valby's split -- the rest of the race was up to her.
In a setting where she was all alone with no one to push her, this Gator phenom could have easily fallen off the pace. But she didn't. Instead, she actually got a little faster.
Valby would go on to cruise through the second-half of the race and eventually produce an unreal 10,000-meter time of 30:50. In the process, she became the 11th-fastest American woman over that distance and became the first collegiate woman to ever run under the 31-minute barrier.
All of that in her first-ever attempt at that event.
In my eyes, there are three different types of "star" runners -- a star, a superstar and a transformative superstar. The first two are labels reserved for multi-time All-Americans, national title winners and maybe a few record holders.
But the latter status? Well, that's a very small and select group.
And Parker Valby is very much part of it.
Of course, that tier of elite talent is not simply reached by winning gold medals and breaking records. Instead, that echelon of unique all-time greats features athletes who have shattered expectations and reset what we once thought was possible.
Throughout her rise as a now-iconic distance runner, nothing about Valby has been conventional. In fact, almost everything about her career has gone against the grain of traditional and accepted philosophy that we have in distance running.
Valby seemingly doesn't prefer to be conservative or rely on a kick to win certain races like many NCAA stars do (specifically the men). Instead, she runs hard from the gun, daring other all-time elites (i.e. Katelyn Tuohy) to give chase and match her fitness.
But perhaps the most obvious differentiator in Valby's incredible college career is the fact that cross training plays a critical role in her development as an athlete. That means that she logs far less miles than most 5k and 10k specialists do (or at least, not nearly as consistently). And in turn, that creates a hilarious dichotomy given that she only gets more dangerous as the racing distances become longer.
When it comes to her actual accolades, Valby hasn't just set new NCAA records -- she has completely shattered a small handful of the greatest distance times ever posted at the collegiate level. Valby not only became the first collegiate woman to break 15 minutes for 5000 meters (in season), but she did so on an indoor track...twice.
And that 10k record of 30:50? Well, as already discussed, that time was produced in her first-ever attempt at that distance. Valby was completely on her own in the second-half of that race and she ended up demolishing a record by 28 seconds that no one had come close to reaching over the last 14 years.
If everything that I just detailed isn't considered "transformative," then I don't know what is.
On Thursday, just a day before Parker Valby set a new NCAA 10k record, Sarah Lorge Butler published an in-depth feature piece on the Gator megastar for Runner's World. And in that piece, there was one quote in particular that almost perfectly defined Valby's career.
[Parker Valby] told [Coach Will and Samantha Palmer] during their first meeting: “There’s nothing normal about me.”
And Valby's right.
There is nothing normal about her.
But maybe the most intriguing part in all of this is that Valby has ignored the fluff and the overwhelming nuance that can sometimes come with this sport (a concept that TSR was built around). She's deeply invested, yes, but her persona after Earth-shattering efforts is that of someone who just came off of a great long run rather than a foundation-shifting performance.
Need a good example? Here's what Parker Valby told TSR last month after running 14:52 for 5000 meters to break her own collegiate record and win the indoor national title...
When Valby concludes her time in the NCAA -- and if we had to guess, she will almost definitely go pro in June or July -- and time goes on, what will we remember about her?
Will we remember her rivalry with Katelyn Tuohy? Will we remember her for her dominant national title wins? Will we remember her becoming the first woman to crack through major milestone barriers en route to new NCAA records? Will we remember her for her unique emphasis on cross training?
I can't answer those questions for you. But 10, 20, 30 years down the line, I'll remember the Florida megastar for redefining what we once thought was possible and doing so in a way that, frankly, I've never seen another collegian come all that close to emulating.
That's because there's nothing normal about Parker Valby -- and that's a good thing.