While there has been a fair share of great Texas Longhorns distance runners, few have made the post-collegiate leap to pro running. But Haftu Knight — who was the first-ever UT runner to win the Big 12 outdoor 10K title and the current UT outdoor 5K record-holder — has defied the odds.
On the last weekend of March at the McKirdy Micro Marathon-Road to Tokyo event in New York, Knight — running in only his second 26.2-mile race — catapulted into the top echelon of American marathoners.
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His winning time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 36 seconds made him the fastest-ever marathoner from the state of Texas, eclipsing fellow Texan Alan Culpepper’s mark of 2:09:41 from 2002.
Fewer than 40 Americans have ever run under 2:10 in the history of U.S. distance running. And there are only seven other Americans who are still competing that have ever run a faster marathon than Knight.
“I’ve worked with distance runners for more than 18 years and Haftu had the same characteristic that I’ve seen in great marathoners: durability,” said Pete Watson, former distance coach at Texas and the current director of men’s and women’s track and field and cross-country at Boston College.
“At UT, once he decided he wanted to be good, things started to happen,” added Watson, who recruited Knight at Texas from Tyler Legacy High School. “It was pretty clear that one day he’d be a marathoner. He can handle the mileage, and he has a massive engine. We knew that he was going to be pretty successful at road racing.”
Running the race, breaking a record
The McKirdy Micro Marathon features a multiple-loop course around Rockland Lake in New York’s Rockland State Park not far from the Hudson River. Though not a large race, the McKirdy’s World Athletics-certified course allows for the World Championship Standard and National Record performances to be valid — one reason Knight chose to run in the event.
“There were so many considerations, and McKirdy was the best chance of throwing down a potential career-changing performance,” said Knight’s coach, Jeff Cunningham. “Our options to run a fast spring-sanctioned marathon were few. Boston, for example, is a tricky course and may not reflect an athlete’s capabilities at the time. McKirdy on the other hand features a flat looped course, a road surface conducive for fast times and great participant support.”
A strategy formed over a ribeye
Knight, who’s an American citizen who has roots in Ethiopia, is well aware that making it as a pro runner is no easy task. He knows that there are no guarantees. So, he gave himself an ultimatum heading into the race.
“I told myself if I don’t run 2:12 or better, then I’ll shift my focus away from becoming a professional marathoner. But I had a feeling I could do it,” Knight said. “I had an eight-week training block where I was doing 100 mile-plus weeks, and everything was coming together. We had some great workouts, and everything was lined up.”
Cunningham said he knew Knight could do it.
“I knew he’d go at least 2:14, maybe 2:13,” Cunningham said. “Secretly I was hoping for a 2:11-2:12. But when we sat down over some ribeye steaks at the Cheesecake Factory in White Plains, N.Y., two nights before the race, Haftu said, ‘coach, I’m running 2:10.’ He stared at me with a level of conviction that I’d not seen from any of my athletes. I recognized that stare.”
That level of conviction and heightened level of self-awareness doesn’t come from a place of arrogance, Cunningham said.
“This is just confidence,” said Cunningham, who’s the head coach of Austin’s Bat City Track Club. “You can’t coach that into an athlete. He took his bat and pointed right over the centerfield fence, and he hit it.”
Leaning back on his Ethiopian training
Despite Knight’s obvious talent, Cunningham had his concerns and advised his athlete to scale back his goal by several minutes.
“I was there on the course, and he came through six miles in 29:30,” Cunningham said. “He’s running a 4:55-per-mile pace. I shouted for him to be careful, slow down a bit. But I realized I wasn’t talking him out of it. From that moment on, it was ‘let’s go, tough as nails, let’s get this done.’”
As the miles wore on, Knight thought back on his trips to train with the great runners in Bikoji, Ethiopia, during summer breaks from UT.
Knight’s summer training at altitude in Bikoji with some of the greatest distance runners in the world gave him a reservoir of experience that many American runners have not benefitted from, Cunningham said.
“In Bikoji, everything is about training,” Knight said. “You wake up in the morning, you run, you eat, take a nap, run again in the afternoon, eat, then go to sleep. I grew up watching marathon legends like Haile Gebrselassie, and to be able to train with elites in the place where he trains was amazing.”
Late in the race, Knight dug deep, drawing from that reservoir.
“Around mile 20, I was starting to hurt, but I knew the other runners were hurting, too. So, at that point I embraced the pain and just kept going,” Knight said. “I was just focused on finishing as strong as I could.”
He hung tough right on through to the finish, nearly catching Canada’s Justin Kent, who won the race in 2:09:28, just eight seconds ahead.
“With a mile to go, I went as hard as I could trying to catch him,” said Knight, who won the Austin International Half Marathon in January. “He just outkicked me at the end. But coming in second didn’t matter at that point. Sure, winning the race would have been incredible. But running sub-2:10 was beyond what I was expecting from myself, and I’m incredibly happy with the result.”,
What’s next for Haftu Knight?
Knight, who lives in Austin, is sifting through multiple offers. He’s already hired an agent, and together they’re looking at which sponsorships might be best.
“Right now, my agent is talking to all the brands on my behalf,” Knight said. “Many have reached out, so there are a lot of deals to make. I’m so excited about all of it and I’m here for it. What’s next is making a decision about what my next marathon might be. I’m going to have to figure it out. I want to race. I love to race, and I’m sure I’ll run one in the next six months. Maybe the Chicago Marathon.”
The goal now, said Cunningham, is to nail down a sponsorship that would be the equivalent of an annual salary. “That’s what will give Haftu the resources to train as a pro and recover as a pro,” he said.
The road ahead will be both challenging and rewarding, but Knight and those who’ve helped him get to where he is are behind him 100%.
“It takes a special person to commit to running 120 miles a week,” Watson said. “Certainly Haftu’s 2:09 will open up a lot of doors. He’ll make enough money to live the dream until he decides what he wants to do next.
“What he’s doing right now will be the best time of his life. It’s awesome and I’m so happy he’s doing it. He’s just one of the most genuine and appreciative athletes I’ve ever worked with.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Record-setting former Texas star Haftu Knight is now the state’s fastest-ever marathoner
Reporting by Brom Hoban / Austin American-Statesman
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
