MARTINS OF KEARNY EXPECTED TO BE TOP PLACER FROM HUDSON COUNTY AT MIDLAND RUN ON SUNDAY
Despite
an injury Carlos Martins, 36, of Kearny is the likely pick for first
Hudson County runner at the Midland Run
15K in Far Hills on Sunday. The
race is one of the largest in the state, drawing over 1,300 runners,
along with a nearly matching number for a 5K that takes place later in
the morning.
Martins began 2005 looking forward to a good spring season before triggering a hip bursitis that has kept him from running for the past two weeks.
“I only started back last week,” said Martins. “I’m hoping that my fitness that I had previously will carry me through.”
“It’s very painful,” he said, of the hip. “I had to stop completely after the Cherry Blossom.”
At the Cherry Blossom 10K in April in Branch Brook Park Martins was unbeatable, winning the race 32:20, averaging 5:12 per mile over the 6.2 mile course.
Injuries are no stranger to any top level athlete but at the Midland Run in 2004 Martins was quite literally stopped in his tracks in the final mile of the 15.3 mile race.
“I had a cramp in the last mile,” he said. “I was in fourth or fifth place and dropped eight places. Last year I was running with Rich Byrnes [who finished in 5th place] and just coming down the hills by the railroad tracks I got a side stitch so bad I had to stop. Everybody passed me.
”Well not quite everybody. Martins was able to shake off the cramp to finish 12th, in 50:57. He figures he lost over a minute.
Martins switched from soccer to cross country in his junior year at Eastside High School in the Ironbound section of Newark. Playing soccer gave him a good foundation for the cross over to pure running.
“That’s why I think I was so successful in my junior and senior year because I had the endurance behind me.
”Endurance is a valuable commodity when running cross country, especially on New Jersey’s infamous high school Meet of Champions course at Holmdel Park. Martins placed second in the meet the first year and won it in his Senior year.
After high school Martins accepted a full scholarship at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and could have gone to several other schools. He wonders now if he should have chosen a different school.
“I had a ride anywhere I wanted to go. I was only a kid and I didn’t know where to go,” said Martins. “I’d been running only two years. If I knew then what I know today I would have gone to Georgetown. They offered me a full scholarship also.”
Either choice might not have made a difference for what happened during his collegiate career. After qualifying for the IC4A’s in both his Sophomore and Junior years and making All American in his Junior year Martins was hit with a devastating injury. Back and hamstring pain lead him to sit out his Senior year. When he came back for a fifth year he really wasn’t ready and had a disappointing season.
With strong ties to Portugal, Martins moved to Lisbon after graduating. European running has a strong tradition of sports clubs that nurture aspiring athletes. Martins trained with the best Portuguese coaches with Sporting Lisbon.
One of the coaches is well known in this country, Carlos Lopes, who won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympic Marathon. Another coach trained the 1500 meter bronze medallist, Rui Silva, at last years Olympics.
Martins enjoyed the high mileage training, averaging 120 miles per week and setting his all time personal bests during those several months. He hit 22 minutes for five miles, 14:30 for 5K, and around 45 for 15K.
But the real world beckoned and Martins returned to New Jersey. Martins has continued to run successfully here even though he has not matched those times. He won the New Jersey Long Distance Running Grand Prix in 1999 and 2001, and numerous races. In 2003 Martins went to Chicago and finished in 2:28 in the marathon. He has set his sights on beating that.
“This year if everything goes well I’m looking to run my best,” he said. “I did 2:28 in Chicago so I’m looking to qualify for the US marathon trials. I’m going for 2:22 at Twin Cities.”
“I know if I put my mind to it I can do it,” said Martins. “I just turned 36 but I don’t think 36 is that old yet. Carlos Lopes did 2:07 at 36/37. So I think it’s possible if I can have the right mind frame and attitude.
”Martins often trains during the week at Hudson Park in Kearny and on weekends he meets his Fleet Feet teammates in Montclair for long training runs. One of his favorite long races is the Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon that takes place each September in Jersey City. He’s not sure of the year but did his best time at the race, around 1:09, five or six years ago.
For this weekend at the 15K, Martins will have to go out conservatively while he gauges his hip and his recovery.
“I won’t be as aggressive as I would like to be,” he said. “When you’re coming off an injury you’re thinking about it. You have to be relaxed in a race like that.”
Martins is always looking down the road and will be focusing on the President’s Cup Night Race, a 5K that takes place in Millburn in June. He also has another focus. He is the race director for the Portugal Day 5K that takes place in the Ironbound on June 12th. He expects a strong field that might even include some of the athletes who he has kept in touch with in Portugal.
Photo: Carlos Martins on his way to winning the 2005 Cherry Blossom 10K. (Courtesy Elliott Frieder)
Text originally published in the JERSEY JOURNAL of Hudson County on Saturday, May 14, 2005.
Copyright Madeline Bost, 2005