Health - Injuries

When Christian Cushing-murray takes the line at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, next month for the Olympic Trials exhibition masters 1500 meters, he will be driven by as much emotion as any American half his age trying to make the U.S. team for Rio.

Cushing-murray, 48, ran his lifetime best mile, 3:55.42, at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in 1995. Four times ranked in the U.S. top 10, he competed in two Olympic Trials and in numerous meets on the European circuit as a member of Santa Monica Track Club, known for its corps of world-class sprinters led by Carl Lewis.

Regardless of the outcome of July 3's race in Eugene, Cushing-murray ("Cush" to his friends) has already achieved perhaps his greatest triumph by being able to run so fast for so long. In 2013, at 46, he ran 3:55.09 for 1500 meters, a would-be American 45-49 record that wasn’t ratified because the meet officials were not USATF-certified. The time is equivalent to a 4:13 mile, which means Cushing-murray had slowed only 18 seconds in 18 years.

Cushing-murray is the only middle-distance runner in the United States, and probably the world, who was a consistent sub-4:00 miler in his prime and now, 20 years later, ranks with the best in the world for his age. His peers, such as former U.S. mile record holder Steve Scott and three-time Olympian Jim Spivey, have gone on to coaching or the business world and no longer compete.

Health & Injuries

“I’m just as motivated as before but in a different way,” says Cushing-murray, a life-long southern Californian living in Santa Ana. “Now I get more out of running in a spiritual way, for the soul. When you’re running professionally and it’s your job, you’re not thinking about food for the soul but putting food on your plate.”

Cush credits the camaraderie of the Cal Coast Track Club, led by coaching legend Bill Sumner, for making his masters running “feel like we’re almost back in high school again.” Since turning 40, Cushing-murray has won eight national masters titles. The most recent was in last Sunday’s San Diego Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon, where he took the 45-49 title by more than 4 minutes in a near PR 1:11:06.

In February, Cushing-murray won the U.S. masters 8K 45-59 title by running 25:50 in Brea, California. In April, he had his best race of the year so far, winning the masters-only race at the Carlsbad 5K in 15:11. In addition to beating all the 40+ runners in the race, he won the 45-49 division by 57 seconds. (In the open elite race, Bernard Lagat, 41, A Broader Perspective.)

While making the transition from his world-class days to the masters ranks “was hard for me initially,” Cushing-murray says, he soon acquired a more forgiving view of the adaptations needed for a mid-life competitor. “The nice thing about the masters,” he says, “was that turning 40 becomes a clean slate. Soon, 50 will be another clean slate.”

Cushing-murray, who trains eight to ten times a week, meets coach Sumner on Tuesday evenings for track intervals. A typical workout is 1 x 1600 meters, 2 x 800 meters and 4 x 400 meters, all at 5K race pace. Cushing-murray logs about 60 miles a week, less than the 80 of his prime. His menu includes a 4- to 5-mile tempo run and a threshold run of at least 10 miles. In a concession to age, Cushing-murray no longer hammers three hard workouts per week. “I need more recovery,” he says.

Deep Running Roots

Cushing-murray and his family could not be more steeped in the southern California running scene. He and his wife, Kathleen, whom he met at UCLA when both were on the track team, have four children, two boys and two girls, all runners. They have a son just graduated from UCLA and a daughter running there. They have a son just graduated from Foothill High and a daughter running there. Cush, a volunteer assistant at Foothill who teaches English at nearby Century High, often does distance runs with the athletes.

At UCLA, Cush was developed by Bruins coach Bob Larsen, who has mentored Meb Keflezighi through the years. Cushing-murray says Larsen taught him self-reliance, which he needed as a pro with a new coach, Joe Douglas of Santa Monica. “Joe expected you to come in pre-formed, all ready, like, ‘This is how it is,’ when you try and make nationals and run in Europe,” says Cushing-murray.

While trying to gain experience abroad, Cush often rode the coattails of the Santa Monica sprinters, who used their leverage to help teammates. “We were like a union,” says Cushing-murray. “One time in Lausanne, if I didn’t get into the ‘A’ heat of the 1500, Carl Lewis told the meet director he’d go home.”

Cushing-murray ran his first sub-4:00 miles and equivalent 1500s in 1991. He placed sixth in the Olympic Trials 1500 in 1992. He ran his fastest 1500, 3:37.94, in both 1993 and 1994. In his 3:55 mile at Pre in 1995, he placed fourth in a race won by Steve Holman, the best American miler of the 1990s. “It was the only time I beat a number of top Americans in the same race,” he says. “Doing it in Eugene, with the Hayward Field magic, was special.”

Cushing-murray still gets nervous before races because, he says, the dynamic of achievement never changes. “My burden is to live up to the training I’ve done,” he says. “I set a goal, work for the goal, and try to achieve the goal. All three elements are essential.”

In the Trials masters event, Cushing-murray will be one of the oldest competitors. But he thinks the race might play out in his favor. “For me to win against the younger guys, if the time ends up between 3:58 and 4:05,” he says, “that’s a race I think I can win.”

With fire in his belly, the great Eugene crowd and intimacy among rivals, for Cushing-murray it will feel like the old days, when he and his peers were young and keen and took risks. Consider when, in 1990, a meet was first held in Barcelona on the 1992 Olympic track. It was Cushing-murray’s first European tour with Santa Monica, and he finished in mid-pack in the 1500. He’d met his club mate Carl Lewis but didn’t really know him. But he was friends with Kevin Young, also of Santa Monica, who would win the 1992 Olympic 400 hurdles in a world record that still stands.

When the meet was over, Cushing-murray and Young noticed some cases of beer being used as a door stop in the press room. In a celebratory mood, they stuffed as many bottles of beer into their sweats and spike bags as they could and took the cache back to their hotel room, where they put it on ice. Word got around, and a call came to Cush from the penthouse suite.

“Cush, this is ‘C.’ ”

“I thought, ‘Why is Carl Lewis calling me?’ ” Cushing-murray recalls.

Lewis offered an invitation. “I hear you got some beer,” he said. “Why don’t you bring it up to my room? Hang out with us.”

Cushing-murray stuffed the beer into pillow cases and went to party with track’s who’s who in Carl Lewis’ suite.

“I’ll never forget that,” he says.

Marc Bloom

Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.