The sound in Manley Field House was different for the first time in months. Gone was the rhythm of bouncing basketballs. Sneakers weren’t squeaking. Rather, the action was dominant around the basketball court, as the Syracuse track team circled the track.

Junior Chris Muldoon finished early, dropping out halfway through his workout after feeling sick. He sat in a chair below the balcony of stands, watching his training partners Brian McNeil and Matt Lawson run without him.

‘They finished and they were doubled over,’ Muldoon said, ‘and (they) still had one more to go and I was like ‘I wish I was them.’

Only Muldoon’s teammates can sympathize with him. Geoff Nelson and Ryan Korby understand the need to run mile after mile as a distance runner, regardless of pain, weather, or other distractions. Nelson and Korby are walk-ons at SU. They will run, with the rest of their Syracuse teammates, at the Rice Invitational starting today in Houston.

Muldoon, SU’s best distance runner, has earned a scholarship after entering Syracuse with no financial aid. But a lot of other runners aren’t as lucky. Still, they show up to practice and meets every day because they love the sport.

‘I tell my parents that school comes first,’ Korby said, ‘but really running is the most important thing for me right now and I sacrifice a lot to be able to do this because I enjoy it.’

Korby and his teammates admit that many people can’t fathom why distance running is enjoyable. Nelson and Korby were both introduced to running in high school, running to get in shape for other sports. Nelson, a baseball pitcher since he was 9 years old, traveled to a camp after his sophomore year. A coach at Army told him to try distance running in the off-season so Nelson joined the cross-country team. He never joined the baseball team again, leaving the mound for the track full-time.

‘A lot of people didn’t understand that,’ Nelson said. ‘There’s something about running that kind of stuck with me. It’s personal. Baseball is more of a team sport and while I really liked that there’s something different about running, about pushing yourself.’

Those who push themselves enough earn their rewards in other ways. Distance coach Jay Hartshorn sets aside some spots most weeks for walk-ons to travel with the team and run in a high-profile meet. Nelson traveled to Raleigh, N.C., last weekend and ran his second fastest time for the five-kilometer race. Korby is bouncing back from a stress fracture that he suffered at the beginning of cross-country season but knows that Hartshorn could give him a seat on the team bus one weekend.

‘She’s great at giving everybody a chance,’ Korby said. ‘Track is hard because if you don’t get the meets under you, you don’t get a chance to get in a groove. She gives everybody the chance to go out and prove themselves at least a couple of times a year.’

All healthy athletes get to run at the ECAC/IC4A Championships during cross-country season. Muldoon said it’s a fun trip for everyone.

The team also has fun after their practices and races. When Muldoon was stuck in the slow heats last year, he was crowned the slow-heat champion by his teammates. They quipped that the team should get letterman’s jackets for each member with patches sewn on each time a person won their race.

‘Mine would be covered everywhere,’ Muldoon said. ‘I won at least six races in indoor season alone.’

He has advanced to more competitive heats but still says his claim to fame is beating teammate Valerij Petrulevich in practice in a long sprint – Petrulevich’s specialty. Muldoon still kids him about it.

‘That was my one shining moment,’ Muldoon joked.

People on the outside looking in don’t see many of the shining moments, like when walk-on Katie Simon qualified for the Big East Championships in the steeplechase. They see the long line of runners waiting to soak their aches and pains in the whirlpool. They see the runners in January pounding up Comstock Avenue in sub-zero temperatures.

‘People may think it’s crazy, but once you start (running), there’s something about it that makes you want to go farther,’ Nelson said. ‘It’s hard to give up at times.’

Published on March 30, 2005 at 12:00 pm