Dobson continues to rise to the top

Cross Country runner Richard Dobson has taken many by surprise. The junior from New Hamburg, Ontario, became the first GCSU runner to earn the honor as Peach Belt Conference Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week.
Dobson locked the award by winning the North Georgia Challenge in Dahlonega on Aug. 26 to help the Bobcats take first place in the nine-team meet. Dobson ran the mountainous 5k course in 17 minutes, 43 seconds, beating his nearest competitor by 16 seconds.
“The discipline [Dobson] exhibits is incredible,” Head Coach Joe Samprone said. “He knows what he needs to do and he does it. There may be someone out there that will be there but no one is more dedicated.”
The once abysmal runner has made a complete turnaround in just three seasons. Dobson came to GCSU in 2004 as a freshman. He heard about the school from his uncle Steve Barsby, the head coach of the men’s and women’s team at GCSU. Dobson was impressed with what GCSU had to offer and made the trip from Canada to GCSU. During his freshman year, his uncle encouraged him to run for the school’s cross country team.  Dobson took his advice and joined the team as a walk-on.
His first year on the team did not go smoothly. Dobson mainly stayed in the back of the pack only running in four meets, but he did have a few shining, moments finishing in GCSU’s top five twice.
“In the first year he ran, he didn’t finish in the (overall) top five,” Samprone said. “He was not an outstanding runner, but in the spring he decided to make a serious commitment to get better.”
After 2004, Dobson made it his goal to be in the top five runners of the team. Dobson first went to Dr. Mike Martino, associate professor of exercise science. Martino gave him some advice to increase his speed.
“I went to visit my exercise science professor Dr. Martino for some tips,” Dobson said. “First he told me to lose 20 pounds. I changed my diet and training methods. He is a huge reason why I am where I am today.”
The next thing Dobson did was to surround himself with the fastest runners on the team. He began to train and practice with Michael Hague.
“When I was a sophomore Michael was the fastest runner,” Dobson said. “He was the man with a plan. I made it my goal to keep pace with Michael.”
Dobson also found ways to improve his style in his exercise science classes.
“My major (exercise science) has had a major impact on my improvement,” Dobson said. “Anything that I learned in the classroom I would try to apply to running.”
The next season Dobson showed great improvement. He was the Bobcat’s top finisher in all six meets as a sophomore in 2005, with an impressive win at the Oglethorpe Invitational in Atlanta (28:59) and a season best 8K time of 27:23 at the Peach Belt Conference Championships.
“Rich Dobson is a stud,” junior runner Michael Hague said. “When I was a freshman I didn’t even know who he was and now he is the guy everyone is trying to beat. He is extremely dedicated to the sport.”
The main thing Dobson learned is to remain relaxed.
“Before each race I try to relax. I keep a good pace the first mile of the race, I see a lot of runners rush out ahead and make mistakes. I usually talk with Michael for the first mile and for the rest of the time I try to sing a song in my head. Last race I sang ‘Move Along’ by the All American Rejects.”
This year Dobson already shows signs of continuing his path toward excellence. He plans to win conference and make it to regionals and nationals.
“My goal is to win conference. If we win conference, we get an automatic bid to regionals and can advance to nationals,” Dobson said. “We have a legitimate shot to win conference and qualify for nationals.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 15 2006. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry