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Featured Athlete of the Week: Bret Brumfield, Cross Country, Cloverdale High School
Cloverdale senior Bret Brumfield is a member of the school's cross country and track teams. He is also a member of National Honor Society. In his free times he likes to hunt and fish, but running is his biggest passion. He spent his first three years of high school playing football, then decided to go out for cross country for his senior season. His older sister, Brittany, was also a runner.
Banner Graphic: How did you get into running?
Bret Brumfield: In fifth grade, since my sister ran, I thought, "I'll run too." So I ran in fifth, sixth and seventh grade. But then I decided to play football. I played four years of that, but it didn't really work out too well because I got hurt a lot. Once I got a brain bleed, a subdural hematoma, so once I got that I was like, "No." I've ran track all four years so I thought I mine as well run cross country to stay in shape.
BG: Do you like track or cross country better?
BB: So far (cross country) is pretty fun. I really liked it in middle school but it got boring and it wasn't really that competitive so it wasn't that fun. But track is probably my favorite.
BG: What's your training like during the week?
BB: One day we'll run like five miles, the next day we'll run like three, then you take a day in the middle where you run one and stretch a lot. Then you run three and then five the next day, just so you get a good amount of miles in but you don't over-exert yourself.
BG: Do you pay attention to professional marathons or distance races?
BB: No, but my sister runs marathons. She lived in New York for a while and ran the New York (Marathon).
BG: Is that something you would do?
BB: Probably. I didn't think it would be that fun, because who wants to run three miles? But once you get in the zone it's a lot of fun. You're constantly trying to tell yourself to stop, to give up, but you don't and it pays off.
BG: What's it like to be in "the zone?"
BB: When I'm in the zone, it's usually about a mile in, and I'll just be thinking, "I want to get this over with and I can't stop. I want to get there to the end." So that pushes you a lot. You just think about one thing: Get to the end; get to the end.
BG: Do you know what your plans are after high school?
BB: I'm applying for IU. I want to get into the pre-med program and major in biology. Then after that do something with medicine like a PA (physicians assistant) or physician. I have an internship at the Putnam County Hospital in the ER, so that's a pretty good experience right now. That should help me figure out what I want to do.