It is becoming an annual tradition. Dynamo preseason is in full gear, the team is traveling around the country playing friendlies and Wade Barrett is off doing something that few people are even capable of doing.
Coming on the heels of a spot on the National Soccer Hall of Fame ballot, Barrett added another accomplishment to his resume when he won the Rocky Raccoon 50-mile race in Hunstville, Texas, last weekend. The 36-year-old former Dynamo captain completed the race with a time of 6:57:42, finishing almost 38 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.
Was Barrett surprised that he finished the race in first? Yes and no.
“There are such good runners out there that you never really think about winning,” he said. “For me, it’s about coming close to what I did two years ago because at that time I was in pretty good shape.”
Two years ago, Barrett completed the race in just over seven hours. Last year, Barrett stepped up his game and ran the 100-mile race in a time of 18 hours 17 minutes and 50 seconds. This year, he went back to the 50-mile race and was able to take seven minutes off his previous best.
Aside from improved weather conditions, the Virginia native says there was no secret to his success.
“There is no easy way to do it,” he said. “You just have to run your own race and see how you feel. It’s hard sometimes when you are running with other folks and you feel their pace and try to stick with them.
“You just need to see how you feel and I felt comfortable in the first lap, pretty comfortable in the second lap and pretty hurting in the third lap," he added. "But at that point, I just had one lap to go so I had to do the best I could.”
Although Barrett is pleased that won the race, he is not eager to get back on the trail any time soon. Right now, he is focused on giving his body some time to rest as well as focusing on his coaching duties with the Dynamo.
“[Coaching] is what I have been focused on all along, but it’s nice to get that race behind me,” he said. “I highly recommend people coming out to one of these races. You don’t even have to run them, but just watching what it takes to complete something like that is very inspiring.”
