Knight going distance as a pro
Justyn Knight, the Toronto-bred distance runner, was discussing an impending life transition.
A three-time NCAA champion at Syracuse University, Knight announced to the track-and-field world Monday that he is turning pro. His plan is to live and train with the newly formed Reebok Boston Track Club. The club, not so intuitively, will be based in Charlottesville, Va., home to the University of Virginia and, in Knight’s estimation, a welcoming combination of affordable real estate, temperate winters and plenty of nice running trails. Boston, home base to sponsor Reebok, is also expected to be a frequent destination of the club’s athletes for both promotional and competitive purposes.
For Knight, there will be familiar aspects to the setup. Chris Fox, who coached Knight at Syracuse, will continue to oversee Knight’s training as the program’s head coach. But there will also be differences.
“The one thing is, we’re going to have a lot of free time on our hands. I talk to my mom every day. She’s like, ‘I don’t want you to be playing video games all day,’ I’m a Fortnite guy,” Knight said with a laugh.
Knight, who rose to prominence last summer when he made the final in the world championships in the 5,000 metres, finishing ninth, is one of Canada’s most promising track stars. He’s also a refreshingly candid interview subject who, as he vowed to heed his mother’s wish that he use his newfound free time for something beyond screen time, somewhat bashfully acknowledged that he had been playing video games in the lead-up to a phone call with the Star. He blamed his recent binge on gaming and Netflix on the stress that came with making the decision to sign with Reebok, after he was recruited by various prominent professional clubs run by some of the brand’s competitors.
Still, no excuses. He also promised to do better.
“I am going to get a book, eventually, that I want to read on a daily basis,” Knight said.
While Knight, who graduated from Syracuse with a degree in social work, might have opted to fly to Europe for various meets this summer, he has opted for a lighter schedule.
Knight will race in Toronto August 11 at the NACAC Track and Field Championships at Varsity Stadium, mostly, he said, to give friends and family a chance to see him perform. Then he’s got his eye on a few weeks of long-awaited vacation.
Beyond Labour Day, mind you, it will be back to work, and a heavier workload. One of Knight’s claims to fame has been his ability to run worldclass times on a relatively modest amount of training. Once an enthusiastic basketball player, he didn’t take up running seriously until his final couple of years at St. Michael’s College School.
And Fox, always wary of inducing overuse injuries, matched Knight with a weekly running schedule that was likely lighter than that of his competitors. But now that Knight is entering the big leagues, the coach plans an increase in toil.
“He’s comfortable right now doing 60, 65 miles (a week). I hope that I talk to you three or four years from now and he’s doing 85 miles, and he’s comfortable doing that,” Fox said.
“He has some pretty big goals. You want to achieve those goals, you’ve got to take it up a level or two.”
Though Knight barely missed qualifying for the 2016 Olympics, it’s expected he and Mo Ahmed of St. Catharines, who trains professionally with Nike in Oregon and who recently beat Knight in the 5,000 at the national track and field cham- pionships, will give Canada some rare depth at the distance at the 2019 world championships and the 2020 Tokyo Games.
“My goal isn’t just to make the Olympics,” Knight said. “My goal is to be the best person in that race.”
Making a living in distance running, let alone ruling its roost, isn’t easy, of course. Opportunities aren’t plentiful. So Fox said that one of the key upsides of Reebok’s new ven- ture is that it exists in the first place.
“Maybe seven or eight more guys that couldn’t run for a group will get that opportunity now,” Fox said.
“In America there’s only four or five of these kinds of (pro coaching) jobs. Most of them are with Nike.
“This was a great opportunity presented to me by Reebok to see if I could do this on the next level.”
There are skeptics, for sure. Reebok ran a similar club back in the 1990s that eventually vanished. And while the company essentially exited the business of sponsoring pro runners less than a decade ago, Fox said he’s confident Reebok’s new thrust is sincere.
“I would not have left college coaching if I thought this was a one-and-done. I’ve got some guarantees that this is going to go on for quite a while,” Fox said.
Added Paul Astorino, Reebok’s senior director for specialized: “We want the athletes to succeed, we want Justyn to succeed … We want to sell more stuff based on the success of the club. And we want to change people’s minds and the perception of Reebok.”
As Knight begins his quest to step upon some prestigious podiums thanks to his fast feet, a coach offered a suggestion for his battle with idle hands.
“I hope he volunteers at a nursing home, or something,” Fox said.
“I’d like to see him do something productive during the day besides playing video games, that’s for sure.”
“He has some pretty big goals. You want to achieve those goals, you’ve got to take it up a level or two.” CHRIS FOX REEBOK BOSTON COACH