Allison brings home title
Burnt Hills standout captures 3,200 crown in virtual national race
To be honest, Ryan Allison was thinking mainly about the swag.
The Burnt Hills distance running star entered the National Scholastic Athletics x Athleticnet Virtual Nationals because he liked the gear they were offering those who registered.
“The reason I kind of decided to do it was because I heard they gave out a shirt and backpack if you signed up to do it,” he said. “If I’m running a time trial, why not just submit the result and get a free backpack and a shirt?”
He came away from the event with much more than that – a virtual national title. Allison won the 3,200 meters in a time of 9 minutes, 20.4 seconds, a personal best and almost seven seconds faster than secondplace finisher Riley Hough of Hartland, Mich.
Allison, who will be a junior, was first in a field of 26 competitors from around the country who each ran the race separately over the week of June 13-19 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Allison completed his 3,200 on the Burnt Hills track on June 18 after getting permission from principal Timothy Brunson.
Burnt Hills coach Chip Button recorded Allison’s race and the video was submitted to the virtual meet organizers.
“Yeah, I ran the entire thing alone,” Allison said. “It’s a lot different than what I’m used
to in a normal track race when you have people to rely on to push you. You have to stay mentally focused the entire time and just not let up. You have to rely on yourself the entire time.”
Instead of the immediate gratification of a victory, Allison dealt with the unusual circumstance of having to wait for a day after he raced to see if he’d won. He kept checking the website to check if anyone had run a faster time.
Burnt Hills teammate Peter Fulgieri also ran the 3,200 separately and finished 18th in a time of 10:38.8.
For Allison, the title offered a sweet ending to a spring season that was canceled by COVID-19.
“It feels good just to get the opportunity to submit results for something at least because obviously the season really didn’t happen,” he said. “At least it’s a national meet that I can participate in and a lot of other people in high school track didn’t really get that opportunity. I’m lucky I had the option to do that and it worked out successfully for me.”
Allison said there would have been a lot more competition at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, which were canceled because of the pandemic. But he pointed out Athleticnet is a respected website.
“So it’s still legitimate,” he said.
He said the virtual win was just as satisfying in its own way because of what he had to go through to get it. He dealt with a knee injury during the winter and trained alone during the pandemic.
He ran a time of 9:58 in early June to qualify for the virtual nationals. He also won the Virtual Route 50 Mile, organized by former Scotia coach Peter Sheridan, on the Ballston Lake bike trail with a time of 4:24 the week before his virtual national title.
“Even the entire season was just so different than a regular season,” Allison said. “I just trained by myself a lot of the time and I had no team with me. Everything just felt so different and I think it’s just fitting that my final race was like this, I guess.”
Next up for Allison is the cross country season, if the pandemic allows for fall competition. Burnt Hills has won four straight state titles and nine overall.
“When there’s a history of being good, you want to live up to it,” he said. “You want to really just keep the streak going.”
msingelais@timesunion. com 518-454-5509 @Marksingelais