Following his stand out career at Loyola Blakefield, Camden Gilmore has continued his running pursuits at Georgetown University, where he has taken his success to a new level. With a stellar high school PR of 4:14 in the mile, Camden has honed in and put in the work to become a sub 4 miler, as he became just the 621st American to accomplish that. Here, Camden talks about the race itself, the lead up to the race, and what he hopes for the rest of this season.
Chasing The Standard: Camden, you have joined the illustrious sub 4 mile club. Congratulations. What type of accomplishment is that for you?
Camden Gilmore:Â Sub 4 was always something I admired. My dad had a pretty great running career, so I knew how legitimate a sub 4 mile was before I really got into the sport. For me personally, it is a reflection of the people I have chosen to surround myself with, the consistent work I have put in, and the mentality to put the race together on that race day.
CTS:  Coming into this race, was sub 4 the goal? At what point in the race did you think you could really do this?
CG:Â Our mile crew as a whole had some lofty goals for this season. We were doing quality strength and speed work in December that gave us a lot of confidence before heading home for break that we were going to be ready to do some special things indoors. During the race in Boston we went through 1200 meters right around 2:59/3:00, so we knew we were going to have to close pretty quick to dip well under 4 . I had a lot of faith in my teammates that we were going to be able to push each other the last minute of that race.
CTS:  What was your training leading up to this? Were you hitting faster splits in workouts than usual?
CG:Â I think of our training at Georgetown as being very balanced. It can be difficult to put together quality workouts when you race so often during the season, but we really took advantage of the weeks that we were not traveling to work hard. Each mile-specific session seemed to show more and more progression, which I believe is a sign of a great season ahead.
CTS: What are some workouts your team runs in a typical week? Is there a workout you dread?
CG:Â We usually do some sort of threshold intervals with some race pace 200s leading up to a big race. Usually the Tuesday after a race we run a progression tempo. I really look forward to the event specific workouts that are geared toward the mile and 3k, but I also love when we have a hard VO2 workout on deck. The group mentality we have going into a hard session is amazing. I have definitely had my fair share of rough workouts at Georgetown, but I would not say I dread any particular workout. The attitude you carry into a workout can have a big impact on that day. That just comes with maturity in the sport.
CTS: What are some of the differences between high school and college with running? You had a great career at Loyola, but what has allowed you to take your running to the next level?
CG: Â My mileage has definitely taken a jump since high school and I have improved at stringing together multiple hard workouts every week. I have been blessed to have coaches that prioritize my individual needs. What has allowed me to jump to the next level is staying healthy and being able to put in the work week after week. I have come to realize that you just need the right building blocks to do so.
CTS:  You raced again this past weekend and came very close to breaking 4 again. How do these performances set you up for the rest of indoors and outdoors?
CG:Â These last two mile races have reaffirmed that being fit enough to run sub 4 does not guarantee it at all. I would not even say fitness makes it any easier. I felt smooth throughout the majority of my sub 4 race, but it took everything I had to stay on the pace. Track is a sport with few opportunities, and I have done my best to take advantage of every single one this season. I find that my best outdoor seasons come when I am very present during the indoor season. We have a lot of great races and great competition ahead of us, and I am pumped to see what our team can accomplish.
TFRSS profile:
https://xc.tfrrs.org/athletes/7373054.html
Track and Field News Sub 4 List:
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyuvTNrkFiU