From the enhanced disorganization of an indoor track meet, the ability to go from lounging around to the peak of athletic ability in a matter of minutes becomes more difficult.
“Between events, I don’t think about running,” says Jabari Pride, a senior captain on the Wisconsin men’s track team. “I think about everything else besides running, and then when I get in the block my mind just goes blank waiting for the sound of the gun.”
This focus makes Pride a legitimate contender for the 400- and 600-meter dash at the Big Ten Indoor Track championship.
Focus and, of course, speed.
Pride is the kind of runner who inspires confidence in the spectator. Like the best runners, he makes sprinting at the threshold of human speed look easy; he makes it look like anybody can run as fast as he does.
Pride’s closing leg of the 4 X 400-meter relay at the Elite Invitational over the weekend was the highlight of the day. Coming from behind to take a 10-meter lead, with 10 meters left in the race, the scattered hundreds of spectators truly comprehended his prowess.
With the win in the bag, Pride stuck out the baton in his outstretched right arm like a beacon of light to remind the trailing runners and crowd who had won and who lost. He gave a lesson in cool to all watching, ensuring other sprinters who find themselves crossing the line first will mimic Pride. This is the kind of performance which makes Pride a natural leader.
“I don’t say a whole lot, but when I do the guys listen to me more,” Pride says. “I don’t talk, I do. I try to lead by example.”
Naturally, because of his performance and leadership, he was elected captain for this, his senior year. But Pride has set his goals high.
“Hopefully I can make nationals in the 400 and win the Big Ten championship in the 600,” he adds.
He feels optimistic about his chances, given that “all the big-dogs from last year are gone, leaving space for my class to come up and do big things.”
Despite his confidence, Pride knows he can improve. He wants to work so hard he does not care the toll his training will take on his body.
“I just want to train until I am slow,” Pride says. “Until I am slow and nobody wants me to run for them anymore.”
Originally from Los Angeles, Pride is built like he trains on Muscle Beach. Though unlike the meatheads, Pride is articulate, modest, and driven: in short, an exemplar student-athlete.
Leaving his native California after a stellar high school track career, Pride arrived at Wisconsin in 1998 on a recruiting trip.
“I liked the guys on the team, the coaches, and I really liked the facilities,” he says.
The following fall, Pride was at Wisconsin, but not everything was gravy for the kid used to Southern California sunshine.
“The weather was killing me, but I got used to it,” Pride says. Now he plans on staying in Madison for a while.
“In five years, hopefully I am still around here, still training. Getting faster; doing even better.
“From there, I’ll take whatever comes. When I’m slow, then I’ll move back to California and get a real job.”
A day when he becomes slow seems later rather than sooner, and for now he has the job of leading this Wisconsin team in its indoor and outdoor seasons.
