Alok's running story is well-known, meaning that he's probably told the rich saga to you himself at some point! Regardless, it is a great one and we hope it is an inspiration to all the younger runners on the team.

Simply put, when Alok joined the team as a freshman he was not a runner. Daily runs of 15-30 minutes were agonizing and during races he was on the course nearly twice as long as the fastest competitors. In the long history of running, many people like Alok have tried out the sport and decided it wasn't for them. Alok, however, made a different decision.

I remember when Alok ran his first big PR - a 6:10 mile in the middle of his freshman track season - he was convinced it was as fast as his body could ever move. On that day I promised him that he would break 6 minutes before the season was over. We planned his training and set up a special time trial just for him. His teammates lined the track and cheered as we paced him for the perfect splits... when the bell lap came he kicked as hard as he could and he came home in... 6:01. It was another huge improvement, but he hadn't reached his goal. Many people would have called it a season, maybe even called it a career, but Alok asked if we could do it again the next week...

With less fanfare, but with his parents and little brother in attendance, 7 days later we tried again. This time, when he crossed the line, the clock read... 5:59. I'll never forget Alok lying on his back, just beyond the finish line, chest pumping up and down trying to recover his breath, with his little brother jumping up and down around him and his parents sitting in the stands with big smiles on their faces.

Since that day Alok's goal has been to break 5:00 in the mile, and recently he added the goal of running 17:56 at Crystal, a time that would be exactly 10 minutes faster than the time he first ran on the course as a freshman.