EDWARDSVILLE – Carlinville’s Cory Landon turned in an outstanding time in Saturday morning’s Mud Mountain 5K race at SIU-Edwardsville’s cross-country course.
“I felt pretty good, honestly; I took a look at the watch with about 100 meters to go and I was kind of surprised,” Landon said. “I think I might have just dipped under 16 minutes.”
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Landon turned in a time of 16:00.76 to take the overall win on the day as well as taking the men’s competition on the day at the annual fund-raising race for Edwardsville’s track and cross-country programs.
“I just kind of went in it trying to use it as a workout,” Landon said. “I planned on being in a couple of road races or 5Ks this summer to get some work in; it just happened to work out. I told myself after high school that I’d never run here again because I hated the course – it’s a rough and hilly course, but it worked out this weekend and I made my way back here again.
“The course always calls you back,” Landon said with a laugh.
Landon does agree that the Mud Mountain course is a good one, but a tough one. “It’s a great course; it’s a tough one,” Landon said.
“To high school standards, it’s one of the toughest courses in the state; at the collegiate level, it’s almost considered a flat course, so I decided to make my way back.
“It’s great for the (Edwardsville middle-school and high-school) program; there’s been a lot of spectacular runners who have run on this course, so it’s pretty cool to try to dip under that 16-minute barrier and reach some of the times the studs ran back in the day.”
Wichita State’s is now a member of the American Athletic Conference, also known as The American, after leaving the Missouri Valley Conference; American members include Connecticut, Central Florida, Cincinnati, East Carolina, SMU ant Temple. “It’s a little bit different” running in The American, Landon said. “It’s a great track and field conference, so I wouldn’t say it’s different on that level; the fact that the conference is spread out (owing to the league’s roots from the original version of the Big East Conference).
“We do a little more flying meets and traveling; it raises the program’s level up a little bit. We get better recruits coming in, a little bit more coverage, but it’s been great.”
Landon was happy with the overall win on the day. “I felt really good; my goal coming in was just using this as a workout,” Landon said. “I didn’t feel spectacular at the start of the race; I just kind of sat back and ran relaxed. When I needed to pick it up a little bit, I had it.
“I’d like to thank the Edwardsville High School program and SIU-Edwardsville for putting this on.”
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