Running Down Under

Colton Brown’s trip to Australia this month was mostly what you’d expect.

The Granbury senior, who turns 17 at the end of July, surfed for the first time in his life – and “ate lots of ocean water” doing so – saw wild kangaroos and got up close and personal with some koala bears, which “smelled, so bad.”

What separates Brown’s trip from other people’s is that Brown came home with a silver medal and two bronzes in track and field.

Brown went to Brisbane, Australia, with a group called Down Under Sports that takes high school students from the United States to compete in athletic events in Australia. The journey was long, with a layover in Vancouver, but the result was sweet: Brown took home second place in the 800 meters, third in the 4x100 relay and third in the 4x400 relay.

NATURAL SPEED

Brown has always been a fast kid, according to his mother, Mandy, an optician at Gran-bury Eye Care. (His dad, Brian, is an animal health inspector for the state of Texas.)

He won his age group in the first 5K he ever entered when he was in the fourth grade, but he didn’t run track in junior high. He tried cross country, but “it didn’t go very well.”

He took to both track and cross country in high school, and as his mother put it, he found out that he “loves to run.” Brown said his favorite event is the 800 meters, which is often thought of as one of the more daunting distances.

“Not too many people actually like that race,” Brown said. “You can’t really sprint it, and you can’t really jog it. It’s kind of the in-between.

“It isn’t too difficult mentally in the first lap. But that second lap, as you get 300 meters left, it’s all about breaking down and getting out.”

SETTING GOALS

Brown has times in mind that he wants to break for each race. In the 800 meters, he’s set his sights on the two-minute mark.

The closest he came last year was a 2:00.19 at the Granbury Johnny Perkins Relays, which earned him a silver medal. Brown said he never comes close to two minutes in practice sessions, but the adrenaline in a race pushes him closer to his mark.

And though it wasn’t his fastest time, Brown cites a time of 2:01.67 he ran at the Ben Davis Relays at Brewer High in February as his favorite performance.

“There were like 12 different schools there. It was the biggest meet we had all year,” he said. “And I ran a 2:01, and beat everybody by like 40 meters.”

(Records for Granbury High show that particular race happened at Joshua, not at Brewer. When you win as many medals as Brown does, it’s easy to get them mixed up – and Brown did win at Brewer, as well.)

Brown is also a fan of the relay races, especially the 4x400, where he often runs the anchor leg.

“I might like it more than the 800, just because of how fun it is,” he said. “It’s the last race, everybody’s ready to go home, so they’re cheering. It’s not just yourself, you’ve got a team with you.”

At the district meet earlier this year, Brown turned in a blazing 51-second 400-meter leg and caught the runner in front of him with 15 meters to go.

EYES ON PARIS

Brown’s ultimate goal is to compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. He said he doesn’t know what that route will look like yet, but as long as it takes him to France, he’s happy.

In the meantime, Brown is focused on making it to state in his senior year, and has already started talking to colleges for recruiting.

It’s just one step on his long race to Paris.

grant@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066 ext. 254

‘Not too many people actually like that race.’
-Colton Brown, on the 800 meters