Interview with Adam Kingston – Athlete of the Year [video]

Video interview with Manheim Township’s Adam Kingston

Hi everyone, Jason Garente here with LMP and Lancasteronline.com. We have a very special guest in the studio here on Queen Street, Adam Kingston, Mannheim Township distance runner. Adam, thanks for joining us today. Thank you for having me. Adam is the PIAA class 3A 3200 meter champion. One of the most difficult races in the state to win. 85125 was the time. When you hear that number, what do you think? I mean, it was it was just a crazy race. Um, going into the race, I knew that Jack Bertram was, you know, he was the guy to beat. I knew that I like I had number one because of my district time, but, you know, he ran 847, which is like, you know, that’s other worldly. Uh, so I knew that I was just going to try to let him take it out. Uh, you know, he didn’t. I I took it out. And then, you know, last 800 was 202, which was, you know, insane. And then I crossed the line 851. That was that was insane cuz I knew that broke the LL record, broke the district record, broke the, you know, school record, I guess, too. And it was it was crazy just, you know, knowing that I won the state championship and I also ran a crazy time. It just made it so much better. Adam is the only LL runner to ever break 9 minutes in the 3200 during the PIAA season. So, put that time in perspective. He was 10 seconds faster than anyone. We’re talking the great Vince McN, Nathan Henderson. When you see your name with the other all-timers, how does that make you feel? I mean, it’s really cool, especially like at my school, we had a huge history of, you know, mileers and two Mers, you know, the Miller twins were insane. And I remember like freshman year I checked our record boards and one two every distance event was both the both the Millers and that’s just a crazy thing to you know finally be up there with them and then even in the LL we have all those other guys you know even Colin I ran with him last year and then he you know took the LL record for about a year and then getting it back was really cool because you know he’s doing crazy things in college and doing crazy things in the LL and And then just to be on top is insane. You know, I wouldn’t have even dreamed of doing this when I started in seventh grade. Um, you know, I was I was barely on the varsity team in in middle school. So, it’s crazy to be at the top of the LL as a senior. It’s just, you know, I’m really blessed. The Miller twins are Craig and Brad Miller, who ran at Township in the early 2000s. Colin Whitaker at Lamp Peter Straber. Last year’s uh one of the best runners in the state is at Notre Dame now. So you’ve run with the best and you’ve chased the records of the best. Yeah. You mentioned middle school. That’s when you started track. Yeah. What was it like in the beginning for you? It sounds like maybe a little bit tough go. Yeah. I mean, I started cross country because my brother Gray did cross country. You know, my mom also ran in uh in high school and I thought it would be really cool. I was at the time I was playing for MT Elite soccer and I, you know, I was like kind of done with soccer. you know, I was getting tired of having to drive this that and everywhere for games. So, I was like, I’ll just try running. You know, I kind of want to be like my brother cuz he uh he ran and I made the team as like a seventh grader, which I think everyone does. And I like just barely snuck in that 78 slot to make the like Iron Bridge meet at the end of the year. And you know, then eighth grade year for cross country, I improved 1 second from my seventh grade year, I think I ran like 12 45 maybe for two miles in eighth grade was my best. And then of course during track, my seventh grade year was canceled from COVID. Then I ran eighth grade track. I think I was like 530 and like 2:30. Uh, it was just, you know, it wasn’t anything crazy. It was just running was something I did for fun. Then I hit high school freshman year. I dropped a minute off my mile time, which is absolutely insane. I don’t know how I did that. And then I dropped like I went from 12:45 to like 9:43, which is I was shocked by that. I was like, that’s insane. I made I made freshman nationals, but I didn’t go just cuz I didn’t realize I made it. Uh, but it was it was really cool just to be go from, you know, someone who just barely made the cross country team varsity as a seventh grader to, you know, now leading my team and leading the LL. It’s really inspirational. I’m glad I could, you know, be uh be one of those faces to represent my school and represent the LL. You mentioned the mile. You’ve run a 409 mile, which is also one of the top five or so times in LL history. So, the longer race and the shorter race, you’re great at both of them. Yeah. Running’s hard. Running is painful. Running is mentally taxing. Why do you put yourself through this? What do you like about it? I just think it’s so rewarding when you finish to cuz you know, you put yourself through such a hard hard race. It was, you know, you whenever you start a race, you feel good for about one lap and then you and then you don’t. Uh, I just really like the way you feel at the end. You have all the adrenaline. You have the crowd cheering for you. You cross the finish line. And when you get that mark that you want, it’s just the best feeling in the world cuz you know, you work so hard at practice. You work so hard leading up to the race. You’re eating well, you’re sleeping well, you’re doing all the right things. And then you just finally get to race day and it all pays off. And it’s it’s amazing. Like I ran a race the Monday after states. I ran a full mile. It was at John Haye and there were pacers for the first 1,000 which was you know that’s really nice and uh I came through like 232 through like 109 m and then I just fell off the pace so hard cuz you know running is just that’s what it is. I ended up running 407 I think for a full mile which is like 405 high for a 16. So, I I just barely missed uh Craig’s record, but it was really cool, you know, because I got to feel amazing during the race and then pretty much as soon as it’s raced over, I couldn’t stand. So, I’m just super happy that when I finish, that’s what running is all about. It’s all about pushing yourself farther than you could go and see what happens. You are the Craig Miller or Brad Miller for the next kid, whoever that is. Maybe there’s some middle school kid out there who wants to run. Have you thought that he’ll look at your name and your numbers and he’ll chase you? Yeah, that’s kind of crazy. When we did uh like this past week, we had graduation and our school does a a cool thing where we walk through our elementary school we went to and then we walked through the middle school as well. And I think it was really cool cuz I would walk through the the middle school and they’re like kids I had never seen before and they’re like, “Hey, Adam, I’m over here. Give me high five.” And it was it was really cool cuz I didn’t realize that that was it didn’t really process in my mind that I was once that kid looking up to to Brad and Craig and Evan and all those guys and then now there’s kids looking up to me and wanted to do the same thing. It’s it’s super cool to to be a face for the the next generation. you know, I know and I hope someone breaks my my record so uh we can keep the township mileers going, but it’s just crazy to me that that I’m going to be the next person up in my school and in the LL and I don’t know, I’m just blessed. It’s amazing. You’re going to Penn State. That’s your running future. What do you want to get out of the next four years? Well, I’m studying to be a mechanical engineer, which I think will be a good fit. Uh, I really love physics. I really love calculus. And, you know, those really go well together for engineering. And also on the cross country team and track teams, I think we’re really building a strong program. Coach Gond’s doing a really good job this year. He recruited four guys for distance. It’s me, Jackson, uh, Michael, and Isaac. And of those guys, uh, Jackson and Michael went one two at states in the 32 for double A. And then Isaac and I went 13 in the 32 for AAA. So, I don’t know, in my mind, we got four of the top five two mileers in the state. And that’s just amazing when you put that together with, you know, what they’ve already got going on. They got great guys. They got Brian, they got uh Nick Sloth, two great, you know, sophomore, freshman, and they also got a great senior class. And I think we’re going to fit in really nice, and we’re going to do, you know, hopefully compete in the the Big 10 with Oregon and Washington. You know, they’re, you know, they joined the Big 10, so they’re going to make it a better conference. So, I’m excited to compete there. Hopefully score some points in the Big 10 at some point. Penn State keeping it local with their recruiting, huh? Getting all those guys at Shippensburg to the big stage of State College. Oh yeah. This is Adam Kingston. Thanks for joining us. I’m Jason Garente with LMP and Lancaster Online Comm. One of the best to ever do it in Lancaster Lebanon League distance running. Thanks for joining us. Thank you.