It's a treat, being a long-distance runner, out in the world by yourself with not a soul to tell you what to do. --Allan Sillitoe, The Loneliness of the   Long-Distance Runner

For freshman harrier Pete Fitzsimmons, the feeling of being out on his own is a familiar one--he either won or finished near the leaders in all ten races this year, placing first among Harvard runners in eight of those.

"Sometimes when you're running well, you're just gliding along, you're alone, and you're at peace with yourself," the Mansfield, Conn., native explains. "It's a feeling of exhilaration."

At 5'9" and 125 lbs., Fitzsimmons is not overly impressive in stature, and he is surprisingly humble in talking about his accomplishments. But his action in competition speaks louder than words.

"He was amazing," explains coach Bill McCurdy, "freshmen just don't do things like that." "He offered not only his physical performance," McCurdy continues, "but a big plus in the intangibles--he became a rallying point for the team."

But the exhilaration, the accomplishment and the praise did not come to Fitzsimmons on a silver platter. They resulted from years of running experience and thousands of grueling training hours in the off-season.

Experience Pays Off

Fitzsimmons' track experience dates back to eighth grade, "but I didn't get serious with year-round running and cross country until the winter of my sophomore year in high school."

Since then, he has been running in a blaze of glory. As a senior in high school, Fitzsimmons tied the Connecticut outdoor two-mile record at 9:11.2, broke the state outdoor two-mile record at 9:08.7, and won the state cross country championship.

This summer Fitzsimmons trained hard every day since July 20, concentrating mostly on distance conditioning. "Day after day, pounding out miles, it gets to be a grind," Fitzsimmons says, "and you definitely get fed up with the monotony of year-round running."

In the summer, especially when you're training without competition, it gets really monotonous and seems like something that doesn't merit all that work," Fitzsimmons explains. "But when you get to the season, it's all worth it."

When the season did begin, Fitzsimmons faced the problems of adjusting to the longer distances of college competition and the rigors of participating on a varsity sport as a freshman.

Everything worked out well, though. As a freshman, Fitzsimmons "was accepted immediately, and Jeff [Campbell], Bill [Okerman] and Stein [Rafto] were helpful telling me what to expect in college competition."

At first, Fitzsimmons recalls, "I was a little wary of how well I'd do in five-mile races, but it turned out to be a little easier than expected."

All-Ivy