Robert (Bobby) Grant returns this season at the top of the Arizona leader board in the 300 hurdles and #4 in the Nation. He also ranks #3 in Arizona in the 100 hurdles and #2 in the 400 meters. Robert will also be writing a journal/blog for Arizona Milesplit!
Keep checking back to see who makes the Arizona Milesplit 'Watch List" in Track and Field.
Journal Questions:
Name: Robert (Bobby) Grant (Robert's Milesplit Profile)
High School: Brophy College Preparatory
Year of Graduation: 2014
Track and Field PR's:
100 hurdles: 10.94
110 hurdles: 14.45
300 hurdles: 36.88
200m: 21.42
400m: 48.09
400 hurdles: 52.46
When did you first get involved with track and field? How long have you been running:
Track and field snuck up on me and bit me right in the butt. I never saw myself as a runner; I was going to be an All-American football player and center fielder for Brophy’s baseball team. I first got involved 8th grade year when I was struggling in baseball and I decided to give it up. When I gave it up my PE coach recommended track after we ran 40 yard dashes. Obviously at first, I was against the suggestion but after thinking about it more I thought it would be good for football. Little did I know it would be the best thing that ever happened to me. I was a sprinter at first, but after my coach saw me hurdling for fun he wanted me to try it. Again I was against the suggestion but it was another great thing that happened to me. I have been hurdling since the middle of sophomore season after I ran in my first hurdle race at the Chandler Rotary placing second in my first ever 300 hurdle race. After that the rest is history and I have been hurdling non-stop since and have given up football to master my craft.
What is a typical training week like for you?
A typical training week for me would be a hard Monday (always deadly), a technically focused practice Tuesday. Following this I would have a semi-hard Wednesday, than a technically focused practice Thursday again. Finally Fridays are centered around aerobic workouts and getting the lungs pumping. Saturdays when I don’t have meets I spend my time by myself at the track working on hurdle drills or going up to Thunderbird Mountain and doing 400 repeats up the road.
What are your goals for the upcoming track season?
This is my last track season as a Brophy Bronco and I have some very big goals. I have been training rigorously for the past four months to achieve these goals. The first goal - to have a blast in my last season and enjoy every second of it. After that…. I would really like to break Devon Allen’s state 300 ih record and make a run at the top ten all time in the country at that event, and also make a run at breaking the national record. I want to go 20.6 in the 200 this year, 10.5 in the hundred and I want to go 46 point in the 400. Finally in the 400 hurdles I would like to break 50 and make a world junior team. My biggest goal of all would have to be trying to go undefeated all year, not losing an event to a single person. Most of all I want to enjoy my last season in high school and just have a great time.
How do you prepare yourself mentally for a race? Do you have any superstitions?
I listen to music to calm the nerves and most of the time I fall asleep before my races. I have about 150 songs on my track pump up playlist and it grows almost every day. To prepare mentally I calm myself down and go through in my mind how I need to run the race to be successful and what I need to do technically to run fast. After that I sit there and visualize myself succeeding and doing well. Overall I just try to not stress too much over the race and have fun. Why run if you’re not having fun? I am a very superstitious person so I wear the same socks with the same spikes in every race. I also turn the top of the socks inside out every single time - It feel wrong without doing that. As well as that superstition, if it is a two day meet, I have to wear the same uniform and warm up gear each day. From that information you can probably figure out that if it’s a hot day the next day it is quite smelly. However it’s worked so far so why stop now!
What does your season look like and will you be competing in any out of state track meets during the season or post high school season?
I have a very long season and I’m so excited for it. I will be competing in a lot of meets this season. I open up my season in Flagstaff at an indoor meet on Sunday the 16th of February. I have about 10 invitational seasonal meets that I’m participating in. The biggest of these meets would have to be the Chandler Rotary, Arcadia Invitational, and Mt. Sac Relays. Arcadia and Mt. Sac relays are in California and those are the only meets I am participating in out of state during the spring track season. I look forward to competing once again against some of my close friends, Tevin Mayfield and Paul Lucas. It should be a great year for all of us and I look forward to the friendly competition. After the high school season I will be traveling either to Brooks PR (if I get the invitation, fingers crossed) or New Balance Nationals, as well as the great southwest. I will top my season off with the World Junior trials where I will try to make a USA team that competes in Oregon this summer. I am going to make that team!
What message would you tell younger runners who aspire to be at the top?
There are so many things that I would love to tell young runners and I could go on for hours but I will just give my top three. My sister is a freshman runner and has already heard this speech about 1000 times.
- Work hard. You cannot get anywhere without hard work - it is the key to success in life. You get out what you put in. If you want to be the best, grind it out and work at it every day nonstop. Fall in love with being in pain and mastering your craft. Treat every Monday workout as a day that you get better in your event, the day that you work so hard that you will drop time. "You have to train dirty" is something I always say, train so hard that you honestly feel like you can’t train anymore because it will work out for you in the long run.
- Be a brain surgeon of your event. Obviously don’t go out and perform brain surgery but you want to figuratively be a brain surgeon of your event. What I mean when I say this is that you need to be perfect in everything, so that you don’t accidentally stop the brain from working. Brain surgeons do a great job of tediously working on the little things and mastering them while having extreme focus on their tasks. If a brain surgeon messes up he ruins the brain and causes more issues. To make sure this doesn’t happen, a brain surgeon focuses on all of the little things and makes sure he gets everything perfect. If you are a hurdler, don’t hit any hurdles and work to be a brain surgeon of your event focusing on every little detail of your technique. You don’t want to stop that brain. If you are a distance runner, be a brain surgeon in your mileage putting in the work and making sure you work as hard as you can, focusing in on your breathing and splits, you don’t want to ruin that brain.
- Have fun! But... know when to turn on the jets. Be funny and wild in practice but when it comes time to work, get your hands dirty. I believe that the perfect balance of having fun and being serious are key for an athlete to succeed. If you see me in practice I will run an interval as hard as I can than make jokes and dance sometimes in the middle of reps to pass the time. Have fun in everything you do. Take that pressure on yourself and make it fun pressure, if you’re not having fun than you’re doing something wrong.
If you had to attribute your success to one thing, what would it be?
My success is a culmination of things, but if I had to narrow it down it would be my tenacious attitude and ultra-competitiveness. I never want to lose a race, losing a race to me is the biggest thing in the whole world. I will use every muscle in my entire body to beat you. I work hard to the point of death and I love doing it. I will always work my hardest to go faster or harder on an interval and never give up. But like I said in my watch list last year, none of this is possible without the coaches and opportunities that Brophy has presented to me.
Do you have role models or mentors in track and field?
I have a few role models in track and field. I bet everyone could take a guess at the first one. Devon Allen. Devon is my best friend and my brother and I would not at all be where I am not today without his guidance and friendship. He was my training partner but also my best friend. I look up to him as a role model and mentor, because he makes it look so easy and he always knows the right thing to say. He has been an influence in my life by pushing me in practices and always getting on me when he feels I’m not focusing hard enough or working hard enough. I look up to him and admire his success always wanting to run as well as he does. In my honest opinion Devon Allen is the greatest track athlete to ever live in the state of Arizona. I also have a few coaches that have really made an impact on my life. Coach Tim Oneil for the last three years has mentored me and coached me to where I am and I hope one day to be as generous and kind as he is. However this year I am without both of my main role models as Devon is in Eugene and Coach Oneil is at Mountain Pointe. But that doesn’t matter because Coach Oliver is also a great role model for me. Coach Oliver went to school at Oregon and competed in the decathlon. For the last two years he has been my biggest fan. This year he is my coach and I am so excited to learn from his expertise and his guidance. He is a great coach and I look forward to learning from him.
How many events do you compete in and which event is your favorite?
I compete in all of the sprint events and when I say all of them I mean it. I like to think of myself as an all-around sprinter/hurdler, I can do all the hurdles and all the short and long sprints. I compete in the 100,200,300 hurdles, 400, and 400 hurdles. To narrow it down to one event is so hard but it would have to be the 400 hurdles, I’ve only run them one time but honestly it was the best time of my life. Everyone hates the 400h because it is considered one of the harder events in track and field. I mean, who wants to run a 400... Over hurdles? I do. You have to be insane to run that event and I am certifiably there already. I love it because no one else does. It’s something that only the strong minded can do. It’s a great event.
What are 3 things we don't know about you?
Three things that people don’t know about me. (Going to be hard since I already did three things last year)
- I love dancing. I can dance to any song or genre and I guarantee that I will win in any kind of dance off.
- I spend most of my free time playing NBA 2K13. Currently I am venturing on an undefeated 56-0 season with my make believe player named Houdini. No one can beat me in that game except for Brennan Hanss.
- I can actually sing really well. I can hit any high note there is and it actually sounds semi good. By semi good I mean barely any blood comes from the ears when listening….
Best thing your coach ever said to you?
The best thing my coach ever said to me was that he was proud of me. After my last season Coach Oneil told me he was moving to Mountain Pointe but that he was proud of me, he told me to stay hungry and chase after that state record. He has been a big influence in my life and I cannot thank him enough.
Shout Outs?
I’d like to give a shout-out to Devon Allen, as well as my best friends Brennan Hanss, Trent Szafran, Blake Huso, Brendan Rapp, Josh Klugman, Taylor Norrid, and John Drake.
Quick 6:
Favorite Pre-race Meal?
Apple. Best thing ever.
Favorite Winter Olympic Sport?
Speed Skating
Favorite Meet?
Mt. Sac Relays
Cross Country or Track and Field?
Track and Field....Duh who wants to run for that long!
Perfect temperature to compete in?
Hot temperatures....so basically Miami or Phoenix
Favorite song at the moment?
I'm the Man by Aloe Blacc
