We are starting our Arizona Watch List series and will continue with it for the next few weeks. As the cross country season gets underway new athletes will be added to the list. Good luck to everyone! See you on the course!
Journal Questions:
Name: Marco Ruiz
High School:
Brophy College Preparatory
Year of Graduation: 2013
Best time in a 5K and a 3 Mile Race:
5K: 16:33
3 Mile: 15:28
What are your goals for the upcoming season:
This upcoming season I just want to enjoy what I love doing the most, running! It’s my last year and I want to help our team do the best we can, and hopefully be a contender for the State Championship this year. I also want to wear more short shorts during our workouts since our coach, “The Alex “Murder Mace” Mason”, has taught our team that the shorter your shorts, the faster you are! It’s simple math (:
How is your summer training going? Your favorite workout? What kind of summer mileage do you run?
My summer training has been really fun, especially seeing the sunrise every morning, bright and early at 6am! It’s been awesome running with my great friend, Jack Rubenzer. It’s always nice to have someone to train with who is one of your best friends as well. My favorite workout is our hill repeats! It really gets you stronger, faster, and ready to go. During the summer I tend to run 6 days a week, about 50 miles a week.
How long have you been running and how did you get started:
It all started on a hot day during my 7th grade year. I played basketball during middle school, some say I was the next Jeremy Lin but who knows, (Linsanity rolls off the tongue a little better than Ruizsanity so it might not have worked out) and I figured I should go out for track and keep in shape. I went to my coach, ran a 100 meter dash, and after my dismal performance, I stuck to everything over the 400 meter race. Thankfully my coach put me in the distance races, and I have stuck to it ever since. But who know, maybe if I worked hard my friend, Devon Allen, would have some competition. Just a thought…
Will you be competing out of State this season? If so, when and where?
I unfortunately will not be competing out of state, but I know for track Brophy has a lot of out of state meets planned for us this year.
What are your favorite courses and the toughest courses to run in State and out of State.
My favorite course is the Sandra Day O’Connor course. There is nothing like the sun beating down on gravel, and the stench of the dump to really get those race juices pumping! I would say the toughest course I have ever run is the George Young course. We have not had it in the past couple of years, but I always remember those huge, miserable hills!
So far in your high school career, what is your favorite cross country race or cross country memory?
My favorite XC race memory is running State last year. Although I had one of the worst races of my running career and the team did not do as well as we planned, we picked each other up and moved on. We became closer in turn during the track season.
My favorite memory in general would have to be seeing Jack Rubenzer scare this poor, old woman on one of our distance runs. He ran a little too close to her (he says 1 foot away from her, I saw 1 inch at the most) being that he was still half asleep, and the woman immediately jumped and shouted “Geeeeze! Warn me next time” Jack, being the good guy he is, turned around, apologized, and now every morning she greets us with a warm smile! What a guy!
When you are not running what do you like to do?
When I am not running, I enjoy being a part of our RED ARMY at football games. You should watch out for me, being that I am a part of the BRONCOS lettering at the football games! I also enjoy playing basketball, swimming, and constantly beating Devon Allen at every videogame you can think of!
Do you cross train (lift, swim, bike etc)?
I have recently picked up cross training, due to the Xavier Gator XC team. Mckenna Gaffney introduced the idea to me, and since their team is amazing, I figured I would try anything they do! I went out one day with their team to do some swimming, and I figured it would be enjoyable swimming! I was hopelessly wrong! These girls showed me up, and showed no mercy leaving me far behind. However, I have been hard at work, anticipating the day of our rematch! So now I do some swimming, light lifting, and basic core exercise strengthening… I think that them being Gators already makes them faster in the water… it all makes sense now!
Do you think you would like to run competitively after high school?
I would love to run competitively after high school. That is the plan, and hopefully senior year is nice to me, and I get the opportunity!
What were your favorite Olympic sports and did they inspire you in any way?
My favorite Olympic Sport was surprisingly the Women Gymnastics! Seeing Gabby Douglas win that gold was awesome! It was especially awesome because hearing about her story of her leaving her family in order to train was extremely inspiring. If anything, it has taught me to be more committed to the sport. Go Gabby!ichael Phelps set the record for most Olympic medals of all time. I also loved watching Mo Farah win his 2 races (5K and 10K).
Quick Six:
Favorite Pre-race Meal?
My favorite pre-race meal would ideally be a burger from Inn-N-Out with some fries and a shake! But seeing as though that might tamper with my race, my ordinary pre-race meal is just a plain bagel and an apple!
Kind of shoes you train in?
US Olympic Trial Edition Nike Pegasus 29’s
Favorite athlete (running or otherwise)?
Lebron James; I mean the guy is a monster!
Favorite TV show or movie?
Lion King
Favorite song?
From the Disney Movie Mulan called, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” Great pump up song.
Favorite quote?
“It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how you can get hit and keep moving forward” – Rocky Balboa