By Tim Morris
The track at Manalapan High School has obtained a facelift. Helping to officially open the new track July 22 was Manalapan’s own Olympic runner, Robby Andrews.
Andrews recalled the many miles in training that he ran on his high school track from his scholastic days right up to his preparation for this year’s Olympic Trials, where his second-place finish in the 1,500-meter run in Eugene, Oregon, secured his Olympic berth.
“It’s a legit track,” the ex-Braves standout said. ”I’m going to try and do some work on it.”
Andrews helped unveil the new track July 22 when Manalapan Township threw a sendoff party for their Olympian.
Hundreds of Manalapan residents turned out to march in the parade that started at the Dreyer track at the recreation center and went to the high school track, where Andrews helped cut the ribbon and signed autographs.
“It’s truly amazing,” he said of the parade and Manalapan’s response to his achievement. “I’ve lived my whole life in Manalapan and for them to do this is a great honor.
“I’m proud to represent Manalapan.”
While thanking everyone in the community, Andrews gave a special mention to the Public Works Department.
“Thanks to Public Works, I’ve been able to get training runs in all the time,” he said, noting that the department cleared the roads in the snow helping him get out on the roads for workouts.
He cited their work on the running trail at the recreation center as well.
Andrews has never gotten away from his roots in Manalapan despite his national success. He returns for running camps to talk and inspire young runners.
“You can achieve anything if you believe and work hard,” he tells the youngsters. “Nothing comes easy.”
That lesson applies to life outside running, he added.
“It was really sweet. Parents came up to me and told me that I was someone to look up to [at the camp],” he said.
Andrews certainly knows that nothing comes easy.
It may not have looked that way from the outside when he was setting national indoor records while at Manalapan in the 800- and 1,000-meter runs, winning two NCAA championships at the University of Virginia (at 800 meters) and winning a gold medal with the USA 4×800 relay team at the IAAF World Relays.
But the road to the Olympics had its bumps as well, which tested his resolve and belief in what he was doing. But he never wavered in his commitment during the hard times, crediting his supporting cast that included his father, Bob; mother, Mary; sister, Kristin; his coach, Jason Vigilante; and adidas — which he runs for professionally — for staying with him and believing in him.
“When things weren’t going well, no one quit on me,” he said. “I had really great support.”
It all started to click last year for Andrews when he won his first national championship as a professional (indoor 1,000) and then qualified for the World Track and Field Championships in Beijing, where he made the final.
That success carried over to this year, as he made the U.S. team for the World Indoor Championships held in Portland, Oregon, where he finished fourth in the final.
He said everything in 2016 was geared toward the Olympic Trials and making the U.S. team. That is no easy task. The U.S. Trials are often labeled the best track meet in the world outside an Olympics or World Championship.
“That’s the nature of the U.S. Trials,” Andrews said. “It’s so cutthroat. If you lose (not finishing in the top three), you don’t make the Olympics.”
Already an accomplished runner with that gold medal from the IAAF World Relays and World Championship experiences, Andrews explained why the Olympics are unlike any other track meet.
“The epitome of track and field is the Olympics,” he said. “There are other championships but only one Olympics every four years. You get to represent your country. The Olympics mean more than anything else.”
From his first races at Manalapan, Andrews has always had an electrifying closing kick that he has used to run down opponents in the final 100 meters. He used that explosive burst of speed at last year’s national championships to move from near last to second place in the final 100 meters to make the U.S. World Championship Team.
At the Olympic Trials, he didn’t run from the back of the field, however. Too much was at stake to wait.
“It was a do-or-die situation,” he said. “I was going to leave nothing to chance and make sure I was in the best position.”
Andrews was in fifth place at the bell lap and in the last 200 meters, he moved up from fifth to second behind Matt Centrowitz to make the Olympic team, easily clocking a quick time of 3:34.88.
In the stands watching Andrews as he moved up through the field to take second was his father, an 800-meter runner himself at the University of Pennsylvania who still competes at the Masters level.
“It wasn’t until there were only about 60 meters left in the race that I realized no one was going to come back on him and challenge him for second place,” Bob Andrews said. “I also realized he would not be catching the leader. I then became happy for him and went to complete calm and serenity as he crossed the line.
“I am thrilled that Robby has allowed me to be an integral part of his running career. It’s not getting any easier for him. It just looks that way.”
A flare for the dramatic seems to run in the family. His great uncle was the baseball player Bobby Thomson, he of the “Shot Heard Around the World” (the home run that gave the New York Giants the National League pennant in 1951) fame.
“I got to know him,” Andrews said of his famous great uncle. “He was always kind to me. He tried to get me to play baseball, but I didn’t have the eye-hand coordination.”
Andrews took up basketball instead because of the running involved in the sport and played round ball through his first couple of years at Manalapan before turning to track and field exclusively.
“[Basketball] was all part of my development,” he said.
He had to find out on his own without anyone pushing if he really loved track. He discovered that love on his own, and that may be the reason he’s headed to Rio de Janeiro because it something that he wanted to achieve.
For Andrews, fulfilling his Olympic goal proved you can achieve goals if you work hard enough for them.
“[Making the Olympic team] really validates everything — all the sacrifices I’ve made,” he said. “It was all worth it.”
He will run in one of the signature track and field events at the Olympics. The list of 1,500-meter winners includes middle distance running legends like Herb Elliott, Peter Snell, John Walker, Sebastian Coe and Hicham El Guerrouj.
Andrews has one more race before Rio. He heads to Eugene for a 1,500 race July 29, and then he flies to U.S. Training Camp in Houston, Texas, the next day. He’ll learn about such details as where the team will be staying and when it is leaving.
“It’s overwhelming,” he said. “There are little things you don’t realize.”
Since Andrews’ first Olympic race isn’t until Aug. 16, he plans on taking part in the Opening Ceremonies Aug. 5, marching into the Olympic Stadium with the U.S. team.
Before he heads to Eugene, Andrews plans to put in another workout on the Manalapan High School track. He did a workout there before he went to the Olympic Trials with great results. He hopes that one more trip around the track will produce the same result for him in Rio.