MEMBER: Mike Tait

Name: Mike Tait
Hometown: Wilmington, DE
High School: Concord
College: University of Delaware
Occupation: Math professor at Villanova

Personal Bests
500m - 66.85
800m - 1:54.02 (1:53.3 relay)
1500m - 4:07.60
3000m - 9:22.5
5000m - 16:02
Halfwit Half Marathon Beer Competition - 14 yeungs

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

By: Chris Mateer

Hey Tait, thanks for taking time to speak with us. Could you tell us a bit about yourself? How did you end up in Philadelphia and competing with PRTC?
Before we moved to Philly, Lexi and I lived in Pittsburgh where we spent a lot of time with a running club called the Hounds (go Hounds!). The Hounds and PRTC have had a decent amount of crossover, and we had heard of PRTC through Jamie, Hayley and Hoogs, Ivan, and Tappman. So we knew even before moving that we wanted to join the team, and we came to our first club run just hours after getting here.

Can you tell us how you became a runner? Did a specific event compel you to take on the sport?
I started running relatively late. In 10th grade I joined the spring track team so that I could stay in shape for wrestling season the following winter. I didn't have very much success in the beginning, but I was having even less success in the other sports I was trying to do, so I just stuck with running.

Once you began running, how did your career develop? Take us through day one to today.
Slowly. After 9 months of consistent hard training, I was still struggling to break 20 minutes for 5k. Over several years, two things happened: first I realized that the 800m was my best event, and second I started to develop a little bit after many years of hard training. My collegiate career was intense and filled with ups and downs, and afterwards I was ready to take a break from the fast stuff. We moved to San Diego and for the next 5 years I rarely ran faster than 10k pace and I raced seriously I think only 3 times. Then when we moved to Pittsburgh I got really inspired by how seemingly everyone in the Hounds was never scared to mix it up both on the roads and on the track, and it pushed me to run faster workouts and race more often. We even got together a 4x8 and did a mini indoor track campaign, and it went well enough that I am excited to race on the track (this was never true before, even in high school and college), and this is my current focus.

What would do you consider your most impressive running accomplishment?
On the track the races that I'm most proud of are our 4x8 at 2009 outdoor IC4As and our DMR at 2011 indoor IC4As. Working really hard with a group of guys for several years and then accomplishing something together that seemed out of reach is special. Off the track, I've won the half-wit half marathon beer drinking competition 3 times (2009, 2010, 2019).

What's your worst PR? Why?
All my PBs besides 800m are bad. It's hard to choose a worst ~see no evil emoji~

Regarding your running future, what are your near and long-term goals?
Short-term I am hoping to race at least a couple of track races per year for the next couple of years with a goal to set a mile PB. Long-term I would eventually like to do a serious block of 5k training and try to PB there (hoping dad strength helps). Longer term I mostly just want to stay relatively healthy.

Can you share with us what you are currently up to professionally? What inspired you to pursue this field?
I'm currently an assistant professor in the math department at Villanova. I tried to do other things, but math was always what I was best at and liked most. I always loved learning and being a student, and so life in academia is just a way for me to live that way forever.

Compare and contrast Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
I always said that Philadelphia was the city I most wanted to live in permanently, but I also would have been very happy to stay in Pittsburgh, and so I feel very fortunate to have lived in both. They are both amazing cities. In terms of running, Pittsburgh has a more intimate running community, while Philly's is bigger and with more people running really fast (as evidenced by how often I get dropped during PRTC workouts). People in Pittsburgh are an incredibly pleasant mix of east coast and midwest whereas people in Philadelphia have classic east coast meanness, which I love and missed dearly. It doesn't seem like there are any rules in either city.

If you had to be locked in a room with a grizzly bear and one member of PRTC, who would it be and why?
Several ways to go here. First, I might pick Tim Appman so that he could try to play the violin for the bear to lull it to sleep. My second thought would be to pick Ivan on the off chance that the Soviet fitness training of his youth covered bear attacks. Honestly though these probably wouldn't work and I figure that no matter who I picked from PRTC, I would have to strangle the bear myself. Now strangling a bear is no easy task, and I would be sure to take some damage. Therefore, I think my best bet would be to choose one of the club's (real) doctors. Maybe Max after seeing his medical performance under duress.

Preferred pre and post-race meal?
After college I quit taking running so seriously and I didn't let racing change my
social life (read: I started drinking beer the night before races). Now this has become a habit that I call "powering up". I'm pretty sure I haven't run a race since college without powering up. The key is to try not to power up too much. Post-race I usually crave anything savory or salty or greasy, followed by more beer (powering down).

Any non-running related hobbies, hidden skills or talents we may enjoy hearing about?
I'm constantly picking up hobbies and then not gaining proficiency in them, and I could tell you a whole string of things that I've tried to learn and am bad at. Since moving to Philly I've been doing jiu-jitsu several times a week. I will need to continue this hobby for many years if I'm ever going to strangle a bear.