Race Stories: Vinny Todaro

It was a field filled with big name runners with big race experience. Pretty much all the top AA guys had raced one another multiple times before. Essentially all of them benefited from not running the grueling state course the week before. It would seem the odds were tipped heavily away from Vinny Todaro, which makes it all more impressive that when all was said and done he took down the state championship.

Todaro had a pretty simple plan, go out with the leaders and trust in his kick that had won him so many races already this season to get the job done coming up the last hill. It was a bold strategy on many levels: he was bound to have tired legs, he was running against a 1:55 half miler and the defending state champion, and the final part of the course was the only one he hadn't seen the week before. But Todaro was hungry for the gold. And in the end a good kick comes down to who is the hungriest.

All summer Todaro dealt with memories of near misses and crushing defeats. 26th at last year's state meet in XC, 9th indoors in the mile and a tough miss at outdoors after coming in with a 4:16 seed. He attacked a nearby mountain to get in extra hills over the summer and in season did a lot of 1k and 800m hill repeat workouts. This kind of training prepared Vinny to take the next step from heartbreak to elation.

The first big breakthrough came at the Carlisle Invitational. Todaro took down a stacked field that included Brent Kennedy and the Henderson boys and broke through numerous barriers as he won the race in a sprint finish in 15:31, a massive 38 second PR. It was then that he realized just how possible his dream of becoming a state champion was.

All dreams were realized on the state course in Hershey when Todaro executed his plan to perfection. There were no drastic moves or mistimed surges. Todaro sat in and used his speed to power up the last hill and break through the tape in a symbolic representation concluding his breakthrough season.

Todaro is looking forward to some down time now before track season where he will look to carry his XC momentum through to the mile and improve on his outdoor PR. He has also verbally committed to High Point University for next fall, where he will join many former PA studs.