Rankin is focused for the 2009 season, starting with the Fifth Avenue Mile on Saturday

For the Monte Vista high school and UCLA grad, the journey from last year’s Olympic Trials to this week’s race has been full of changes and struggles.

Rankin finished sixth at last year’s Olympic Trials in the 1500 meters. He was named an Olympic alternate, but not making the team was disappointing.  It took him several months before making a decision on whether to try again in 2012.

“It’s such a long journey to get to that point and I just fell short of making the team. It forced reflection upon me, it made me step back and reflect upon the journey and  reevaluate if I want to go for it again and make another team four years from now. At that level of sacrifice, I wasn’t too sure if I was going to do that for four more years,” said Rankin.

Rankin has been considered one of America’s best middle-distance runners since graduating from UCLA. He got his start at Monte Vista high school in Spring Valley where he ran 4:10.08 in the mile at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational his senior year. His career at UCLA included several Pac-10 championships and NCAA All-American honors.

After he graduated, Jon signed a three-year contract with Nike. That contract expired and was not renewed at the end of 2008. He has a small contract with Strands.com, a social media site for endurance athletes, which supports him with  a monthly stipend and training gear. But in order to make ends meet, Jon has been waiting tables at a local Denny’s.

“It’s a great challenge for my career. I’m working almost full time but training harder than ever. It’s a totally new lifestyle that I’m not used to living,” he said “I know a majority of good runners around the world have to go through the same process.  It’s just a litmus test that says ‘Hey, how bad to you really want it?’ That’s a question that I have answered assuredly yes, and I need to make it work.”

For the last several years, Rankin has been coached by former Olympic 800-meter champion Joachim Cruz, who competed internationally for Brazil. Although happy with Cruz, the disappointment of the Olympic Trials led Rankin to decide it was time for a change.

“I always felt that there was a sense of hesitancy on the part of coach Cruz to push me because of his history of injuries. There were always open conversations of him not wanting to push his athletes because of his multiple surgeries on his Achilles and my history of injuries. At this point of my career, I felt like that attitude is not going to help in terms of me getting the most out of myself,” said Rankin.

In order to get faster, Rankin believed he needed to take more risks in his training.

“I’m at the point where I am either going to be one of the best in the world or I am going to be competitive with the best, but I’m not going to beat them. I love coach Cruz, he’s almost like a father to me so it was a very tough decision,” he said.

In June, Jon’s father became his coach. A move that went beyond just training strategies.

“I wanted my father to be more involved and this will give my entire family a greater sense of connection in the next part of my journey towards 2012,” he said.

Family was one of the reasons why Jon considered not continuing running at the elite level. His family lives in Florida, and only be able to see them a few times a year is difficult.

“The first thing that popped into my mind once the Olympic Trials were over was all the sacrifice in terms of spending time with friends and family. That’s really important to me,” he said. “I feel it’s the most important thing in life. Time is something we don’t get back. Half your year as an athlete is spent competing and living on a plane and out of a suitcase on the other side of the world away from your friends and family.”

After his breakthrough 2008 season, Jon is hoping to open up 2009 with a strong showing at the Fifth Avenue Mile. The field is deep and fast with Olympians Matt Tegenkamp and Lopez Lamong in the race, not to mention multiple-World Champion Bernard Lagat as well.

“I’m looking forward to getting out there and getting my feet wet. I’m just ready to start this second half of my career with my father as my coach and the other changes.”

With such a deep field, Jon said he would be happy with a top-ten finish.

His race strategy for Saturday and the rest of the season involves one more change to his running --his kick. He wants to overhaul his race strategy so he can have a better kick at the end--something he says has been missing for several seasons.

Rankin’s Personal Records

800-1:47.01

1500-3:35.26

Mile-3:52.7

                                        

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