Tyson David KWIK-E

Alabama's Tyson David, a senior originally from Kitui, Kenya, started his college career at Central Arizona Community College. After David arrived at Alabama he made his presence felt immediately, being named the 2008 Southeastern Conference Cross Country Runner of the Year after winning the team title at SECs and then with a 63rd-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 30 minutes, 34.9 seconds over the 10,000-meter course. David's got current PRs of 7:57.07, 13:36.76 and 28:20.22. Let's see how he does in his pursuit of a top-five team finish and top-six individual finish at the 2009 NCAA Championships!

Were you happy with your individual finish at Pre-Nats?

Not really. We had a very hard workout before the meet. That's why we did not run good. We know we are going to do well, it's just not that part of the season.

What was the workout?

They were 400s on the track. We did them in 62-63...20 of them. It was Tuesday and with my teammate Andrew Kirwa.

How seriously was Alabama taking the meet if you were doing a workout before?

The men's team and our training is direct towards winning the conference title. We want to defend our conference title and our Regional title. Maybe we can push towards Nationals and get top-five. That would be good for us.

What about individually? Do you have a place you would like to finish at Nationals?

If I can get in the top six that would be good for me.

Your top-six runners this year have been consistently Kenyan runners. Did you know any of your teammates from back in Kenya?

No, I did not know any of those guys back in Kenya. I knew them first when I came for a visit to Alabama. I knew that this team had a bunch of Kenyans. I started in a junior college in Arizona called Central Arizona College.

What brought you to the University of Alabama?

The coaches recruit guys from our team, guys from Kenya. That was a good thing for me to go to Alabama.

What are your track goals?

Actually, I don't have any outdoor left. I'm almost done. I've only got one more indoor season left.

And what are your goals once your eligibility is up?

I want to run road races. I'm going to run the 10K, the 15K and the 21K. I'm going to have a degree in earth science. I might pursue that after my running career.

What are some of your hobbies? What do you guys do for fun down there in Alabama?

We like to go swimming and we make Kenyan food. Mostly we make ugali because it's easy. It doesn't take a lot of time.

Can you give me your ugali recipe?

You need corn flour and then you need water (laughs). You just need to boil water to a boil and then you slowly add the corn flour. It's kind of like cake. It's very easy.

What kind of music do you listen to?

I like music. I like Lingala music. Do you know Lingala music?

I don't think so. Is it Kenyan?

(Laughs) Originally it's from Central Africa in the Congo. It's Conglolese.

What about American music?

Yeah! Akon and Lil' Wayne (laughs).

Is that stuff on your Ipod?

I love my Ipod. I use one. I don't use one when I run.

You're from Kenya, then you went to school in Arizona and now you're at Alabama. How do you race when you get to the colder climates?

It's real difficult. I think the my body reacts differently. It's kind of hard to breathe in the cold. You go out on a warm up and get warm. I have to make them longer.

What about your mileage and your training? Can you talk about that?

I think I hit about 100 every week. That's with a lot of doubles. We can go for a one-hour run in the morning and then in evening you can go for 30 minutes. I run with all the other Kenyans in training.

Can you share a crazy running-related story?

There is one story from when I was at Central Arizona College. I started a race when I was late. I went to the bathroom and before I got back, the race had already started. I followed the guys and ended up getting second.

How late were you?

They were like 300 meters away!

How close were you to winning the race?

I was real close to winning it!

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#8	Anonymous Coward   October 23 at 11:08pm girma mesecho won SEC's last year, error in the write up reply
#7	Nate   October 23 at 9:50pm i went to school with his brother justus at morgan state, good family reply
#6	Martha   October 23 at 11:59am He's fast for only having one leg. (see picture) reply
#5	AB   October 23 at 10:11am quick short answers and straight to the point, i like it, bad ass story about being late as well, happend to me once. finished 6th. reply
#4	Rob Watson   October 23 at 10:08am I remember that race in Arizona, I'm the guy who ended up "winning". Tyson was rolling, and that was only an hour after he ran a 4:01mile. Good to see him doing so well now at 'Bama. reply
#3	Maiyo" Bama Follower"   October 23 at 10:01am Hey DT You forget the way you love maziwa mala (sour milk) and sukuma wiki. There is no way you will take ugali without those combinations. One love DT....SEC is few more days to go stay focus. reply
#2	Rex   October 23 at 9:43am tyson you are good men.keep it up. may be one day i will get a chance to run with u.rt now i got a abd injury. reply
#1	Anthony Nuccio   October 23 at 9:35am He is one of the top runners in the NCAA, but he shouldn't blame his performance and his teams' performance at the Pre-Nats because of a hard workout. That's one of the reasons why he probably didn't run well, but as a NCAA runner, he needs to realize that you have to overcome those difficult workouts in order to excell at the level he wants. reply