Alaska runner clocks fastest steeplechase preliminary time at national championships

Ketchikan's Isaac Updike did a Superman impersonation at the end of his steeplechase heat Friday at the U.S. Track and Field national championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

And why not?

Updike, 26, crushed his previous personal best by more than five seconds while recording the day's fastest preliminary time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

His time of 8 minutes, 25.82 seconds was more than two seconds better than the day's second-best time.

Updike pantomimed pulling off a cape after he crossed the finish line ahead of a trio of runners he pulled away from during the final lap of the 7.5-lap race.

He told reporters he was hoping for a personal best, "and it ended up great," he said. "I felt relaxed, which was kind of exciting."

"Coming down the homestretch and seeing 8:18 (on the clock), I was like, oh wow, we're gonna get it," Updike said. "Then I eased up a couple meters before (the end), (and) probably lost a second or so, but I was excited. I've never had an opportunity like that before, where I could ease up and sort of look around and be grateful."

Updike's heat was by far the fastest of the two heats, producing the day's top five times. Evan Jager, a heavy favorite to win his eighth straight steeplechase championship, won the other heat in 8:31.79.

Updike took an unusual path to national prominence. Although he competed in cross country at Ketchikan, he didn't run track because he preferred soccer.  After high school, he joined the Eastern Oregon University track team as a walk-on.

"I was fairly natural (at running)," Updike said Friday, "but track isn't a huge thing in Alaska. I mean, how many Alaskans do you know? Trevor Dunbar and, you know, Allie (Ostrander). So those are the two people I know."

Dunbar, a Kodiak man who was an All-America runner at the University of Oregon and now runs for the Boston Athletic Association, is entered in Sunday's 5,000-meter race. Ostrander, a Kenai Central graduate who recently won her second straight NCAA steeplechase title, is not competing at the national championships.

Updike was the 2013 NAIA steeplechase champion and joined Team Run Eugene after college. In 2016, he placed 12th in the steeplechase at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

His goal for Sunday's finals?

"Race," he said. "You put yourself in the mix and see where it takes you."