Mile posts: Marathon Trials Q&A with Iowa native Mason Frank - Des Moines Register

Lance Bergeson Des Moines Register

Published 12:28 AM EST Dec 20, 2019

Editor's note: This is the second interview of Iowa natives, former Iowa collegians or current Iowa residents who have qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials at Atlanta on Feb. 29. The first was former University of Iowa runner Meghan Peyton last week.

Mason Frank is hoping for a better time and health in his second go-around at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

Four years ago, the ADM of Adel graduate strained his MCL in his right knee during a training run just weeks before the race at Los Angeles. Frank tried to bike to keep his fitness. Despite concern about his long-term health and with limited running going into the race, Frank decided to compete in the steamy race. He made it through the halfway mark in a pedestrian 1 hour, 13 minutes before deciding to stop.

Now, the 30-year-old resident of Denver, Colo., is battling another lingering injury that threatens to derail his bid in his second Trials marathon on Feb. 29, 2020 in Atlanta. Frank talks about the injury that ended a stellar 2019 season, his new job working with a fellow Iowa native and why he was back in Iowa for an extended period last summer in a Q&A with me earlier this week.

LB: Hello Mason. The last time we saw you, you were taking Brogan Austin to the wire at the Des Moines Half Marathon in October of 2018. What's different in your life during the past 12-plus months?

MF: Oh God. A lot of changes in the last year. So right now the focus for me is on the Trials. I am hoping to put together a good training cycle and a strong race in Atlanta. I know it's going to be hilly. There's definitely things that have changed personally for me. Now I am no longer teaching.

LB: What happened there?

MF: I have a friend who went to Iowa State, David Sevcik, I was a roommate with him at Iowa State. He was president of the running club when I was there. He started a business out in Denver 3 1/2 years ago. I had been working on and off with him for a couple years. He now owns two food trucks. I have been working with him full time for a few months, helping him grow and expand his small business. In mid-January we hope to have a third food truck on the road.

I manage the employees. I hire, I fire. It's human resources in a nutshell. It's been good. David is a fast runner himself.

LB: He was a Runablaze runner at one time.

MF: Yes. It's been great working with him. He understands my position as a competitive runner. He gets my flexibility. We run once or twice a week. It's been an interesting transition. Teaching full time to a helping a friend build a small business has been interesting. I have loved every minute of it.

LB: Have you missed teaching at all?

MF: There are times where I have missed teaching. Teaching is great, but teaching is not just teaching, but there is so much more beyond it. There's communication with students, communication with parents. The passion and the joy was no longer there. I miss the teaching aspect of it, but not the extra stuff that goes with it.

LB: The politics of it.

MF: Yeah, you could say that.

LB: You had a very adventuresome 2016 Trials race. Looking back at my notes, you injured a knee just a few weeks before the trials. Then you didn't finish the marathon.

MF: I was actually thinking about that before I called you and where we were at a couple years ago. I was running the Frankfurt Marathon in late October. I had been training to run 2:13 or so and I was definitely in shape to run that. When I ran the Des Moines Half Marathon (in 2018), the day after I injured my right glute. It took me 3-4 months to recover from. I have been dealing with it from a chronic thing for a couple months. That flared up in Frankfurt a couple months ago. Hit me at about mile 14. My knees have been fine. I have been working with a guy who is a sports chiropractor who has kept me very, very healthy. I have to make sure I constantly do exercises for my glute.

LB: Who is your coach/chiropractor?

MF: Andy Strachan. He's actually moving out to the East Coast. He's not coaching me currently. He was coaching me from April until the end of November. He's more focused on his business and moving his family out to the East Coast. I'm kind of on my own for coaching. He was a great coach and provided me a lot of insight. A lot of his training for me was based on what Tom (Schwartz) was giving to Brogan (Austin). It was good. Andy was a great guy. I wish he could continue to coach me, but I respect that as a person.

LB: How much better percentage-wise is the glute now?

MF: I am able to run as much as I want. The issue arises when I'm driving a lot. Working in a food truck doesn't help that necessarily. I am focused more on strength and exercises for it. I'm not back at 100 percent training right now. I would love to run 100-mile, 110-mile weeks right now. It's not in the cards right now. I was at 80 miles last week for the first time.

LB: So you are getting there.

MF: It's a process. I am focused right now on staying healthy.

LB: So you're in one of these food trucks working for about eight hours a day.

MF: I kind of write my own schedule. I only schedule myself in for the lunch shift. I only work in the trucks for 6-7 hours a day, except for festivals on the weekends.

I definitely cook the food, depending on who I work with. I definitely do that (cook), but not to the extent of 40 hours a week. I love doing what I'm doing. I get asked that all the time, "When are you going to get a real job?"

LB: Do you live on your own?

MF: I bought and own a two-bedroom condo here in Denver. In a suburb of Denver.

LB: Living at altitude is helping to keep you out there.

MF: It does. I love being able to live and train at altitude. It definitely doesn't hurt.

LB: I see you qualified with a 2:17:39 at California International Marathon in December of 2017. Anything stand out about that race?

MF: Going into that race, I didn't think I was in shape to run that time. I was thinking about dropping out of that race and running at Houston six weeks later. My mom, my aunt were both there. It was cool to share that experience with them. As you are probably aware, there is a lot of hype about the Nike shoes that are out in there in the market. I take pride in the race that I was wearing Brooks Hyperion shoes. I was wearing 5k racing flats. Everything came together.

Going into the Frankfurt Marathon, I was probably in the best shape of my life. I broke 30 in the 10k in Minnesota. I won the 10k at state championships on the road. I had PRs in the 5k, 10k, 10 miles. Every PR out there I set. My glute didn't hold up in the marathon. I have to have it hold up and race with it the whole time. 

LB: Is the 2018 Des Moines Half Marathon the last time you were back in Iowa?

MF: It's actually been awhile since I've been in Iowa. I was back in Cedar Falls back in June to finish up my masters. I finished that in the June-July time frame. 

LB: What is your masters in?

MF: Technically, it's in secondary mathematics education. At some point I would like to use my masters degree in a real-world setting. But I'm OK with that.

LB: Any other groups that you train with? 

MF: Not right now. I live in a very interesting spot. I am about 50 miles north of Colorado Springs. I am about 50 miles away from Boulder. I am kind of in the middle of two hot spots for distance running. Most of the people who I want to train with are either sponsored athletes or have part-time jobs. I have kind of accepted the fact that most of my training is by myself or with a friend who is biking with me.

LB: I assume one of the groups is Tinman.

MF: Yeah. Andy is good friends with many of the Tin Man guys. I never met up with them to train. 

LB: So do you have any expectations for February?

MF: At this point, no. I would love to say I want to finish in the top 10, top 20. I just want to get to the race healthy and race competitively and run as fast as I can in late February. If that's a 2:13, that's great. If it's a 2:22, that's OK too.

LB: That should be a point of pride for you to run in a second straight Trials marathon. Do you have any racing goals past February?

MF: I don't have anything on the agenda right now. Just staying healthy, getting faster. I am 30 years old right now. Just long-term health and how many years I have to get faster. It's definitely a different line of thought. 

LB: That 2:13 is out there somewhere.

MF: I know when I am in shape I am fast enough to run that time.

LB: Anybody coming out for the Trials to watch you run?

MF: Essentially my whole family will be out there. My mother and father, my brothers, a couple aunts and uncles. We will have an Airbnb booked. It will be like a family reunion. That family time is really valuable. 

LB: Will we see you back in Iowa for a race?

MF: I would love to come back to Iowa for the Des Moines Half Marathon. I love that race, it's a fast course.

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