University of Minnesota Athletics
Q&A with Minnesota Legend Roy Griak
9/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Gophersports: Heading into the 24th Annual Roy Griak Invitational, do you still think it is cool to have one of the nation's biggest meets run with your name on it?
Roy Griak: I don't know if I've really thought about that very much. It's nice to be remembered, I guess, for all my years of service at the University here, and that's one way of doing it, so I'm all for it. It doesn't really make any difference. A cross country meet is a cross country meet; they're all beautiful.
GS: How much are you involved in the Griak Invitational each year?
RG: As much as I want to be. I spent the whole day today (Thursday) out on the course. I was out there yesterday. I'll be out there all day tomorrow. I'll be out there all day Saturday, so I'm pretty involved. Today we put up all the K markers and other indicators, and the other day we put up signs and trimmed trees and marked the course: the grunt work. I'm always involved in the grunt work.
GS: Did you ever think the Griak Invitational would grow like it has: into a meet with 10 races and a whole day of competition?
RG: No, when Gary [Wilson] and I first started the competition we didn't think it'd be that big, with 100 high school teams, men and women, and Division I, II, and III schools. There are a lot of athletes involved, and it's a lot of detail work. Jo Rider, well without Jo I don't think it would every go off, because she does all the typing, everything that has to be mailed out. Jo's been working eight hours a day for weeks, so my hat is off to her, and off to Gary and Steve Plasencia for organizing the competition. It's work with a lot of people involved.
GS: Do you have a favorite aspect of the Griak Invitational?
RG: No, I think from where it started and where it ended up, with the color and everything it's more like a happening than a competition. I think that's what I remember most.
GS: There are races from small high school to small college to NCAA Division I and even a Goldy's Kids' Run this year. Is there a race that is your favorite to watch?
RG: Well of course Division I men's is my favorite to watch. But it's fun to watch the high school kids too. Sometimes the high school kids, especially the young ladies in the competition in high school, some of them are such poor runners, but they try so hard. It's gratifying to see that no matter how she runs, or he runs, they're still out there trying real hard, which you can't get young people to do sometimes. To have a young boy or a young lady get out there and struggle through a 5K race in high school, that's a lot of work, and they can be blocks behind, yet they're still out there chugging along. It warms my heart to see them do that, really. I kind of stick up more for those people than the ones that are winning the dog-gone thing. It takes a lot off gumption to do that.
GS: Other than the sheer size of the Griak field, what are some of the biggest changes in the meet over the years?
RG: I think the color and the fanfare. When we started it was just some maroon and gold paint, and now we've got flags all over, we've got the jumbo-tron. It's almost like a happening. It's not an ordinary cross country meet.
GS: What does it mean to you to see some of your former athletes, now coaches, such as our Honorary High School Referee Don Timm, bring their teams back to the Griak each year?
RG: It's fun to see that, because I've had children of people that I had in school come back and run, and to see some of the people that I had as athletes develop young runners and bring them to this competition is rather gratifying. I know they're going to do a good job. Steve Plasencia was one of my athletes, and he's back coaching here at the University. Donny Timm, who I think the world of, Chris Harter from Rosevelt, they do a fantastic job with their teams. Donny's team won sections last year. He's got a group of very, very talented young runners. He treats those little girls like queens; he's so good and kind to them and tries to take care of every one of their little whims that they have, and they have plenty of them. He's a wonderful coach and a great human being. And of course he still holds our varsity record in the steeplechase, and it's about 35 years old. So he was one fantastic athlete.
GS: When people talk about the Gopher legend that is Roy Griak, how does that make you feel?
RG: Well, I don't consider myself a legend. I've been around here long enough, I guess they had to give me some kind of a moniker, but I don't consider myself as a legend, period. I'm just a guy doing my job, that's all.