Summer of 2023 marks the first Track & Field event organized by Prehab NYC. Held at the East River Track on E. 6th Street, all events were open to the public and included official timers from USATF. It was a great opportunity for teams to come together and compete in a supportive and fun environment. Prehab awarded medals to all gold, silver and bronze winners. Stay tuned for more events next year!
Below are a few interviews with the winners. Prehab loves to foster a community for runners and athletes that want to excel at their performance and prevent injury. We have educational workshops, community runs and events and webinars. See below to sign up for our newsletter and get notified of all or our events!
Interview with Kaela Swift: Best Performing Female Athlete
Kaela Swift won the Best Performing Female at the recent SpikeUpNYC Track Event sponsored by Prehab. We caught up with her after her win to ask a few questions:
Q: Tell us about yourself.
A: Hello, my name is Kaela and I’m a 16 year old student athlete and runner who lives in Brooklyn, NY. I like to write, run, hangout with my friends, and go shopping. I am currently looking forward to starting my senior year of high school and going to college next year!
Q: Why and when did you start running?
A: I started running when I was 7 years old. I started running because my older cousin, Leilani, ran (and still runs) and she was the first person in my family who competed in track and field on a national level, and she inspired me to do the same.
Q: What are your short and long-term running goals?
A: My short term goal is to place at my state track and field meet and new balance nationals. I also want to get some decent prs to get some decent scholarship money for college. My long-term running goals are to end up running on a collegiate level, running at the olympics and worlds, and be able to sustain a comfortable life with my track sponsorship money.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve received as a runner?
A: The best advice I received as a runner has been to stop blaming myself for things I can’t control, like my injuries and placements. The other advice I have received is also to not compare my growth to others.
Q: Describe your training.
A: I train 5 days a week from Monday-Friday. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are weight and technique days while Tuesday and Thursday are my running days.
Q: What’s the worst advice you’ve received as a runner?
A: Anybody telling me that I can’t do something or I need to limit myself to be a certain type of runner.
Q: What is the source of inspiration? Who are your role models?
A: My role models in my direct life are my parents and friends. Some track and field role models are Allyson Felix, Gabby Thomas, Tee Tee Terry, Sifan Hassan, Faith Kipyegon, Masai Russell, Rai Benjamin, Athing Mu, and many more.
Q: What are your biggest challenges for improving performance?
A: My physical and mental weaknesses are my biggest challenges for improving my running, and the only way my running is improved is when I constantly challenge myself to improve my weaknesses.
Q: If you could change something in the past about your running journey, what would you change?
A: I wouldn’t change anything really, all parts of my running journey have been apart of my journey for a reason.
Q: Have you ever been injured? Tell us about it. What do you do for injury prevention going forward?
A: I have had really crippling hamstring injuries, specifically one that kept me unable to run for most of this year. For injury prevention now I focus on getting my hamstring looser and stronger.
Q: Tell us about your coach.
A: I have two main coaches right now, my highschool and club coaches.
Coach Ellis: He is my high school coach who is very knowledgeable and is overall a very chill coach. He specializes in throws and field events and he is dedicated to getting me and my team to track meets and practice despite the many obstacles.
Coach Taylor: He is my club coach who I have been training with since I was 9 years old. He is incredibly competitive and wants us to be the best athletes we can be. He also runs with us at practice, even if the workout is an intense one.
Q: What’s your favorite music and what do you like to watch?
A: I like to listen to r&b and pop music. Basically Sza, Steve Lacy, Tyler the Creator, and J.Cole. I like to watch comedy movies, animated movies and shows, and some horror movies.
Q: Is there anything else you want our readers to know about you?
A: I just wish for your success and happiness in your life, and never limit yourself regardless of what you want to do.
Interview with Ger’shom Adolph: Winner in 400M
My full name is Ger’shom Adolph and I’m from Trinidad & Tobago. In Prehab’s SpikeUp NYC Track Event on July 9th, I placed 1st in the 400 & 2nd in my 200m heat.
My Start to Running
I’m 19 born in south Trinidad, and in my high school days I found myself doing track and field, started running (400 & 800) then went down to (400 & 200) and the more I practiced, the more I found a love for the sport of running.
My Goals and Beliefs
My long term goals, I want to be able to break and set national records. And my short term goals are to run good times to get into good schools and follow the dream.
I am most grateful for life, and how far I’ve come from as a person doing track, and thankful for the support and the experiences I have gained in life. I trust in God and believe in myself and I know I will be great.
My Interests
My favorite running brands are Nike & Adidas, because of their Gear like spikes and clothes and bags. My favorite music: I listen to a lot of dancehall and more conscious dancehall as well, reggae and Afro music , and some hip hop/rap.
Advice
My advice to runners is, stay consistent and stay humble, keep focused and focus on yourself. Stretching and recovery are important for injury prevention. I have not had any injuries. I try to get at least six hours of sleep, try to eat two meals or more per day, drink a lot of water, eat fruit and try to develop a strong mindset.
My greatest challenge is my mind, staying focused and staying positive. All I can really say is, I love track and I am determined to do great things: LIke I said at the start: Running is in my blood.
Interview with Riley Griffith: Winner 800M
Hi. My name is Riley Griffith and I won the 800M race at Prehab’s Inaugural Track Event called SpikeUpNYC! The team at Prehab reached out to me and asked me to write about myself and my running journey to help inspire other runners. Here you go!
I am a student (class of 2024) at Saint Anthony’s High School on Long Island. I am primarily a 1500 and 800M runner. I am the 2023 CHSAA 1500 Outdoor State Champion as well as a member of the 4×8 that also won! I started running my freshman year of high school. I joined cross country and track as a way to be involved in school and make friends.
My short-term goals are to hopefully run a sub 5 minute mile by the end of my senior year and to continue to PR in my 800 as well and help my school’s relays to be as fast as they can be. My long-term goals are to continue my love for running and keep progressing beyond high school.
BEST ADVICE
The best advice I’ve ever received as a runner is to accept the pain as a temporary feeling and that if you give it your all, the amount of pain will be worth it. Another piece of advice I received that I feel is important is to always stay positive and look for the good. It can be so hard when you’re going through a time where you’re not running the way you want to, but if you look for three positive things in everything you do, you will learn from your mistakes and learn from the challenges. When you look at things from a negative perspective, you will never learn the things you need to in order to succeed, instead you will continue to take yourself down instead of build yourself up.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
My training is definitely a challenge and of a high caliber but extremely rewarding.
WORST ADVICE
The worst piece of advice I’ve received is being told by others that it would be impossible to accomplish some of my goals. I do not believe in putting ceilings on people’s potential and I believe that I have proved those who have tried to put a ceiling on me wrong by working hard and believing in myself. I think it is very important for everyone to have goals, no matter how outrageous they may seem since anything is possible in this sport as long as you give your all.
MY INSPIRATION
My coach Olicia Williams is my source of inspiration in running. Her dedication to me and my teammates as well as her love for the sport itself inspires me every day. She is a great role model and is an amazing coach that I have learned so much from.
WISH I COULD CHANGE
I would have liked to change the fact that I ended my sophomore year with a stress fracture, taking away nationals and states after I had qualified for both with my team. While it was super upsetting and discouraging, I think it taught me things that have helped me grow as a runner.
PAST INJURIES
I had a stress fracture my sophomore year and while it was very upsetting, I am lucky it happened my sophomore year opposed to this year. I believe that this injury made me a lot tougher and hungrier than I was before it and taught me to never take the time you have for granted, since the next race or practice is never guaranteed. After my stress fracture I have been on top of my recovery with stretching, rolling, ice baths, warm baths, cryotherapy, sleeping and nutrition and I believe all of these things along with giving your all in training is crucial to success as a runner.
MY HERO
My coach, Olicia Williams, is an amazingly accomplished runner, an olympic trialist and in my opinion one of the best coaches out there. She is amazingly dedicated to me and my teammates and has brought me to where I am today. After one year of training under her, I have dropped 2 minutes on my 5k, 20 seconds on my 1500, 4 seconds on my 800 and have set 3 school records. She understands how important the little things are in the sport inorder to achieve the big goals and is there for me every step of the way. She has taught me so much and is an amazingly dedicated coach. My head coach Olivier St.Aude is also amazing and is always pushing everyone to be their best and he builds champions! I am so extremely grateful to have them as my coaches and I cannot wait to see what else I can do under their guidance!
MUSIC & SHOWS
I really like country music, specifically Morgan Wallen, but for running my teammates and I love music from the 2010s, we really feel like it gets us hyped up and positive. My favorite show is The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Interview with Michael Politi: Winner 400M
Q: Tell us about yourself.
A: My name is Michael Politi, I’m 21 years old and I’m extremely ambitious, and I love to work hard. I get very bored when I’m not being productive and because of that I spend most of my time working between two jobs, training, and building businesses. I was an All-American track runner in high school and broke records in my hometown. I took 3 years off from running after high school, and I am currently making a comeback into the track space.
Q: Why and when did you start running?
A: I was always the fastest kid around growing up so running track was an obvious choice for me to make. I ran for my elementary school team, but that wasn’t anything too serious. I started taking track seriously in eight grade.
Q: What are your short and long-term running goals?
A: I kind of already achieved my short term goal, which was finally training and competing in the 400 after 3 years off. However, another small goal I have is to increase my endurance a bit to become a more complete 400 meter runner. A long term goal of mine is to run 45 seconds or better in the 400 meter dash.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve received as a runner?
A: The best advice I’ve received as a runner was learning to control my ambition/competitiveness and be patient. I always tried extremely hard and sometimes too hard, and as a result, I would run slower than I should’ve because I would exert all of my energy and not have anything left in the tank. Learning to be patient and be in control of energy tremendously improved my running career and allowed me to reach incredible heights.
Q: Describe your training.
A: My training is very intense. I do a lot of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts, along with short sprints and longer lactate inducing sprint workouts. The short sprints help with pure speed, the longer sprints help with managing the 400. I love HIIT because it provides me with strength and endurance simultaneously. It is also extremely hard. I love the harder workouts and voluntarily put myself through them. Also, HIIT workouts are generally time efficient, so it fits in perfectly with my busy schedule without sacrificing the benefit of a good workout. The return on investment is amazing with HIIT.
Q: What’s the worst advice you’ve received as a runner?
A: I really don’t remember what my worst piece of advice was. Whenever someone gives me bad advice, I do a good job of forgetting about it real quick.
Q: What is the source of inspiration? Who are your role models?
A: I am somebody who is easily motivated. I draw inspiration from a lot of different sources, including fictional characters. My biggest sources of inspiration at the moment are Puss in Boots and Klaus Mikaelson from the Originals Tv show. Puss is inspirational because he’s a fearless cat who always beats opponents that are way bigger than him. Klaus is inspirational because he is an insanely relentless person that will stop at nothing to get what he wants. I relate to both of these characters. I try to carry myself like them and think about what they would do in certain situations.
Q: What are your biggest challenges for improving performance?
A: The biggest challenge for improving performance is simply the amount of time I have to train. I decided to start running track again after I created an extremely jam packed schedule for myself. That forced me to squeeze in workouts in any available slot that I had, which was few and far between. This isn’t ideal for getting faster or better. But I play with the cards I am dealt and never make any excuses.
Q: If you could change something in the past about your running journey, what would you change?
A: I wouldn’t change anything about my running journey. Everything that has ever happened to me has led me to be the person/runner that I am today, and I wouldn’t want to change who I am now. Q: Have you ever been injured? Tell us about it. What do you do for injury prevention going forward?A: Yes. Too many to count. But the two major ones I experienced running track were a stress fracture in my shin, and chronic back pain for about two years. The stress fracture was a result of constant running on concrete despite the early signs of pain. I didn’t listen to my body and I paid the price. I still don’t know what the root cause of my back pain was. I think it was because of my poor posture while running, but those pains cease to exist now.As far as injury prevention goes, I am obsessed with recovery. I do a lot of stretching, and I focus on getting the most optimal sleep possible. I also do saunas from time to time, which help my body a lot. Q: Tell us about your coach.A: My coach is one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. I can’t even put into words his passion for the sport. He is a holistic coach. He teaches about the mind, body and spirit. I try to soak in everything he says like a sponge because he is filled with knowledge, wisdom and life. The lessons he has taught me translate to my life outside of sports and has allowed me to be great in many different avenues. I am forever indebted to him and I am very loyal to him. When I was making my big comeback, there was only one person I asked for help- it was him and he was very excited to help me.
Q: What’s your favorite music and what do you like to watch?
A: I like most genres of music so I find myself listening to a lot of different things. I like to watch whatever my girlfriend asks me to watch together, which ends up being some of the best and most hooking content I’ve ever watched. I am currently obsessed with The Originals.
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