A Kodiak runner is one step – make that five kilometers – away from the Olympic Games in London this summer. Trevor Dunbar, a three-time All-American sophomore at the University of Oregon took third in his 5-K heat at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials last night in Eugene.
His time of 13-minutes 49.19-seconds was good for third in the first of two qualifying races. He was 11th overall after the his qualifier and will run in the 5,000 meter finals on Thursday night. It will air live on NBC Sports Channel at 6:30 Alaska time.
Dunbar was next to last for much of the race, but moved up to third in the second half before fading to sixth as the pace picked up. But going into the home stretch, Dunbar turned on the afterburners and finished third, just 2-seconds off the winning time. The top six runners from each heat, plus the next four fastest times qualified to run in the final.
Until Saturday afternoon, Dunbar wasn’t even assured of a place in the race. He qualified 25^th out of 25, and could have been bumped if a faster runner had decided to run in the 5-K. Five kilometers is just over 3-miles.
Jay Barrett is the news director at KMXT in Kodiak.
