Fall City’s Alex Duffy draws notice at national cross country championships

Published 5:24 pm Tuesday, March 9, 2010

A local teen recently made waves on the national youth cross country scene, braving the elements to take home a strong finish at the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships.

Fall City resident Alex Duffy, a junior who runs for Seattle’s O’Dea High School, finished 16th in the event, held Dec. 12 in Reno, Nev. He ran in cold and snowy conditions and clocked a time of 16:48, a little under a minute behind the race winner.

“It was a blast,” Duffy said. “ Every year it’s been getting better.”

“I was incredibly proud of him,” added his mother, Andrea Duffy. “To do it without his coach, Andy Slatt at O’Dea — they have a close bond — was a big step.”

Running for the Issaquah Gilders club team, Duffy was the team’s highest place finisher. He’s a recent arrival to the Gliders, joining the team following high school cross country finals this year.

Gliders coach Joanne Hartman asked him to consider an extended season following his state championship showing, where Duffy finished 25th among 3A boys with a time of 16:26.

When Duffy got to the start line at Reno, he was ready.

“I was kind of nervous about how I was going to attack the race, but I called my coach (Slatt) because he’s been around the block and knows all this stuff. I asked him, ‘How should I go out and run this race?’ He said, ‘Don’t think about it as anything else, you’ve ran this kind of race before.’”

This is Duffy’s second year of competitive running.

“When Alex went to O’Dea, he decided to try everything brand new in his freshman year,” Andrea Duffy said. Duffy explored football and swimming, and was encouraged to try running by coaches at the school following that year because he was fast on his feet.

“Just go out and try it,” Duffy tells would-be distance runners.

“I was a soccer player,” he added. “I decided to go try it because my mom was really good at it and I had a good coach who was willing to help me out with it.”

Training is intense: Duffy trains around Fall City at several spots, including Mitchell Hill and Snoqualmie Falls.

“That really gets you going,” he said of the routine. “It’s a hard workout.”

As a runner for O’Dea, Duffy competes against runners from Metro League schools and does not compete against Mount Si racers until the district meet. He had kind words for fellow Valley competitors.

“I’ve heard they’re pretty good,” Duffy said. “I’m looking forward to running against them in invitationals.”