Summer of Speed: Sara Bea Myre
Sara Bea Myre leads Emily Gokita at the 2025 Rose City Mile. Photo by Ryo Gokita.
Fourteen Rose City athletes competed in the third Portland Track Summer Series meet this week. We’re sharing their stories. Today, Sara Bea Myre reflects on her experience doubling in the 1500 m and 400 m as she gears up for the Crazy Mountain 100 mile later this month.
I was not feeling particularly prepared to run hard on Thursday. Preceding the meet I had (yet another) terribly stressful day at work. My legs felt stiff and dead. Furthermore, it was also not the right time of the month. By midday I was wondering where my energy would come from for the race. I had signed up for the 1500 and the 400. I was fairly certain I would cut out the shorter event.
However, I also knew that everything would be less stressful once I was running. I wanted to see friends and unwind. I have a big race coming up at the end of the month and I get race anxiety. I know the more start lines I make it to, the less pre-race anxiety I experience. Racing frequently demystifies competition for me.
For the 1500, I realized that my seed time was squarely between two heats. I was really happy that other teammates persuaded me towards choosing the faster heat. In my heart I knew I wanted to chase. The gun went off and I predictably fell in towards the back. I tried my hardest to not let the gap widen, but I probably finished that heat dead last. My actual pace that day was much slower than what I seeded myself as. However, I really did appreciate being dragged along in circles. It felt cathartic to do the best that I could do on that specific day. And, like most times I race, it was so fun that I decided to do it again. The 400 felt similar–hard and not exactly on target–but I was very proud to come out and race. Hearing teammates and friends cheer my name made me feel strong. It really made an otherwise bad day a lot better.
Also I invited my sister and it was really cool to have her watch the meet! She really liked the steeplechase.