Looking Back On A Middle Distance Star

Back in the winter of 2013, Erik Sowinski, then a post-collegiate middle-distance athlete, was working at Running Wild – an Iowa athletic store – with the hopes of gaining a lane that would allow him to compete in the 600-meter dash in the upcoming Millrose Games. An 11th hour phone call gave Sowinski that open lane, and the mid-westerner was off to the Big Apple. “I remember I like worked out really hard on Wednesday afternoon and I finished the workout and went to my phone and had a voicemail from Ray Flynn, the Millrose Meet Director,” revealed Sowinski. “I had intended on racing that weekend. The next couple of days, we just kind of adjusted a few things. I'd never been to New York City, but it was fun. A couple of the guys I was working with at the store were able at the last minute to make the trip with me. So I think having some familiar faces there made it a lot more comfortable.”

“Erik Sowinski just steps away from victory at New York’s Dr. Sanders Invitational”

The media buzz surrounding the men’s 600 meters event focused on an anticipated showdown between Duane Solomon and Nick Symmonds and the possibility that a new 600-meter American indoor record would be set. And, indeed, a new 600m American indoor record was set. But the new mark was not notched by Solomon or Symmonds. It was set by Sowinski who uncorked a perfectly-timed burst off the final turn to cross the line first in 1:15.61 – a new American indoor record. “I've always raced like I've got nothing to lose, gave myself a chance to win every single race I'm in. And I just took that same mentality into that race. And it ended up paying off,” explains Sowinski. About his Millrose record: “I wasn't expecting to break the record or be in an expected battle between Solomon and Symmons who were Olympians the year prior. But honestly, that's the spot that catapulted me in my track and field career for sure. It just opened a lot of doors for me and just let me be very confident that I could be successful.”

That unexpected victory was a pivotal turning point for Sowinski who, three weeks later, would go on to win the 800 meter title at the USA indoor - a gold medal performance he would duplicate at the USA indoor the following year. Aided by his storybook wins in the spring of 2013, Sowinski went on to represent the USA winning bronze in the IAAF indoor 800m championship race and ultimately signing with Nike just two months later.

Erik’s story is an interesting one, filled with twists and turns along the way and the tweaks and adjustments he thoughtfully made to stay on course. Raised in Wisconsin, Sowinski was a formidable prep middle-distance athlete winning the 800m at the 2008 Wisconsin state meet. Prior to his Millrose breakthrough, Sowinski continued to bloom at the University of Iowa where he was a 5-time collegiate All American, set the Iowa university 800m record at 1:45.90, and was the 2012 NCAA Div. I Outdoor silver medalist at 800m.

As Sowinski’s confidence grew, he explored different racing opportunities. In 2015 and 2017 Sowinski teamed up with Americans Cas Loxom, Solomon, and Robby Andrews to capture gold in the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas. “That was a great event, probably one of my favorites that they used to put on.,” recalls Sowinski. “I think a big thing for that was like they used to want to see athletes who were showing pretty good form, late indoor season, early outdoor season, to make sure that it was a competitive team. I think the most fun thing for me there was teaming up with guys that you're usually racing against,” notes Sowinski. “Wearing the USA jersey is an awesome experience. And those are a lot of guys who I'm still really close with, guys that were on those relay teams.” Erik remembers those events well “In the first year the lineup was me, Cas Loxsom, Duane Solomon and Robby Andrews, winning the 4x800m relay in 7:04.84 That's a pretty imposing team there. I think we only missed the world record at that point by a little over a second. In 2017 we came back again with the team of me, Clayton Murphy, Cas, and Brandon Kidder (7:13.16). I still keep in touch with all those guys pretty frequently.

It should be clear that Erik’s real love is the 800 meters. “It's a lot of accepting that it is going to hurt. The 800 never is a comfortable race,” states Sowinski who is very candid about his race philosophy. “You're pushing yourself to your limit every single time you're out there, which is why I enjoy the event so much. We just kind of always adopted the mentality since I was a freshman at Iowa that I was going to get out hard every single race and put myself in the mix and give myself a chance to win,” he reveals. “And I knew that I wasn't going win every race, but I knew I would leave no stone unturned. Every time I was out there it was to at least give myself a chance. So that's why you usually saw me out in the front. I was just laying it on the line and seeing what happens. And I think that's why it's such an exciting event for me because I was comfortable being up front kind of controlling it. And there's also some uncertainty there, which is kind of fun.”

Sowinski’s longevity in the sport was aided in no small measure by his willingness to be alert and to adapt to new and emerging situations. “I think that word adaptable that you use is kind of something that I've always prided myself on. I’m not afraid to race anyone or race anywhere. I think that's come a lot from having a good communication with my coach who was also a former pro who used to race a lot. Sometimes you need to just realize that sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone a bit to find those best competitive opportunities, to create the best schedule for yourself, to be successful throughout the year and throughout an extended period of time.”

But Erik knew that on occasion success in track & field requires adaptability and resilience. “Track and field can present a lot of uncertainty. You never know what the weather is going to be and how you’re going to deal with it. With a lot of travel issues, you're going to be flying into Europe a day or two before a race and dealing with jet lag when you're facing guys that live over there. And you have to deal with those circumstances, be adaptable and just control what you can control. That approach is kind of something that I just always adopted throughout my career. And I think that's really led me to being so consistent, realizing that, hey, there's going to be stuff that happens. But if I control what I control then at the end of the day like I’m going to be successful for sure.”

Erik’s willingness to race anyone, any place, any time required a lot of travel for him. “I don't have a number of how many flights I’ve had. But, man, I have over a million and a half frequent flyer miles that I haven't used at all on United. It's kind of my premiere partner that I fly with,” smiles Erik. “I don't know exactly like the number of overall flights I’ve had. But I know at the end of last year I was on 80 flights plus for sure.”

Eric’s adaptable love affair with track & field has directed him to yet another facet of the sport: pacing. It began in 2019 when Erik set the early tempo on a carefully-staged and successful assault on the men’s indoor mile record for Yomif Kejelcha. “That was the first kind of pacing job I ever did,” Erik recalls. “Some of the guys at Nike reached out. It was like the week after USA indoors, they were trying to find someone to do it. I was asked to do it as a favor. Obviously, it took them up on that awesome opportunity. But that was kind of a one off.” But it resulted in Kejelcha clocking 3:47.01 for a new indoor world record mile that still stands today. That initial pacing chore resulted in other opportunities that emerged in 2021: Gateshead 1500m; Another 1500m in Doha – races that went well with Erik setting the tempo and ultimately earning a number of pacing opportunities on the Diamond League circuit, including Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s 1500m world indoor record of 3:30.60. Sowinski’s rise has prompted track & field commentator Paul Swangard to tag Erik as the “Go to Guy” for carefully-cadenced races.

With his visibility in conducting precise race tempo, Sowinski occasionally finds himself as a player in the pacing dispute. Many are at odds with changes on how distance races are conducted. One school of thought seeks the pure approach: no pacing; athletes should run their own races; no outside assistance by pacers or – heaven forbid – any sort of Wavelight prompting that delivers to the competitors constant timing of pre-race tempo determined by consensus. Others embrace the new trend toward more comprehensive timing via pacing and track curb illumination, noting that pre-determined attempts to assault records ensure potential record-breaking excitement, increase new records, and often draw new fans to the sport.

Erik Sowinski, who has given this issue much thought, has a hybrid approach. “I respect differing approaches for sure,” says Sowinski. “At the end of the day, championship races are always going to be championship races. They are not going to have someone hasten out in front that's designated to be there. But I think you also must look at the fact that we do have standards to get to all these events, right? Like there's a standard to get to the Olympic Trials. There's a standard you have to hit to run at the Olympics, and those are getting faster and faster every single year.”

Erik focuses on the Pacing / Standard dilemma. “I don't know how many races you see during the year that aren't paced that hit an Olympic standard. But I would bet I could probably count those races on one hand - if it's not zero. So I think that if we want to get rid of pacing, if you want every race to be true championship style, I think that there needs to be an adjustment on how you qualify for these big events. The 2024 Olympic qualifying standard for the men’s 800m was 1:44.70. I don't know if you base it off a pure ranking system? But then obviously you're going have it skewed towards certain countries. Do you somehow give each country a certain amount of entrance based on certain metrics?

Erik Sowinski is aware that there is a legion of track & field fans who really appreciate his willingness to explore various facets of the sport we all love. “I appreciate that. And I hope that likewise, everyone knows that, man, I couldn't have done it with without that kind of support. You don't get through a decade plus in the sport without having a lot of people behind you. And that's always a big driving force. I'm enjoying what I do. For me it’s just, hey, leaving it out there every single day." / Dave Hunter /