Not all runners will compete at the national level like Manhattan High cross country coach Kory Cool.

In his 20th marathon, Cool took third nationally at the United States Track & Field 50km (31 miles) competition in Long Island on March 1. Needing a six-minute mile pace, the national race stood as a new challenge to Cool.

“It was on my radar for a while and I wanted to compete with the best in the nation,” Cool said. “I did a lot of marathons last spring. I ran three of them in three weeks. So the recovery time was short on that and I felt that prepared me well going into this.”

In a small park on Long Island, Cool went in expecting a six-minute pace and finishing in the top 10 overall. Starting out the first few miles, he was over a six-minute pace and made it to ninth place up until mile 16. Then he started passing people.

“I got lucky in the sense that a few guys probably went out a lot harder than they should’ve and ended up dying pretty hard,” Cool said. “So I was able to catch them towards the end.”

Competing in 20 local marathons in 15 different states, the feeling of passing world-class competition in his longest race stuck with Cool.

“They’re aggressive,” Cool said. “I think I’m the only guy in the top five that doesn’t have a shoe deal. I’m the only guy in the top five that hasn’t made a world championship team. So it’s kind of nice to beat somebody like that.”

Preparation for the race required more than running 104 miles a week before the race.

“There’s a lot of sacrifice,” Cool said. “I went up there by myself, so I left my family at home. I had to take two days off work and spent a lot of money out of my pocket and I had a lot of people helping in the community too. So it was a big sacrifice and a lot of weight on my shoulders and when I finished, it was all worth it.”

Coming back to Manhattan to coach long distance for track, Cool owes his ability in the race to the cross country team and community that got him there in the first place.

“They actually help me more than they know,” Cool said. “If I wasn’t around them every day, feeding off their motivation and their desire, it’d be a lot harder for me to do this. So I thank them a lot for them helping me.”