Hassan Mead is a Bigger Badass Than You

[Caano Geel]

2007-06-12 20:50:40, source, The angry T

 

I don’t care if you are the guy from “Over the Top” that chugs motor oil before a match, Hassan Mead is tougher than you. I don’t care if you are Chong Li from Blood Sport, Hassan Mead is tougher than you. I don’t care if you are Malibu, Hassan Mead is tougher than you.

 

Hassan Mead is the best high school distance runner in the state of Minnesota. Hassan Mead won the Roy Griak Invitational with a time of 15:48 for 3.1 miles. This is impressive, because he ran pretty fast, but it is more impressive because he could not eat or drink before or after the race. (Hassan finished 4th at the High School national championships, also impressive) Mead is a Muslim, and it was the Holy Month of Ramadan. This means that Hassan did not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset for 30 straight days. Have you ever run three miles in under 16 minutes, and if so, have you done so on an empty stomach and not ingested water following the race? I bet you haven’t, and that makes you less tough than Hassan Mead.

 

This dude would run up to 15 miles a day and around 70 miles a week without eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset. I won’t finish typing this article without slamming a bear claw and a milkshake, so I am pretty damn impressed with this kid. If we ever except to beat those pesky Kenyans in the distance events in the Olympics, we need more people to convert to Islam, or at least celebrate Ramadan. Apparently you have to be very hungry to run fast. If that Sally Struthers is successful, America's Muslim runners may win every track and field medal in 2012.

[Caano Geel]

The Badass in reference

 

Run for glory

Somalia native shows dedication to faith and speed

Posted: Tuesday June 12, 2007 12:39PM; Updated: Tuesday June 12, 2007 5:25PM

By Christopher Parish, Special to SI.com, source

 

[-- EDIT CG the ultimate statement --]

"It's kind of hard to run when you can't drink water." -- Hassan Mead

 

Hassan Mead has not allowed his fasting to slow him down in his quest to become a successful high school runner.

 

Minneapolis South senior Hassan Mead crossed the finish line at the 2006 Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 23 with a pained expression on his face. He had just won the prestigious cross country race and his whole body was burning after navigating the grueling course in 15 minutes, 48.15 seconds.

 

It wasn't the first race Mead won in the Gopher State, and it wouldn't be the last. But that day marked another significant occasion for Mead, a Muslim from Somalia who since arriving in Minnesota as a junior has become one of the best long-distance runners in the U.S.

 

It was the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, a holiday in which Muslims fast between sunrise and sundown. For the next 30 days, the talented runner trained and competed on a near empty stomach. He ran as many as 15 miles per day, not to mention dozens of hill repeats. He also won the Swain Invitational on Oct. 7. And through it all, nobody could tell what Mead was going through. "There were days when the training was hard," he says. "We had to do repeat hills, but my stomach was empty. That's when I had to have the mindset to mentally push myself."

 

Mead came to the United States with his family in 2000. After living in California for a few years, he moved to Washington for a year to live with his uncle while the rest of his family went to Minnesota.

 

After finishing 10th in the Washington Class 4A cross country state meet as a junior, Mead transferred to Minneapolis South in time for the 2006 track season and finished sixth in the 1,600 meters and fourth in the 3,200 at the Class AA state meet. Then during last fall's cross-country season, Mead won the Class AA state title with a meet-record time of 15:10.7. He also won the Foot Locker Midwest Regional and finished fourth at the Foot Locker National Championships.

 

Mead's initial success stemmed from natural talent. By his own admission, he didn't take the sport too seriously until recently and instead focused on his other love -- basketball. During the offseason, Mead would hit the hardwood instead of the roads. But in the midst of Mead's first track season at South, coaches Mark Gross and Melvin Alvarez started to notice what a talented runner they had. So they encouraged Mead to train, which he did. "People told me that if I run fast I could get into college for free," Mead says. "So I trained like I had never trained before."

 

Mead entered his senior cross-country season in the best shape of his life, but his coaches made sure not to get too far ahead of themselves. Meet by meet, Mead ran through some of the best competition in the state and region before finally taking his success to a national level. "We really just took it one step at a time," says Gross, who like Alvarez also coaches the cross-country team. "Then he just shattered everybody. By the state meet we knew he was going to win that title. We took him to the Midwest Regional, where he destroyed the field again. Then we just looked at each other and said, 'I guess we've got to go for a national title.'"

 

Mead finished fourth at the National Championships with a time of 15:28, eight seconds behind the winner. With such success, it's no surprise top colleges showed interest before Mead ultimately decided on the University of Minnesota. The accolades Mead received following his performance in the fall were a big honor, but the work is far from finished.

 

"There's part of me that feels like I'm not there yet," he says. "I'm still hungry to run more and improve more."

 

Mead has made it no secret that he wants to win an NCAA cross-country championship. Gross, for one, thinks he can do that -- and more.

 

"I see him as an NCAA cross country-champion," the coach says. "In track, I don't know. With him, it could be anything. But I do see him in the Olympics, and he will represent the USA. But first thing's first."

 

That first thing for Mead is finishing his high school career on a high note. Not only does Mead have his sights set on breaking the 9-minute barrier in the 3,200, but he's also shooting for the state record of 8:56.4. With several formidable competitors in the area, he has plenty of people to push him. Mead is also gunning for a state title in the 1,600 and hopes to finish in less than 4:10.

 

Coach Alvarez has seen runners come and go. He's coached hard workers and state champions, but he has never seen anyone quite like Mead.

 

"At the beginning, we didn't really know what kind of talent we had," Alvarez says. "We kept training with him, and we kept looking at each other like, 'Man, we really have something here.'"

 

Besides the training and races, the hill repeats and intervals, and the 15-mile workouts and 70-mile weeks, Mead is a normal kid. He still enjoys basketball, though he now watches rather than plays. He also loves spending time with friends, and his teammates love him -- they nicknamed him "State" after he won the state cross-country title. Even his opponents have enjoyed his polite, good-natured attitude. After Mead finishes his career at South, he'll likely fit in nicely as a Golden Gopher. Of course, he'll certainly be missed.

 

"We both had a lot of fun coaching him," Alvarez says. "It's too bad it's coming to an end."

[Ibtisam]

we need more people to convert to Islam, or at least celebrate Ramadan. Apparently you have to be very hungry to run fast. If that Sally Struthers is successful, America's Muslim runners may win every track and field medal in 2012.

 

Maskeen. That is hard! Mashallah, hope he goes far.

[N.O.R.F]

Ma reer Ceerigaabo baa?

[Caano Geel]

no, he's badass

[Zafir]

^

[Baluug]

Reer badass!!

 

No, I didn't say badacas, I said BADASS!!!

[Caano Geel]

^ amen, i hear ya brother