College Athlete of the Week: Western Washington’s Dak Riek

Published 6:51 pm Thursday, November 24, 2011

Year, school: Sophomore, Western Washington University

Sport: Cross country

Hometown: Everett (Mariner High School)

What he did: Led WWU to 10th-place finish in the NCAA Division II nationals with a team-best time of 32:37.5 in the 10-kilometer event in Spokane. Riek finished 50th overall, despite running with bronchitis.

What’s next: After leading the Vikings to their fourth consecutive top-10 finish at nationals, Riek is finished for the season and will get some much-needed rest for the holidays.

The two-minute drill

Let’s start with the NCAA race over the weekend. It looked like the North Pole out there. Have you ever raced in snow like that?

(Laughs) No. This is the first time I’ve raced in snow. It was really sharp. It was pretty fun. It was difficult, but I liked it. The tougher it is, the more I like it.

And you went sleeveless. Are you into pain or something?

Yeah, I’m one of those kinds of people. When it’s tough, I enjoy it. I like the pain. It hurt, but I know it hurts for everyone. From the top runner to the last person, nothing changes. It’s going to hurt, so why not let it hurt more? Just keep pushing — that’s the only way to get it done. The only way to get through the cold is to get done faster.

You were also running with bronchitis, which doesn’t sound too fun. How did that affect you in the race?

I had a tough time breathing. My legs and my body, and my ego, wanted to go. I want to fight. I want to be an All-American, so I wanted to go. The school nurse said I shouldn’t run this weekend: ‘It would be best for you not to run. You need to heal, and you need to breathe.’ The week before nationals, I couldn’t even do a mile because it was too hard to breathe. Then on Thursday, before we left, the nurse recommended it wouldn’t be good to go. ‘You should just stay home, rest, and drink a lot of water.’ But this is a team sport, my team needs me, so I had to go. When the gun went off, right away I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. I’ve never had bronchitis before, so it kind of held me back when the gun went off. I wasn’t confident how the bronchitis might act in cold weather. But I wanted to be an All-American, in the top 40. The first mile wasn’t my best; I wasn’t in the top 100. After that, I kept pushing it, and I kept moving up, moving up, until I made top 50. Yeah, it was hard to breathe. Anytime I wanted to speed up, it choked me. It was a tough time, but I kept pushing. I just kept going. At the end, one of the coaches had to put a blanket around me, and they had to put an oxygen inhaler on my mouth so I could breathe. I wouldn’t recommend to another person running with bronchitis. It was pretty scary.

OK, since it’s Thanksgiving, we’ve got to ask what you’re thankful for.

I thank God for being alive — growing up in a country (Sudan) with civil war, and then coming to a country where I have the life I have. Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for that and maybe eat some food and gain weight. As a runner, you’re always hungry. When we’re given an opportunity to fill our stomachs, we do it.

Your journey from Sudan has been well-chronicled, including a 2005 story in The Everett Herald. How often do you think about how far you’ve come?

I grew up in a country without a lot opportunity, where the only thing they know is fighting a war. In this country, there’s a lot of opportunity. You want to be successful, where in the country where I grew up, I didn’t have that opportunity. So sometimes I just look back and say thank you. I’m going after a college degree, and to even have a high school degree, where the only thing I used to worry about was whether I was going to be alive tomorrow. I’m grateful to be alive and have this life when there are others out there struggling. Maybe I might not get whatever I want, but every single day that goes by, I should thank God I’m alive. I wake up and say: ‘Thank you, God, I’m alive.’ I have nothing to be depressed about.

When you’re running a race, is your mother still with you in spirit?

I’m not thinking too much about her. I get emotional a lot, which I don’t want to do. If it’s Thanksgiving or Mother’s Day, I try to avoid it. It’s haunting me sometimes. I get emotional on Mother’s Day. I just try to be happy. There are moments, like nationals, when you need someone to talk to, to say: ‘Guess what — I made it to nationals.’ So I miss her a lot. But I try not to think about that and try not to get too emotional. I try to stay tough. Life moves on. The way I look at it, her spirit is watching me. It’s like she’s saying: ‘You’re doing good, just keep it up.’ Wherever she is, I’m sure she’s happy with where I am.

Would you ever want to go back to Sudan to visit?

Oh, yeah. Probably in the next year, maybe in the summertime.

What would be like there? Would you be in any danger?

I ask myself the same question: what would it be like? For 12 years now, I’ve never been back there. It’s probably different. Now, it’s two countries, not one country. North Sudan got independence from South Sudan. On July 9. I’m from South Sudan. The war has kind of stopped a little bit. It’s still going on in the North, but not in South Sudan. There’s no bombing anymore. I want to see what it’s like going back, to see my sister and a couple relatives I grew up with. It would probably be a happy time.

How old is your sister? And when is the last time you saw her?

She’s probably 19 now, actually 20. And 1999 was the last time I saw her. And my dad too.

On a lighter note, Friday is the first official shopping day for Christmas. So what’s at the top of your list?

Something came to my mind here at school today, but now I can’t think of it. I’ll say I’d like to have … not a car, because a car costs a lot of money — but my car broke down. Running shoes would be great, but that’s not the big thing I wanted. The pair I have, they’re running out already. As a runner, you need shoes every three months. I go through shoes really quick.

May we suggest a shirt with sleeves?

Oh, yeah. That would do it to. Something warm for next time I’m at nationals. That would be great. Maybe something to cover my mouth so the snow wouldn’t go in my mouth.