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Decathlon athletes push physical endurance to limit

May 19, 2015

Tim Ehrhardt couldn’t believe what he had done. Throughout the course of the first two days of the 2015 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Ehrhardt had taken second in the men’s decathlon with a total of 7,349 points, enough to qualify for nationals. 

And as he stepped up to receive his second place award it appeared he was still in a bit of a haze, as a misstep onto the podium almost caused him to fall off. 

Even more incredible for Ehrhardt, it was his first time competing in the event. Heading into the last event of the day, Ehrhardt needed to clock at least a 4:45 in the 1,500 meter run to punch a ticket to nationals. So when he crossed the finish line in 4:42.52, Ehrhardt threw his arms up in triumph. 

“That was the main thing coming in here,” Ehrhardt said. “I crossed the finish line (in the 1,500) and I was ecstatic. This is the first decathlon I’ve ever done. In terms of being even a decent score, I’m happy. To have gotten second at Big Tens, it’s huge.” 

A decathlon is a grueling two-day event in which athletes compete in a total of 10 events — the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters on the first day; the 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500 meter on the second day.

In some cases, just as it was for Ehrhardt and freshman teammate Justin Pederson at the Big Ten Championships, athletes spend all day in competition. What started on Friday with the 100 meters at noon, continued through day one with the 400 meters at 6:30 p.m. and then into day two with the 110-meter hurdles at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, before the events finally came to a close at 6 p.m. on Saturday with the 1,500 meter run. 

When it was all said and done, Ehrhardt and Pederson had actively competed for a total of 15 hours, making it very clear that those who participate need to be well-rounded and stellar athletes. 

“Usually what you’re doing, you’re recruiting athletes who do just individual events or, ideally, a combination of a few events on the track,” said MSU decathlon coach Ceith Creekmur, who competed in the event when he was at college in Miami, Ohio. “When they get to the collegiate level, you convert them to the decathlon.” 

And for Pederson, that was exactly the case. In high school, Pederson competed in the 100-meter dash, long jump, high jump and 4x200 relay, and remembers reading an email from Coach Creekmur during his junior year, asking if he wanted to compete in the decathlon in college. 

“He saw some of my videos and saw potential,” Pederson said. “I wasn’t even planning on going to do a sport in college at all. I was kind of planning on coming to (MSU) for school anyways, so it’s kind of a bonus.” 

For Ehrhardt, he said deciding to compete in the decathlon was more of a mistake than anything. 

“I came here to do pole vault,” Ehrhardt said. “In high school, all I really did was pole vault and I was messing around a couple of the other events at practice and turns out I was pretty decent at them ... my coach was like ‘Hey, you want to start training for the heptathlon/decathlon?’ and (I) was like ‘Yeah, I’ll definitely try it.’” 

While spectators see the effort athletes put in on competition day, Ehrhardt said it’s important to realize there are countless hours of training spent beyond that, all in an effort to be competitive in each and every individual event. At times, Ehrhardt also said it can be difficult to find a balance when training for all the events, as it can sometimes take an entire month to get just one of the 10 events down. 

“You always wish you had more time,” Ehrhardt said. “Like going into this meet, I wished I had more time to practice a couple of events like hurdles and high jump. It’s just you want more time ... to train for those events. It’s not really training (that’s the hardest part of a decathlon) because I love training for them.” 

But despite all the training and competing it takes, Ehrhardt said he has a blast with all his fellow decathletes, whether it be the countless hours he spends practicing with Pederson and sophomore Demarcus Leak  , or the days spent competing with athletes from other schools. 

“You get to know decathletes very well,” Ehrhardt said. “Even these guys out here right now (at Big Tens). I didn’t know (them) before. Spending six hours a day with them, you get to know them real well.” 

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