I just finished the 2019 AAU decathlon this weekend! I started doing the decathlon last year and made it to nationals but decided not to go and to try and get better so I could come back this year. For those of you who don’t know what Decathalon is it is a two-day-long track event that is pretty intense.
First Day
- 100m dash
- Long jump
- Shot put
- High jump
- 400m dash
Second Day
- 110m hurdles
- Discus throw
- Pole vault
- Javelin throw
- 1500m run
Multievent athletes first have to compete in a regional meet and then if they place top four they get to go the national meet. My regional meet is in Mirimar, Florida and what I have found is that no one else is crazy enough to do Decathalon in Florida. I was the only one who competed in the decathlon at my regional meet.
The national meet was in Greensborough North Carolina and we decided to fly there. The problem with flying though is the fact that we couldnt fly my pole vault pole up with me. So we got there a day early and headed to a local pole vault club and rented a pole. It’s funny though because the pole that I got was sooooo much nicer than the one I usually use (it was carbon fiber). The next day we checked in and as you can see I showed up to check-in looking like a surfer as always and got my number.
To get ready for the grueling two days that is a decathlon I decided to do an ice bath the night before. We may or may not have emptied out the ice machine in our hotel’s hallway.
The first event of day one was the 100m dash. I was running in lane eight, placed first in my heat, and placed ninth overall out of 42 athletes.
The second even of day one was long jump. This is probably my least favorite event because I hadn’t practiced at all. My running form was completely off during this event and I placed 36th with 4.8m. Hardly a PR but I wasn’t expecting much out of this event.
The third event of day one was shotput. This is one of the events that I was supposed to do alright in, based on my standings coming in. I placed 10th with 10.10m thrown. This was pretty close to my pr so I was really happy.
The fourth event of day one was high jump which I also hadn’t trained for at all. I placed 30th with 1.45m or about 4ft and 9in.
The fifth event of day one was the 400m dash. I placed 21st with 57.13s. This was a two-second pr so I was super happy about this event. This event didn’t start until around 6pm and keep in mind we started the day off at 7am. So 11 hours later everyone was pretty tired and we all put everything we had into that last event.
After the event was over I got thrown in the back of the rental car along with 5 bags of ice. I downed a chipotle burrito and two Gatorades in ten minutes. Then I passed out at 9pm to get ready to do that whole thing again.
Every decathlete either calls themselves a day one athlete or a day two athlete. Day one athletes are usually jumpers and sprinters and day two athletes are usually throwers and distance runners. Personally, I am a day two athlete because it has my best events (except for the mile).
The first event of day two was 110 hurdles. I hadn’t trained for hurdles either and still need to work on getting my steps right. Either way, I had to complete the event and tried to do so without embarrassing myself. I finished 36th with a time of 21.24s.
The second event of day two was the discus throw. This is one of my best events so I was hoping to score a lot of points. I finished 7th with a distance of 31.08m.
The third event of day two was pole vault. One of the funniest things I learned at decathlon was the lack of pole vault skill. Only me along with about 5 other kids actually looked like we had pole vaulted before. This event was really hard for me because I was coming in with shin splints. I woke up at the start of day two with shin splints and after running hurdles they were so bad I could barely walk. During warm ups I was trying to talk myself out of scratching the event because I needed some points. I caught some luck when we had a break and I was able to wrap it and put as much painkilling cream on as I could. When I got up it felt so much better. I ended up going all the way from eight feet to almost 11 and placed 8th. I was jumping for almost three hours so pole vault really took a lot out of me.
The fourth and it turns out my best event of day two was javelin. I hadn’t really practiced that much for javelin but I have a really good arm so I like this event. I was going for 40m but came just short with 38.96m but I placed 4th overall. As you can see in the video I didn’t run very far before I threw unlike the rest of the athletes who started farther back, yet I was still able to launch it. I can’t wait until next year after I get some more training and practice, I’ll be back for first. I am even thinking about trying to make it to states for javelin for our school.
The fifth and final event was the 1500m run. Let me just say I have never really been a uhh distance runner. I placed 40th (dead last) with a time of 6:29.54. I wasn’t really expecting much more even though I did run a 6 minute at the regional meet. I had shin splints while running it and had a hip injury coming into the meet so never had a chance to run a mile. The only thing I can do now is plan on getting faster and training harder.
Overall decathlon was an amazing experience and was a lot of fun. I ended 26th overall with 4106 points. I met some amazing athletes who I will hopefully see again next year. This year I didn’t really start early enough but I am planning on training for track year-round now so I can come back next year and win, or at least get the All American title which is top eight.
Devin Willis 