Haiti’s Moise Joseph Sets the Pace

Rabbit-leads-new

Keeping up with Joseph.    DPalmer photo.

DOES the pace-setter ever feel tempted to challenge the athletes in a race and keep going beyond his job description? Haiti’s Olympian Moise Joseph is one who knows that feeling well.

“Definitely,” he told the media prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “There were a couple of races last year, I was like: I should’ve just kept going. I’d probably do 52/53 (seconds); I’d probably PR about 5/6 seconds just on the pace I was on.” What Joseph wasn’t sure about was how he’d feel beyond the point of temptation, at about 200m to go.

Joseph got into pace-setting in college where he was recruited to run the 1500m. He recalled that he was asked to do the job once and they continued to count on him because they thought he’d be solid. “The pace they asked for was pretty easy,” he said. “They knew what to expect [from me] and they could focus on their race. That arrangement, Joseph said, panned out well.

Born December 29, 1981, the former Florida University Gator who had an outstanding college career has been the featured rabbit in high-profile meets, setting the pace for world-class 800m athletes. One of his most recent big jobs this year was the June 12 Adidas Grand Prix in New York.

Pace-setting duties aside, Joseph also runs regular races. With personal bests of 1:45.74 for the 800m in 2002 at the NCAAs and 3:45.54 for the 1500m, Joseph has hardly lost a stride over the years. Seven years later, he ran 1:45.87 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin to place 5th in the semis. Prior to that, he competed for Haiti in the 800m at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. More recently, Joseph competed for his country at the July 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico, racing to 800m silver in 1:47.79.

Joseph credits his drive and success to his family, high school teammates, high school coach John A. Rolle and his staff, whom he said believed in his ability and pushed him.

In reflection, Joseph said his entire senior year held some of the best memories of high school athletics. He recalled that in Miami, sprinting events were the races to watch. During his freshman year he would run the 4x800m, mile, or two-mile races and noticed that people would use that time to go to the restroom and or buy food, leaving the stands virtually empty to only a few spectators who cheered.

“I wanted to change that and develop a new euphoria of distance running in Miami,” Joseph recalled. He believed that by doing so he could give people something so special to watch that they’d look forward to and wouldn’t miss. By his senior year, he recalled, before each race that he ran, he noticed the stands in the Traz Powell Stadium were full and nobody was leaving.

Joseph was recorded as saying he was proud of how his success has paved the way for the next generations of middle-distance runners in Florida.

As successful as Joseph is, his emotions are no different from what other competitors feel when it comes to pre-race jitters. He remembers that at the 2004 Olympics, his first international race after college, he was “nervous beyond nervousness” as he warmed up. “I couldn’t think straight,” he told one interviewer. “My palms were sweaty, and when they called us in to head to the stadium, my heart sank. I even accidently tripped over one of the Kenyan athletes as we walked because I was losing it.”

However, when the starter’s gun set them off, a sense of calmness came over Joseph and the realization hit him that he was representing Haiti, not a people but a nation. He was living a dream he had since he was young. And so, his competitive spirit took over; he began to lead the entire race until 100m to go, when several runners passed him. Joseph took that experience as a lesson in tactics.

But the pleasant-natured athlete knows that it’s not just race strategies that breed success. So he has one key advice for high school athletes: Forget about your running times initially and learn to really push yourself in practice and in races. Believe that there’s no limit to what you can do. Pushing yourself beyond limits allows you to do incredible things.

Information compiled from Flotrack.org/videos and Flrunners.com (Related story)

Rabbits Get Big Bucks

FOR some track fans, the pace-setter or rabbit creates confusion. He or she will be clear ahead of the pack, leading onlookers to believe he/she will win, before suddenly exiting the race. Others view the pace-setter as key in achieving fast times and records in 800m and longer races.

According to Chanman’s Blog by Chanman, the head cross country and track & field coach at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in San Francisco, “Pace setting, while not super glamorous, does not go uncompensated. At major US meets, pace setters are paid about $300 with another $100-$200 in bonus money if a certain time is achieved (for example $100 for a sub-four mile and another $100 for a meet record).”

The pay is higher at the big meets in Europe, Chanman further explains. There, it is said to be the equivalent of what the third-place runner might earn, which can range from $4,000 to $8,000 to set the pace and leave the race.