Pandemic Papers: An interview with Doug Ainscow (Class of 2014)

Oh man, this one is fun! Doug Ainscow sets the unofficial record (and who, really, is keeping score at home, other than me?) for “quickest reply with answers for the Pandemic Papers” – one day! I sent the questions to him on Sunday afternoon, he replied by Monday evening. Neat. Doug and I have a lot in common. We both love the same music – we’ve gone to a few Gov’t Mule shows together, and hopefully will again in the future (and maybe Marcus King Band and Tedeschi Trucks Band too?). We both have an almost obsessive affinity for taking splits at track meets (especially at BU indoors, hopefully that tradition will resume in 2022?). We both, apparently, love Subarus (he’s RACING a Subaru now, which I find hilarious, because of all my Subaru vehicles through the years, “powerful” and “fast” are never the two adjectives that come to mind). Oh yeah. He was a runner on my team for four years, graduating in 2014. There’s that too!

Alert blog followers with long memories may recall that just a few weeks before graduating from Marist, Doug ran the first known marathon on the recently completed Dutchess Rail Trail, out and back from his off-campus house in the Fairview section of Poughkeepsie. Really fast, too! As I said in that long-ago post, it remains one of the fondest highlights of my long coaching career. He did it to do it and it stands as a singular achievement for which he can remain very proud. His post-collegiate running career has never taken off, but he’s always got that marathon – an absolutely brilliant idea of cashing in the chips of his phenomenal fitness from all those years of grinding out long runs, workouts, races, etc. Why the hell did it take so long for me to think of Doug Ainscow for the Pandemic Papers? Sometimes, the obvious ones just don’t come to mind as quickly. Thanks, Doug, for doing it, and hopefully we’ll be at a show together at some point in 2021.  

 

Take us back to the beginning of your athletic life. What other sports did you play (if any)? When, where and why did you start running, and when did it become your primary sport? 

Baseball was my primary sport growing up. I was a pretty good third baseman (the hot corner) and developed into a decent pitcher as well. The summer before eighth grade, my mother convinced me to run cross country. She stated that I had a few friends on the team, it would put me in good shape for spring baseball, but mostly I think she wanted to keep me out of the house for a few extra hours after school. If memory serves me correct my best two-mile time was around 14 minutes. I took the winter off and proceeded to play baseball in the spring. The following summer, I decided I would try out for the high school cross country team. They required you to run a 22-minute 5K in order to make the team, therefore I knew I would need to do some training leading up to tryouts. My plan was to run cross country in the fall and continue with baseball in the spring but when I made the team and ended up running a 17:45 5K by the end of the season I knew that I needed to reconsider my plans. I ran my first track season that winter and the success continued. Right from the start indoor track had an energy unlike any athletic event I had experienced in the past. It was at this point that I knew that baseball was in the rearview mirror.

 

What high school did you attend and what were some of your high school career highlights? 

I attended Pinkerton Academy in Derry NH, a semi-private school where it was a public school for four towns (Derry and three surrounding towns) but students outside of this area could attend by paying tuition. I always joked that with a school of this size (3,200 students) it was never difficult to find seven that could run a fast 5K. We always had successful cross country teams. Some highlights include a third-place finish at the New England Championships in 2009, several second-place finishes at state championships, and being nationally ranked in 2009. Some personal achievements came in 2009 indoor track (4:19 1500 meter) and 2009 outdoor track (9:55 3200 meter). 

 

Why did you consider Marist and how was the recruiting process? I honestly don't remember (sorry).  

I was looking for a smaller school (but not smaller than my high school!) that was not too far from home while still being able to experience an area of the country that I was not familiar with. A high school teammate, Craig McMahon, recommended I check out Marist as he had visited and met with you a few years prior. The recruiting process was quick and easy. I spent a day and a half with Joel Moss in the middle of February learning about the school and spending time with the team. It was a far better visit than I had with a few other schools in that I felt I fit in better with the team and it was exactly what I was looking for in regards to the academic programs that were offered.  

 

What was your major at Marist and how has it prepared you for your post-graduate career path? 

I majored in Business Administration with a focus in Human Resources. In every business class I took at Marist there was a group project/presentation as a part of the curriculum. At the time, I did not really enjoy these projects as I always had been an independent person, but it has proved to be one of the integral parts of my college education. The jobs that I have had after graduating require that I work as a part of a team and communicate well with those I am working with. I have been working for Enterprise Rent-a-Car for about four years and am currently running one of the company's service centers in Portland, Maine. We have six automotive technicians and communication and working as a team has proven to be essential in the success of the operation. It certainly is not quite like the business suit/board room presentations at Marist, but I prefer it this way. I've always pictured myself working in more of a blue-collar setting.  

 

You and I share similar music tastes and have attended a few Gov't Mule concerts together. That's pretty neat! What's it like going to music concerts with Old Men (me, your father, etc.). What have been some of your favorite acts and what bands are you looking forward to seeing when the pandemic passes and live music will hopefully return?

Given my taste in music (classic rock, jam rock, blues rock) old men are pretty much the only ones who will actually enjoy the music with me! I've attempted bringing other friends with me to Mule shows. I certainly enjoy myself but I can never tell if my guests do.  In addition to Gov't Mule, two bands that I have seen in the last five years or so (about half a dozen times each) that really stand out are Tedeschi Trucks Band and Blue Oyster Cult. Tedeschi Trucks Band live is unbelievable ... a 12-piece freight train that hits harder than any act I have ever seen. Blue Oyster Cult has been the biggest surprise. I used to remember them as that band that played Godzilla but they are so much more than that. They have such a unique sound and can really get jamming on a few of their lesser-known tunes. Some musicians I'd like to see once we can again: Marcus Kind Band. He is so good, so young, and has a lot of great music still left in him. I also would like to put an effort into seeing some older bands/artists while I still can. They're not getting any younger, after all. I realized I needed to pursue this when I saw Buddy Guy a few years back. Some that come to mind: The Eagles, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Savoy Brown.  

 

What were some of your favorite classes, professors and memories (academic) of your time at Marist? 

My favorite classes and the ones that I enjoyed the most ended up being core classes that had nothing to do with my major. A few come to mind: Environmental science, various psychology classes, U.S. History post WWII, and of course Track and Field Coaching. I remember I wrote a paper on race walking and you loved it! My business classes were very valuable and involved, but the core classes I remember enjoying the most.  

 

Let's talk running. What are some of your fondest memories of your four years as a Running Red Fox? 

Looking back some of the most fun and most memorable moments were not on the track or the cross-country course, but from training and taking splits during the indoor and outdoor seasons. I used to love taking the semi-annual trip to Boston and recording splits all day. As mentioned earlier, indoor track has an intensity unlike any other in the running world. It is crazy to think about how many people were allowed to pack into the track and tennis center at BU in this time of social distancing ... but at the time it fueled an energy that was contagious. I am thankful that I live not too far from Boston and have been able to experience it in recent years (and even take some splits). Hopefully a year from now we all can enjoy it again.  

As said above, training and workouts are almost more memorable to me than races. There is something special about putting together a workout, running it to execution, but not overdoing it. Training takes discipline. It can be tough to resist the Delafield kick sometimes. I always tried to finish a workout feeling that I could complete at least one more interval if necessary. I remember there being some issues on the team with guys turning workouts into races and trying to prove themselves at practice. It was hard to resist at times but I always got such a great satisfaction out of running a workout to perfection. A few workouts that come to mind that I enjoyed: Short rest intervals at Vassar Track (8x1000 1 min rest, 6x1600 90 sec rest), fartleks on the rail trail, and my favorite: Farm Lane intervals. Despite not having a track on campus, there were some amazing venues we were able to utilize in the Hudson Valley.  

 

Two random memories I have (and they are really random): 1. Your using a rolling pin for muscle soreness (a cheap version of "The Stick"?). 2. Your rail trail marathon during senior week, a precursor to other races that would happen on the rail trail. Care to elaborate on either (especially #2!)? 

I remember keeping the rolling pin in the side pocket of my backpack. The top third of it would stick out the top and I would get some odd looks from people around campus. I convinced myself at the time that it was better than "the stick" but I doubt that was true. It did the job at the time and it was effective, especially for a college students' budget.

 

The marathon was something I had thought about doing for about nine months prior to it happening and up until mile two or three it was supposed to be just an easy run, simply to run 26.2 miles just for the sake of doing it. To get my mind and my legs used to the distance prior to competitive marathon running (which never happened, unfortunately). I remember thinking that if I broke three hours I would be thrilled. Around mile two or three I realized I was running way too fast. At that point I decided that if I was going to run a full marathon, I may as well give it everything. I remember hitting the turnaround on the rail trail at 13.1 miles and was so nervous that I was going too fast and I'd end up having to walk back, or the fact that I had no water. This was an out and back after all ... no way to cut the route short if something went wrong. But I didn't want to slow down as I felt so good. Passing 18 miles was a little surreal as that was the farthest run I had ever done leading up to this marathon and at that time I was clipping off six-minute miles. There were only three turns I had to make during the whole run. The last turn, turning onto Fairview, I almost fell down I was so exhausted. I obviously was very happy with the time, but I didn't want to overthink it. It didn't really mean anything after all. No medals at the finish line. So, I proceeded to drink a tall chocolate milk, take a shower, and head to class for the day.  

 

How has the pandemic affected your professional and personal life? And where do you see it going in the coming weeks and months?

At the end of March 2020 I was furloughed from work. At the time, I was unsure if I would end up going back to Enterprise so I started looking for other jobs and was making sure to look in industries that were recession proof. Fortunately, I got a call in April that I would be returning and ended up going back in June, but this ended up being the longest time off I've had since the summer before senior year of college. Upon return to work, the pandemic has definitely changed the way we do business and make decisions. Enterprise is a business that relies largely on leisure and business travel, which is almost non-existent right now. The line of business that I work in (vehicle repair) has had to make some adjustments in the way that our technicians stay busy and the extent to which we repair and maintain cars. 

 

I am fortunate that none of my direct family or close friends have been infected with the virus. I think the worst is behind us in regards to infection/death rate. However, being the realist that I am, I am afraid this is something that is going to be sticking around for a long time. I am no scientist, but I just don't see the vaccine getting out to enough people in a reasonable amount of time for it to go away soon. I certainly hope I am wrong, but I see it being here for the foreseeable future. That being said, I know we are all able to adapt to changes. We have in the last year and will need to continue to do so.  

 

I'm sure you remember fondly your final few months of college. What can you say to our older athletes (class of 2020 and class of 2021) on what they have lost so far (and hopefully not much more) in terms of practice and competition?

I remember heading into my final season realizing that this was it. Something that I had been doing for almost a decade prior, running for a school team, was about to come to an end. I remember focusing on every workout, every long run, every race that last season and cherishing it. I feel so badly for all who have missed out on this and think about how bummed I would have been if this pandemic happened when I was a senior. For those that did miss out, if you continue to have that running passion in you look at the end of your college career as the end of the chapter, not the end of the book. There are plenty of opportunities after college to continue to train and be competitive.  
 

If you could go back in time, what would you tell the 18-year-old version of yourself as he was about to head off to Marist College?

Don't feel obligated to keep and maintain a career in what you major in. 18 years old is very young. I look at 18-year-olds now and realize how young they are. I didn't feel this young at the time. This is too young of an age to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. Don't feel like running has to be a part of your life forever. Training and racing competitively and working a full-time job is very difficult. It is OK to find new hobbies and dedicate your time to other things if you lose your passion for running 

 

Anything else you'd like to ADD ...

Thanks for putting these interviews together, they have been a joy to read and follow! I will include a photo of a different type of racing I have taken up: SCCA Autocross and HPDE track events in my modified, street legal, 6 speed manual 2014 Subaru BRZ!