When sophomore distance runner Graham Belton wakes up on the morning of a meet, his schedule seems to be not much different than that of someone with an 8 a.m. class. Roll out of bed pretty early in the morning, take the longest shower that is humanly possible and then grab a bite to eat. This may sound like an ordinary day to most people, but Graham insists that it is definitely anything but ordinary. How he mentally prepares for his races that day all starts with the shower. "I don't care where I am, or what time I get up, I am going to take as long as I want," he said. "Sometimes I have angry roommates that bang on the door of the bathroom, but I need that long shower."
Once Graham is overly squeaky-clean and at the track meet, it's relaxation time until about an hour before the race. At this point, he gathers a few things (including his lucky socks that he has worn every race since the ninth grade), takes a walk somewhat far away from the hustle and bustle and takes some time to be alone. "Don't put that in the article!" he said with a laugh. "People might get the wrong idea!"
On the outside, Graham is a regular sophomore at Hopkins. As an Atlanta, Ga. native, he's majoring in chemical engineering. Graham is clearly a bright student, motivated and hard-working. But on the inside, he's a tough competitor. On Feb. 8, during the Valentine Invitational held at Boston University, Graham ran a 4:20.94 in the mile and finished 65th. He qualified for ECAC's and broke the Hopkins record in the process, an accomplishment that has earned him the News-Letter Athlete of the Week spotlight.
Graham was very gracious and excited for the recognition. I caught up with him during a phone interview, where he gave me an extensive insider's look into his competitive life as well as his more personal side. He's a hockey fan when watching sports on television, and he takes inspiration from Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, who has broken 25 world records and is widely known as one of the best distance runners of all time. But what does he find so great about running long distances?
"The best thing about long-distance running is being able to just take off in any direction with a couple friends, enjoying each other's company and catching up," he said. "It's an awesome way to spend your time."
When Graham isn't taking off in all directions with friends in his lucky socks, he can be found studying, which is definitely consistent with the tradition of being a Hopkins engineer. He says that his favorite food is fresh fruit of any kind, specifically watermelon, and if he could have any super power, he'd love to be able to fly. But why fly when you can run like the wind?
If he isn't forced to have to get his meals at one of the fine dining establishments here at Hopkins, Graham says that he would love to invite Alexander the Great, Gebrselassie and Jude Law to dinner. It's pretty obvious about the first two mentioned, but Jude Law is quite the outlier. "A lot of people that I meet tell me that I look like Jude Law," he said, with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "I'd just like to see if that was true or not."
Intelligence, athleticism, good looks. Is there anything missing in Graham's life? Besides his hidden ability to speak French, not much. "One of my favorite classes that I have ever taken at Hopkins was a scientific French class," he said. "Engineering got a bit easier after that, because we learned about the roots of the terms we were trying to apply mathematically. I guess some of my friends don't really know that my hidden talent is that I can speak the language pretty well." C'est bien!
Graham and the track team are heading up to New York, N.Y. on Friday for the Lafayette Rider Games, and he is pretty excited. However, the one question looming on everyone's mind was one that had to be asked: boxers or briefs? "Briefs," he said, without any kind of hesitation. "Always briefs!"
There is one thing that is not going to be "brief" about Graham: his athletic career. It seems as though he is definitely going to be the go-to guy for Hopkins long-distance running for quite a while. Let's just hope his socks are clean and his bathroom is unoccupied every morning.
