Never tell Olin Hacker the odds.
The NAZ Elite athlete recently overcame a setback on the way to claiming his first-ever national title, winning the USATF Road 5K Championships in Indianapolis on Saturday, May 3. Leading up the race, he had been dealing with a lingering calf strain.听
According to NAZ Elite head coach Jack Mullaney, Hacker was feeling the calf issue when running at the USATF Men鈥檚 1 Mile Championship on April 22. He ended up seventh at that race. On the Tuesday before the 5K title race, Hacker had to drop out of his workout because his calf was acting up. So, Mullaney said, Hacker cross-trained the next day, arrived in Indianapolis for the title race Thursday and saw a specialist in the city for his calf on Friday.
鈥淗e was able to do some strides and said, 鈥楢ll right, let鈥檚 go.鈥� And the next day he went out and won the race," Mullaney said.听
Hacker also got a chance to kiss the bricks at The Brickyard, home of the Indy 500.
Running a 4.21 pace per mile on the downtown course, Hacker crossed the finish line in 13:31.93, claiming the $7,000 prize for the winner. He outlasted Casey Clinger, as well as teammate Ahmed Muhumed, who placed third in 13:36.88 -- and also kissed the bricks.
His coach was impressed -- yet hardly surprised -- that Hacker got his first national gold medal while on the road dealing with an angry calf.听
鈥淲hat I told him after the race was, I said, 鈥楳an, there were 100 different ways you could have handled the last two weeks, and 99 of those would have led to you not running this race or dropping out and doing something less of what you just did, but you chose a path of action and optimism, and it led to a title," Mullaney said.听
For the most part, Hacker runs track for NAZ Elite. But his innate skills for navigating races makes him a threat on any surface.听
鈥淚 trust his instincts during a race, and I think that played a role in him being able to win," Mullaney said.
The coach added: 鈥淚 think we鈥檒l see him win another national title on a different surface at some point of his career."
The title victory was another show of growth for Hacker, who joined NAZ Elite out of college in the summer of 2022 while the team was trying to beef up its presence on the track. His tactics, which continue to show improvement, helped him get through the May 3 race.听
Though Mullaney said he is more impressed with Hacker's ability to keep control over his emotions consistently while facing setbacks.听
鈥淚 think a lot of people would have counted themselves out if they were in his shoes, and he never did, and that鈥檚 just a testament to who he is as a person," Mullaney said. "Not sure if you would call it growth or that he鈥檚 just a special athlete that way.鈥�