At the first major meet of the year, the Hershey XC Invite, Ben Furcht set the tone for the season with a 
course record time of 16:09. The time would wind up being the fastest time of the year at the Hershey layout once Jimmy Tarsnane finished his state title winning tour in 16:10. Ben's teammate, fellow senior Neal Berman, would finish 4th in an impressive time of 16:35. Through the season this would be a familiar theme, Ben first, Neal close behind. But Coach Megan Capewell downplays the competition. Under her tutelage the guys were dubbed 'Burcht', which is a combination of their last names. Ben and Neal bought into the team theory wholeheartedly, feeling the joys and sorrows of each others performances as their own. This bond has developed over their years on the team, however, it formed into a deep friendship forged of sacrifice during the season of 2008.
Ben Furcht winning the Oct 3 Paul Short Run
Next up, the flat layout at Lehigh for the Paul Short run. True to form, Ben emerged victorious with a time of 15:19. Neal was right behind in 3rd place with a time of 15:34. Early on in his running career Ben spent his time thinking strategy during his races, plotting his best way to a great performance. Neal could not have been more the opposite, running as hard as he could for as long as he could, balls to the wall as they say.
But something happened in all of those miles run together, all those intervals pushed round the track.
The personalities of the two runners rubbed off on each other.
Ben began to put himself out there in races, mixing some risk in with his strategic racing strategy, and the result was a runner who knew how to win, and took the risks to get there. Neal began to strategize, picking his moments, making sure that when he made a surge he could hold on. Despite the different personalities and different philosophies, these two runners learned from each other in a quest to realize the dream of running in a national championship.
Neal Berman finishing 4th in the the Sept 20 PIAA Inaugural Invitational at Hershey
And on the season marched with an all-out assault on the Rose Tree Park layout at the Central League Championships. Ben and Neal ran stride for stride, mile for mile, with Neal the victor in 15:27.63. Ben was a half-stride back in a time of 15:27.99. The times were the first under 15:30 on the well-travelled layout, besting the course record of 15:32 set by Cardinal O'Hara's Steve Hallinan in 2003. The intention, as Ben tells it, was to finish together in a tie, but finish timers and media folk demand a winner, and as such, Neal took the honor of a course record and League Champion.
The stage was set for a state championship run, but would it be Ben or would it be Neal?
A return to Lehigh for the District 1 Championships proved that the Lower Merion machine was still humming along. Ben won the district title with a blistering time of 15:08, while Neal finished 3rd in 15:25. All looked well for states.
Berman and Furcht go 1-3 at Paul Short - here at two miles with
eventual state champ Jimmy Tarsnane between them... and
eventual NXN individual qualifer Brad Miles on the left.
Ben and Neal began the state race the way they always do, running up in the front pack. By 1.5 miles the two were in the top-5 and looked strong. But cross country is as fickle as golf, at times reducing the best to mere mortals. Neal faded to 22nd with a time of 16:49, 14 seconds slower than his time from nearly 2 months prior. Ben looked spent while climbing the final hill to an 11th place time of 16:38, 29 seconds slower than his Hershey Invite time, and found himself in the hospital for his efforts.
Surely, as Ben and Neal envisioned their state meets, this was not what they had in mind, but there was always a plan to run at Footlocker so some major regrouping was in order. The first 24 hours after states were tough, but Ben and Neal were able to refocus their thoughts toward preparing for the Northeast Regional.
Berman and Furcht tried to tie at Central Leagues, but Berman got the
nod and the course record. (Photo by Ryan Comstock)
Coach Capewell credits Ben and Neal for refocusing themselves after their races at states. Indeed, a runner's internal thoughts are all their own, but a good coach can sharpen the point of this desire. Ben described a hard workout two weeks prior to Footlockers in which the two ran a mile workout with a hard first mile to simulate getting out hard in the race. Getting athletes to buy into your program is challenging enough. Getting them to believe in your program after a devastating race is another animal altogether. Ben's thoughts on how to recover in time for Footlocker, "Pretty much what I do is listen to my coach".
Sounds like these guys had faith in the program.
As the pack of hopefuls entered the woods after a slightly revised Van Cortlandt start because of construction, Ben and Neal had positioned themselves at the front of the pack, poised to race their way to San Diego together. By the 2 mile point Ben was in 4th position and Neal was in 9th, 1.1 miles from sunny California. As they exited the woods, with 600 meters to go Ben was in 6th position and Neal was in 9th, with a chase pack breathing down their necks.
The finishing straight at Van Cortlandt can be a grueling stretch of cinder. This reality was all too true for Ben and Neal.
Furcht and Berman were in the top 10 at the top of Freshman Hill.
Ben found himself in 10th place, running with all the energy he had left to hold his spot. "I wasn't really sure whether this was going to be a repeat (of states) or if I could pull myself together for this". Ben pulled it together, and qualified with the final spot in a time of 15:53.50, though at the time he wasn't sure. "A few people passed me...as I crossed the line I thought I heard someone say 'that's 10', but I wasn't sure if that was me or the person in front of me who was 10, so I wasn't really sure until they kinda led me into that tent."
Neal was one spot back, finishing 11th in 15:59.80. Neal said he was disappointed but didn't leave anything out there. He would have had to run down a teammate and friend to claim his Nationals berth, though the thought of beating Ben never crossed his mind. Coach Capewell related that Neal told her post-race that if he had only stayed closer to Ben that they could have passed people together. It's hard to explain a friendship any better than that.
Coach Capewell was proud of both of her seniors, but was heartbroken for Neal's bittersweet finish. She reminded him that he ran a great race, put forth a great effort, and she was impressed with his race.
Ben echoed his coaches sentiments, "he's been right there all season. It's (running with Neal) almost the entire reason (I qualified). Great guy, great runner, I wish he was coming".