This Fall sees the return of 'The Exchange Zone,' with athletes talking to athletes about their seasons, their training, and what makes them tick. With us this fall are two former New York athletes, with Ryan Healy taking on the Boys Interviews, and Izzie Sullivan taking on the girls. Be sure to tune in and get to know your favorite athletes across the Empire State, and beyond.
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Ibrahim Ford did not always start as one of the state's best runners. In the beginning of his running journey, he was not much of a runner at all. He used to play soccer and played basketball up until his junior year.
For Ibrahim, his background in running comes from his family. Being the 5th out of 6 siblings, he always had others to look up to. And fortunately for him, all of these siblings were runners. He started his career in running during 7th grade where the COVID-19 Pandemic caused many soccer practices to be canceled but cross country practices were still up and running.
Yet, Ibrahim's background goes even deeper than this. Born in Yemen, he moved to the country of Kazakhstan at age 5 and lived there until his family moved to Arkport when he was in 6th grade. Used to going to an international school where his friends were from all different countries, it was hard for him to adjust to a place that everyone has lived in their entire lives. But he has definitely found his groove and is "very lucky to be where I'm at today."
Since this start, he is "proud of how far I've come" and wants to be remembered as someone with a Eliud Kipchoge-like mindset, not being afraid to push the limits and finish every race with nothing left.
Last year, Ford ended his junior seasons on many high notes, finishing 2nd at the Class D state championship, 8th at the NXR-Federation meet, and achieving huge PRs indoor and outdoors, running 15:07.43 to finish 10th at the New Balance Indoor Nationals 5,000 and 6th at the NY Outdoor State Championship in the 3,200 with a time of 8:59.36, finally surpassing the coveted 9-minute barrier.
Now, Ibrahim is the top-rated runner in Class D and holds PRs of 2:36.65 in the 1,000 and 4:19.25 in the 1,600, in addition to his results in the 3,200 and 5,000.
He has continued this success into his senior year, earning wins in the Varsity A-2 race at the McQuaid Invitational and in the Division 2 race of the John Izzo Classic. His best of the race of the season was at the Section 5 Class D Championships where he finished 1st with a time of 15:10. But, his season and his best are far from over.
The senior from Arkport-Canaseraga-AA is excited to continue racing into the postseason, with hopes of qualifying for NXN and punching a ticket to Portland. His 8th place finish at the meet last season was very bittersweet as the national meet has "been the goal for a long time."
Training with Arkport, he has been implementing hills into a lot of his workouts, preparing his mind and body for the treacherous Bowdoin course.
Even being from a small school he enjoys the opportunities that he has to run against good competition for larger meets, trying to be the best that he can be and making the most of any and all opportunities that he is given.
Next year, Ibrahim will be taking his talents to Cornell University, a place where he has fallen in love with the team and the amazing coaching staff they have. While not being a very high-mileage guy in high school, he knows that there is lots of room for growth and improvement in his future.
For now, Ibrahim is focusing on the little aspects of sleep and nutrition to propel his training and help him to reach his heights as one of the state's best runners.
