Warsaw’s Murphy Bound For Olympic Marathon TrialsRobert Murphy was an accomplished runner in high school and college at distances from 800 to 10,000 meters.
He now races much longer and is also good at that.
How good? By clocking a chip/net time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, 58 seconds Sunday, at the Houston Marathon (26.2 miles), Warsaw’s Murphy qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials Feb. 29 in Atlanta.
“I’ve done it for a little over 10 years,” says Murphy of distance running. “It’s time and patience. I have a lot of patience.
“Deep down, I have a good ability to run a ton of miles. That’s all there is to it.” Murphy served as an assistant cross county coach to Warsaw Community High School head coach Jim Mills last fall. He ran the same workout as the teenagers — but much faster.
After Robert moved back to Warsaw from Indianapolis in May, he was encouraged by his father, Jeff Murphy, to train for the long, long race.
“It takes a more intense workout to train for the marathon,” says Jeff Murphy. “It’s not that easy training in northern Indiana during the winter.
“Wind is more of a factor, especially when we’re trying to do 5:18.” The qualifying standard for the Olympic Trials is 2:19 or 5:18 a mile.
On Nov. 9, Robert Murphy completed the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2:26.16. He cramped up around 20-mile mark and walked part of the course and still finished 30th.
“That was a bit of a downer,” says Robert Murphy.
“That’s still amazing for your first marathon,” says Jeff Murphy.
“After Indianapolis, he was going to train for indoor track. I talked him into one more marathon.” When not working part-time, the 25-year-old Murphy can be seen around town logging as many as 85 miles a week. He gets as high as marathon distance on weekend runs. His father accompanies him on a bike.
“It’s all about effort,” says Robert Murphy. “People wonder how I do these workouts. Simply put, I take few miles at a time.” Murphy started out by running seven miles at a 5:18 pace to get a feel for it. He kept extending the distance until he got up to 19. When he ran 26, it was fast but not at race pace.
In Houston, Murphy placed 20th overall out of 4,306 males and met the standard in chip time though his gun time was 2:19:02. With Robert entering the race late, all the elite spots were taken up and he had to start farther back in the pack.
“He had at least 500 people in front of him,” says Jeff Murphy. “It only took him six seconds to get to the starting line.” There were nerves, but the U.S. Olympic Committee allowed the time to count toward trials qualifying.
Until Atlanta, Murphy says he plans to do hard, long tempo runs.
“It;s more about place than time,” says Murphy. “The odds of making it to the Olympics is slim to none. I just wanted to make it to the trials.” A 2013 Warsaw graduate, Murphy was the Tigers’ team MVP in both cross country and track as a senior. He was presented with the Max Truex Award for outstanding mental attitude in those two sports.
In the fall of 2012, Jacob Poyner (sixth), Ellis Coon (eighth) and Murphy (14th) led Warsaw to a fourth-place finish in the state cross country meet. In the spring of 2013, Coon was injured. Murphy placed fourth in the 1600 and seventh in the 800 at the State Finals while Poyner took third in the 1600 and fifth in the 3200 and the Tigers finished fifth as a team.
Murphy went on to excel in cross country and track for two years each at Vincennes University and Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI).
It was a productive two years with the Vincennes Trailblazers.
In cross country, he was honorable mention National Junior College Athletic Association All-American as a freshman and sophomore.
In indoor track, he was a second-team All-American in the mile and distance medley relay and set or was part of school records in the mile, 3K and distance medley relay as a freshman and was a second-team All-American in the 3,000 as a sophomore.
In outdoor track, he was an honorable mention All-American in the 1500 and set a school record in the 3,000 steeplechase as a freshman and second-team All-American in the steeplechase, honorable mention All-American in the 1,500 and United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Atlantic Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year as a sophomore. He set school marks in the steeplechase, 1500 and 5000.
Moving on to a four-year school, IUPUI proved to be the best fit for Murphy.
As as junior, he was co-MVP in cross country, earning all-Summit League recognition. In indoor track, he was the conference MVP, winning the mile and 3,000 and finishing second in the 5K at the SL championships. In outdoor track, he was the Summit meet’s best in the 1500 and steeplechase and became the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional qualifier. He opened the outdoor track season with a school record in the 5K, late set a school mark in the 800 and just missed qualifying for nationals in the steeplechase.
Murphy’s senior year saw him became IUPUI’s first-ever all-regions performer in cross country. He was the Summit League champion and MVP and well as team MVP. In indoor track, he was league runner-up in the 3,000. He set school records in the 3000, 5000, 3K and 5K. In outdoor track, he was an honorable mention All-American and the Jaguars’ first-ever NCAA Nationals qualifier (3000 steeplechase).
Murphy earned academic honors in both his years at IUPUI. He graduated in 2017 with a degree in Media Arts and Science.
After graduation, Murphy stayed in Indianapolis and still continued to compete in cross country and track events.
Then came an life-threatening incident in 2018 while he was warming up for a workout at White River State Park.
He was running along the bike path when a car came barreling out of control and struck him from behind.
“It could have killed him,” says Jeff Murphy. “He landed awkwardly and broke his foot.” The break wiped out his fall, winter and spring running seasons. He got back to competition in 2019.
Robert Murphy was in eighth grade when his father introduced him to Mills. The coach had Robert’s older brother Thomas on his cross country team before Thomas turned his attention to band.
“Robert was a skinny, very shy young man,” says Mills. “By no stretch when he started out did I think this guy is going to be an all-state runner. Just the opposite.” But Murphy kept getting better and better.
“It’s been a pleasant journey,” says Mills. “Robert is a running machine. He continues to put out that pace every single mile. He gets in that zone. He block things out. He turns one mile into two and two into 10.” Before his knees were replaced years ago, Mills ran a number of marathons. But there was nothing scientific about the training like there is today.
“It was LSD — Long Slow Distance,” says Mills. “Robert has shown that resilience. Distance running is tough. It takes its toll on the body.
“Robert’s been patient. He’s had good training throughout the years. I suspect he’s going to get better and better.” At 3, Robert was diagnosed as high functioning on the Autism scale.
How does Autism effect his running? “I never really think about that,” says Robert Murphy. “It’s possible it could be helping me with these random thoughts in these long races.” His father, who was a standout runner at New Haven High School and beyond, has his take.
“It’s a perfect thing for a runner,” says Jeff Murphy. “Autistic people can really focus. “(Robert) can push himself through the pain.” Poyner, who has known Robert since they were in junior high and considers Jeff and Lynn Murphy like a second set of parents, is now the head cross country coach and assistant track coach at Grace College. The two friends have been reunited in the name of running.
Robert is a post-collegiate who volunteers with the Lancers track team and recently aligned with Fort Wayne-based Three Rivers Running Company.
“The thing that makes him such a good distance runner is that he accepts what’s in front of him,” says Poyner. “He accepts it and goes after it. He embraces it.” Poyner admires how Murphy does not restrict himself.
“Sometimes we put limits on ourselves. He’s not worried about that.
He’s just going to go after it.
“If we all lived life like that, there’s more we could do.”
