Is the Detweiler at Dark Curse Real?

by: Marc Alvarez

Every July we get a sneak peek at the upcoming cross country season. Over a 1,000 runners converge on historic Detweiler Park for the 3-mile Detweiler at Dark meet. With music blaring from speakers, lights illuminating the course, and the chance to put down a fast time on a cool summer night, Detweiler at Dark seems to be a fantastic event for everyone involved.

However great Det at Dark is, it is certainly not a fantastic event for a specific type of runner--whoever wins the boys' race.

In recent years there have been grumblings of a Detweiler at Dark curse; that whoever wins the race is doomed to struggle at the state meet, if they even get there.

It's not that the winners of Det at Dark are bad runners, they're in fact quite good. But for at least the last five years, Detweiler at Dark is the one race that no one should want to win.

This was made abundantly clear at the 2018 running of Detweiler at Dark as Jack Roberts of Downers Grove North, who had broken away from the field in the final mile, refused to cross the line in first place. Video of the bizarre finish was captured by Mike Newman of ILXCTF.

Roberts refusal to finish first in an apparent attempt to ward off the curse led to Thomas Shilgalis of Naperville Central crossing the line first and having the unfortunate distinction of yet another talented runner who was tasked with trying to break the curse. Shilgalis came in to 2018 with the fastest returning 3-mile time, 1600m time, and 800m time, and was seen by many as one of the favorites to win the 3A individual crown.

Shilgalis was well aware of the pressure he was facing acknowledging it in a tweet after the race.

But when exactly did the legend of the Detweiler at Dark curse start? And why has it continued to be believed by so many Illinois cross country runners, so much so that some of them refused to win a race?

To answer this we need to go back and look at the history of Detweiler at Dark.

Results on the Detweiler at Dark website go back to 2013. But the meet was ran in 2012 with a 21-year old Chris Derrick winning the meet in 14:21, which still stands as the meet record. Derrick was at that point out of eligibility at Stanford. He did go on later that season to win the US Cross Country Championship in Forest Park, Missouri and later went on to finish 10th at the IAAF Cross Country Championship in Poland.

2013

In 2013, Patrick Campbell a recent graduate of Aquinas High School in La Crosse Wisconsin won the race in a time of 15:04. Connor Enhle was the first high school finisher placing fourth in 15:13. Enhle would go on to place sixth in the 1A State Championship for Tremont in the fall.

2014

We saw a much faster race with Ryan Clevenger of Downers Grove North taking home the win in 14:45. Some contend that 2014 was the first year of the Detweiler at Dark Curse, but the evidence isn't all that great. Clevenger would go on to finish fourth at the 3A State Meet behind Jesse Reiser of McHenry who beat him at First to the Finish, Zach Dale of Conant whose only losses on the season were to Reiser, and a sophomore Matt Pereira of Lake Zurich who had finished closely behind Dale and Reiser at the Schaumburg Sectional.

Clevenger also went on to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals in Portland in 2014 where he finished 81st. While Clevenger was certainly a contender for a state title in 2014, a fourth place finish and a bid to NXN don't seem to show any evidence of a curse.

2015

If the curse wasn't born in 2014, then it certainly was in 2015. Jared Borowsky of Stevenson won the race in 14:47. Borowsky wasn't a household name in Illinois cross country in 2015, but gained some attention with his Det at Dark win. However, Borowsky--who finished 8th at the Schaumburg Sectional and qualified as an individual for the State Meet--suffered a knee injury and didn't run at the state meet.

Borowsky would rebound in the Spring winning the 3200m at State in 9:07 and would go on to run for two of the most storied collegiate distance programs--Colorado and North Central. Borowsky would finish 2nd at D3 Cross Country Nationals as a red-shirt freshman. His running career was cut short as he was arrested for possession of 3.3 lbs of Marijuana as discussed in this enlightening LetsRun thread.

2016

If 2015 was just an anomaly than 2016 could be seen as a just a coincidence. Clayton Mendez of Whitney Young would take home the title in 15:09. Mendez went on to struggle in the fall dealing with health and family issues and finished 79th at the State meet.

Like Borowsky, Mendez would rebound in the Spring. Mendez made a statement that he was back with a 9:02 run indoors at the Proviso West Invite. Later in the Spring he would run an impressive double of 1:55 in the 800 and 4:17 in the 1600 at the Bob Cohoon Invite followed the next night by an insane 8:59 performance in the 3200 on what had to be tired legs. Mendez also finished as an all-American in the 3200 his junior year and with a 4:11 mile PR.

Mendez would get his cross country redemption the following fall finishing second at the State meet, 18th at NXN, and ninth at Footlocker Nationals. Mendez finished his high school career with an impressive track season finishing all-State in both the 1600m and 3200m at State and a third place finish at Brooks PR running 4:05 for the full mile. Mendez now runs at Stanford.

2017

After two consecutive years of poor post-Det at Dark seasons whispers started circulating through the Illinois cross country about a potential curse. The race was one of the fastest on record with Gabe Fendel of Hamilton Southeastern in Indiana took the win in 14:30 followed just a second behind by Charlie Kern of York.

Fendel would go on to win an individual title running 15:17 on the famed Laverne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. Despite the appearance of breaking the curse, Fendel would fall prey in the post-season failing to qualify for both NXN and Footlocker. This came after coming into the fall of 2017 as the top returner in both the 1600m and 3200m in the entire country.

Following in Borowsky's footsteps, Fendel now runs at Colorado where he has redshirted his freshman year.

Video of the exact moment Fendel becoming the victim of the Det at Dark curse went viral on Twitter as he finished a heart-breaking 11th at Footlocker Midwest.

The second place finisher in 2017, the first from Illinois, Charlie Kern also received the worst of the Det at Dark Curse. Following a second place finish his sophomore year and a fourth place finish his junior year, Kern was one of the favorites going into the fall. Unfortunately Kern missed most of the cross country season due to health issues and came back for the State meet finishing 68th off of very limited training.

Kern did go on like other victims of the curse to have a successful senior year of track running 1:52 in the 800m at State to finish second behind underdog Josh English of Eisenhower. Kern now runs for Mizzou where he also has redshirted his freshman year.

2018

Whispers of a curse before the fall of 2017 transformed into a full-blown chorus of caution by the time the 2018 Detweiler at Dark race was ran. As already discussed the first two finishers Jack Roberts of Downers Grove North and Ethan Kern of York weren't looking to have the designation of being cursed for the fall. Both runners stopped before the line, shaking hands and waiting for an unfortunate soul to cross the line.

Roberts explained that there was talk amongst the top pack of the curse and that no one seemed to want to be the first one across the line. The full interview by Mike Newman of ILXCTF is linked below.

http://ilxctf.runnerspace.com/profile.php?member_id=42240&do=videos&video_id=251501

Both Roberts and Kern would go on to finish in the top ten taking fourth and ninth respectively, while Shilgalis would finish in the exact same place as Charlie Kern did the year before--68th.

So, is the Detweiler at Dark Curse real? The answer is ultimately up to you, but if I were a State championship hopeful I wouldn't want to take that risk.

For the last four years terrific runners have won Detweiler at Dark only to see their hopes of a State title crumble in front of them. Despite the numerous all-State and all-American awards, the state and national leading times, the highest any of the winners has finished in the last four years in the 3A State race is 68th.

Some cynical voices in the Illinois distance community believe there's a simple explanation--that running fast in July shows a runner that will peak too early. But when you look at the history of the Detweiler at Dark curse you see that simply peaking too early is too easy of an answer and doesn't account for the wide array of challenges Det at Dark winners have faced.

Personally, I see the Detweiler at Dark curse as just an unfortunate series of coincidences that have plagued otherwise fantastic runners. That being said, I would not want to be the first across the line next July, and neither should you.