If you’re a frequent visitor to the path that winds through Whittington Park, you’ve likely passed by Andreas Bradley — or perhaps it’s more likely that he passed by you very quickly.
The loop on Whittington Avenue around the park is where Bradley, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, can be found training to run track for Hot Springs World Class High School. ASMSA students may participate in athletics at the school through a partnership with Hot Springs High.
He will practice a couple of times a week at Hot Springs High’s track, but his other four training days are spent running miles around Whittington Park, often by himself. He follows a training plan he has developed over time, taking advice from his coach, but he is mostly self-trained.
Hot Springs High Coach Milton Williams said that is what makes the Jacksonville native a great example for his teammates.
“He has a tremendous work ethic,” says Williams, who is a member of the Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame recognized for both his own NAIA All-American shot put and discus career in college at the University of Arkansas at Monticello as well as his coaching career that includes four Sun Belt conference titles while serving as head coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
“He does lots of things that should serve as a model for young athletes. He is a great mentor and role model for the younger members of the team. Andreas does all the little things right. He does all the little things to prepare to run well. I can use him as an example at any time. His attention to detail, his warmup, his cool down. His teammates can learn from him.”
William’s statement is especially meaningful as this is only Bradley’s second full season of high school track and first where he has been healthy the whole season. Injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic cut short previous seasons.
Bradley began his track career when he was 10. Running in general was something he always enjoyed and was good at, he said.
“I was always running as a kid,” Bradley said. “I’d run even around the house and school. When I was 9, I played baseball and I was fast getting around the bases. I tried track the next season, and it just stuck. I found success early.”
He participated on a couple of travel teams and in AAU track. His team would travel to other states to participate in meets. He had a goal of trying to qualify for the Junior Olympics. Bradley was a sprinter early on — qualifying in 400 and 800 meter races — before transitioning into distance races.
Bradley joined the high school team during his freshman year. He ran varying distances from the 800 meters to a half-marathon, but focused heavily on 5K, 10K and 1-mile races.
An injury slowed him down near the end of his freshman season. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his sophomore season at home and his junior season once he entered ASMSA in Fall 2020. He also couldn’t do a majority of his training, including his weightlifting sessions, because the school’s workout room was closed and students’ activities off-campus were limited, which meant he couldn’t go for longer runs.
“It was hard not being able to race and then to not be able to train consistently as I needed to or at all. It set me back a lot farther than I wished. When the gym did open, I would go two times a day, six days a week to get back what I had missed. Over the summer, I had to work extra hard,” he said.
As some restrictions began to decrease as the pandemic numbers began to shrink, Bradley picked up his routine of training. He raced cross country for Hot Springs during the fall semester, seeing Williams almost every weekday during that time, getting tips on how he could improve.
His goal was to try to set the individual state record for the 800 meters. That’s his strongest race, and he will lead Hot Springs’ 4x800 team in the Class 5A State Meet set for Thursday, May 5 in Van Buren. Bradley will run the first leg of the race along with three freshmen teammates. The race is set for 12:30 p.m. Live results will be available at https://ar.milesplit.com.
He raced the 800 meters in the Arkansas High School Invitational indoor races in January. It was the first time he ran on an indoor track. He said the meet wasn’t as nerve-wracking as he thought it would be, even though it had been almost two years since he had competed in a track and field event. It didn’t go as well as he hoped, however.
“It was a big shock. The curves are a lot tighter. I didn’t realize there was a huge rail at the bottom of the track. I usually hug the rail, and I tripped when I hit a spike on the rail. I was leading the first three laps and was about to make a move when I tripped, allowing people to pass me while I was out of bounds,” he said.
Bradley didn’t let the unexpected results bother him, however. He went back to training, preparing for the slate of spring events in which he would compete.
“Luckily since I was already in shape, I was able to do some race simulations. I was comfortable that I could run it. It was then learning how to fight the lactic acid in my legs to build endurance and strength,” Bradley said.
“A lot of it is definitely mental. You have to have self confidence that you will get better. Knowing I have friends who were trying to do the same thing, a group of friends who are working hard helps you. And I had a coach who is a really good coach. He helped to make sure I was hitting the right energy systems. He knows where you’ve worked hard and where you may have some doubt and can offer advice for both.”
Williams said that being able to let go of races in which he may not do as well as hoped is one of Bradley’s biggest strengths. Bradley doesn’t get discouraged, Williams said.
“My impression of Andreas is that he’s a very mature athlete,” Williams said. “He keeps things in perspective very well. He’ll take things in stride and doesn’t get discouraged. One bad race doesn’t change him. Good or bad, he keeps going forward. He certainly embodies all the characteristics you want in an athlete. Everything about Andreas is a positive.”
Bradley hopes his performance at the state meet as well as some independent meets this spring and summer will help him be noticed by colleges and universities. He plans to keep working hard to get noticed, but if not, he says this season was special to him.
“After not racing for two years, it’s nice just getting to run,” he said.