North Mason's CJ Allen on making the U.S. Olympic track and field team: 'Work's not done'

With the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics on the horizon, CJ Allen isn't adopting a happy-to-be-participating mentality. The 2013 North Mason High graduate is ready for the biggest climb of his competitive life after qualifying for Paris by finishing as runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

“It’s a peak of the mountain," Allen said. "I think mountains have multiple peaks. The thing with track and field is everybody wants to make the Olympic team. It’s just reality. That’s a mountain peak that everybody is aiming for."

Allen's racing begins Aug. 5 at Stade de France and concludes Aug. 9 if he qualifies for the finals. As much as Allen wants to enjoy the experience of being an Olympian in one of the world's premier cities, he admits he'll "have a hard time doing that" because his mindset isn't on playing tourist.

"It's business," Allen said. "I'm representing the U.S. now."

Peaking at the right time

The 29-year-old Allen has posted many of his best times as a professional over the past year. He ran a career-best 47.58 seconds in Norway last June and his time of 47.81 at the Olympic Trials stands as his second-fastest career mark. Overall, he's ranked seventh in the world heading into Paris and fully expects to challenge for the podium.

“There's a route for me to get a medal this year. I really believe that," Allen said. "Other people might not see it, but that’s why other people aren’t in my position, either.”

Allen's been honing his craft for nearly two decades. He joined the track and field team in elementary school, trying "just about everything and I just kind of stuck with the hurdles because I was decent at them.” He graduated North Mason after winning one state title in the 110 hurdles as a junior and another in 300 hurdles as a senior. Two Pac-12 Conference 400 hurdles titles at Washington State University followed.

Allen, who is sponsored by Asics, started racing professionally in 2018 while also beginning a six-year push toward obtaining both his doctorate (chiropractic) and Master's degree (sport health science) at Life University in Marietta, George. He is in the process of opening a clinic, called DFA (Dynamic Functional Alignment) Chiropractic and Sport Performance Institute, near Atlanta.

Does Dr. Allen want to continue his racing career after the Olympics? That's the plan as long as he can balance everything life throws his way.

“My biggest thing is can I get my clinic started, work, take care of my duties as a doctor, make sure that I’m not neglecting my patients, and can I continue to cultivate my future for myself, my business, my family?" Allen said. "If I can do all those things and I’m still enjoying running and I still am able to live the best of worlds, I’m absolutely going to do that.”

From painful years to 'CJ Allen Day' in Mason County

This week, the Board of Mason County Commissioners proclaimed July 26, 2024, which is the start of the Olympic Games, to be CJ Allen Day in Mason County. It's quite an honor for Allen, whose professional career hasn't been easy. He spoke about the pain and suffering he's both endured and embraced over the years heading into the Olympic Trials.

He's never made a ton of money as an athlete, but the work he's put in shows he has the capacity to strive for greatness.

“There were times I’d have three finals, I’d be out there at 5 a.m., barely see the lines on the track," said Allen, who doesn't have a full-time coach, but works remotely with WSU track and field/cross country coach Wayne Phipps to develop his training schedules. "You run and you get it done. I’d walk over and use my phone to see what time I ran because it’s early and you can't see what the stopwatch says.”

There's the loneliness, like skipping weekend gatherings with friends because of training or meets. There's the rehab and recovery sessions, which can include ice baths or, even worse, something Allen described as "ice showers," like the kind he experienced in Oslo, Norway.

"It's the worst thing ever," Allen said. “Oh man. Just mountain water coming down straight off the ice caps. Your body starts shutting down, your extremities go numb, your body almost goes into shock and you feel like you are dying. You just have to tough it out.”

For a guy that former North Mason track and field coach Jeff Bevers once described as a scrawny 115-pounder when he first entered high school, Allen has proven to be more than capable of carrying the heaviest of loads.

“The hardest thing I’ve come to realize that separates the good from the great is just the ability to be consistent, no matter what is in front of you," Allen said. "If it’s thunder, pouring rain, ice, snow, it doesn’t matter what’s out there. You have to train, you have to go out there and put in the work. There is no ability to remove yourself from that situation. If you can do that, it doesn’t matter if you accomplish your goals or not, because the journey itself is going to be worth it because you are going to learn a lot about yourself.”

Sharing the Olympic journey with family

Allen celebrated his Olympic Trials triumph with his parents Amy and Jeff, who were in attendance and will be travelling to Paris to watch their son, along with several other family members and friends.

"I’m sure there are many families that only really know the trials and tribulations and highs and lows of being a track and field family," Jeff Allen said, "but we love it and feel very blessed to be a part of it all for so long."

CJ Allen called his performance a "relief" considering where his hurdling journey began.

“You do this as long as I’ve been doing it, I’ve been saying I’m going to go to the Olympics for 19 years," Allen said. "The accumulation of all that work coming together, I’ve realized that the moment is almost more impactful and surreal to all the people who have been there with my during my journey.”

Amy Allen described the emotions felt while watching her son's Olympic-clinching race: heart pounding, the anticipation and nerves, especially during the last 50 meters, and jubilation of seeing his name listed in second place on the stadium's jumbotron.

"By the time CJ had finished all of his interviews and the victory lap, it felt like a lifetime," Amy Allen said. "He made his way to us, not knowing where we were standing. Our eyes met and I stretched out my arms over the barrier between the track and the stands. His heavy body fell into my arms and I said through tears, 'You did it CJ, you did it!' He replied, 'I did it mom.'"

Becoming an Olympian is certainly a dream come true for Allen, but the time for reflection will need to wait. There's another mountain waiting to be climbed in France.

"Maybe it will settle in after the season is over and I can relax and really take it all it," Allen said. "For me, it’s amazing, it’s awesome, I was absolutely overjoyed. But the work’s not done."

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: North Mason's CJ Allen on making the U.S. Olympic track and field team: 'Work's not done'