Mother And Coach Michelle Rauber Vowed To Give Daughter 'The Best Year We Can Give Her'

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Twenty-twenty is passing and good riddance. 

A year dominated by bad news – pandemic, boiled-over political and social tensions, and natural disasters – sometimes felt like being submerged in quick sand.

But that's not what was happening in the Rauber household in upstate New York. 

Michelle Rauber, like so many mothers out there, was fighting for her kids and refusing to let the precious time slip away. 

Brooke Rauber, one of the best high school runners in the U.S., is a three-time Nike Cross Nationals qualifier who has consistently put the work in. 

Her mother and coach was determined to find as many racing opportunites as possible, and so she did. 

In 2020, Brooke Rauber attended and raced in 19 meets, perhaps more than any other track athlete on Earth. She competed in six states in addition to her own, plus a Canadian province. 

"It makes me feel good for her," Michelle Rauber said on New Year's Eve. "I feel good about the hard work and sacrifices she made. They were all leading to this year. I felt so bad for her to not get the year that she wanted. I told my husband, 'We've got to give her the best year we can give her because it's not fair.'"

The Raubers were well aware of the seriousness of the pandemic and took every precaution available. Michelle is a kindergarten teacher. She spent the summer and all fall working out the best practices for clean hands, social distancing and masks.

There is no end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Raubers are looking ahead into a 2021 winter and can't see the next opportunity through the haze. At least not yet. 

But if there's a lesson out of Rauber's 2020 for everyone else, it's this: Be careful, do your homework, be flexible and take your shot. 

It would not have been so easy if Rauber were a discus thrower or a high jumper. The pop-ups mostly catered to the distance runners. 

Rauber completed her mother's workouts and stayed ready. 

"I knew I was super fit," she said. "You know what, I'm going to race as much as I can. Five-Ks in cross country is what I love to do, and it makes me the happiest.". 

Here is a closer look at Brooke Rauber's 2020 ledger:

PRE-PANDEMIC

Jan. 4 - In Syracuse for John Arcaro Memorial. She ran the 1,000m (2:55.45) and took a leg on the Tully 4x200 relay.

Jan. 18 - Fly San Diego for USATF XC Championships. She ran 6,000m and won the U.S. U20 title in 22:11.0.

Brooke: I just didn't really want cross country to end. I love track, but cross country is just like my thing. I remember it was so hot, although it was only like 80. I'd been training in the snow back home. I was dying. 

Feb. 8 - Syracuse for Section III Indoor meet, 300m (43.44), 600m (1:37.73), 1,000m (2:51.62), all wins. 

Brooke: It was a little difficult to do distance training, plus the speed stuff on the track. I went out and did that 1,000 and got a PR solely off the distance training I was doing and almost broke the section record. 

Feb. 25 - Syracuse for Section III Qualifier, 1,500m (4:40.49). 

Feb. 29 - Victoria, B.C., Canada for the Pan Am U20 Cross Country Championships, 6,000m (23:12), winning the gold medal by nine seconds. 

Brooke: I remember we had to fly down to South Carolina so I could meet my chaperone. I was not old enough to fly out of the country alone. Next, we had a layover in (Seattle) Washington. The plane we took to get there was humongous, like three seats on each side and another group of seats in the middle. No one was wearing masks. And then in the news, it was like 'Oh my gosh, (the U.S.) just got our first cases of Coronavirus.' But no one was freaking out or anything. 

I remember the course (in Victoria) was the hardest I've ever run on, and that's saying something because we have some hard courses in New York. There was a 300-meter steep climb at the end of every loop and it was calm and muddy that day. I was definitely in my comfort zone.

It was crazy just putting (the U.S. uniform) on and representing the U.S. was such an honor.

Michelle: We thought that trip was going to get canceled. When it didn't, perfect! We got home on a Sunday and then had to get ready to go to Staten Island, and I was surprised that meet went down.

March 7 - Staten Island for the New York State Indoor Championships at Ocean Breeze, 1,500 meters (4:34.79 for fourth). It's four and a half hours by car. 

Brooke: That was one of my hardest transitions ever, with the time change and my legs felt tired. I was not at full strength for that one. 

POST-PANDEMIC

June 13 - Arizona for the Desert Dream Last Hurrah meet, Mile (4:48.05 win). 

Brooke: I actually had no idea about the meet. Five days before we went, my mom said 'You're going to Arizona to race a mile. She was always there on the lookout and she'd find these races and we'd decide.

Everything at that point was shut down. I remember my dad was so bored he was watching the Cornhole World Championships on TV. 

I was just excited to race. I had never been to Arizona, so I got to go to a whole new state and a totally different climate. We had to wear masks and stuff in the facility, warm up in masks. Once we got to the starting line, there were two or three different boxes we had to stand in to be apart from one another a bit at the start.

The plane had some empty seats. It was like two-thirds full. The middle seats were open.

That meet was hotter (than San Diego). Even after the sun went down it was still like 97 degrees. That was a really exciting race.

Michelle:  I'd been looking for races for her. Training had been going great and I thought, she has to see a benefit. Then I see this meet in Arizona and right away I thought, 'Oh my God, we're going!' I booked the tickets on a Thursday and we left the next Wednesday. I didn't even ask her about that one. We just went.

When we land, I get a message from my husband. 'Michelle, you need to know Arizona is the hotspot in the country for COVID. We just stayed in our room. We didn't go out and talk to anybody. We did drive to Flagstaff because we wanted to see it, but that's it. You can do things. You just have to be careful. You have to be smart.

* Sept. 1 - Brooke commits to North Carolina State

Sept. 19 - Drive to Edison, New Jersey for Garden State Track Club HS Fall Showcase, 5,000m (16:32.7 win).

Brooke: By then, we saw that we would have cross country, but there would be no sectionals or state meet. 

Michelle: The guy running the meet, he contacted me. One of his athletes knew about Brooke and they were looking for people to bring in to have a faster race. So we switched up the training a little bit and knew it was going to be fast and went down to run that one.  

Oct. 2 - Drive to Jersey City for the Night of 5K (16:28.34 for third)

Michelle: Another person contacted me about that one. Sydney Masciarelli and some others were going to be there. 

Oct. 7 - Tully vs. Homer cross country dual meet (16:56.9)

Oct. 10 - Tully Covid Series 1 (18:11.3)

Oct. 17 - Tully Covid Series 2 (17:32.1)

Brooke: Cross country was a little bit different. We had to start with masks on and every time we passed someone we had to pull them up. 

Michelle: I have to give credit to my school athletic director and superintendent for allowing us to have those meets. We were the only school in our section that hosted these small meets. I had a team full of seniors and this was about giving all the kids the best experience that we could. 

Oct. 24 - Drive to Boston for the Mayor's Cup 5,000 (17:42).

Brooke: Once again, it was another opportunity for a quality race. I didn't know about it until a little bit before we left (for a six-hour drive). We were fortunate when it came to finding palces to stay, but it was hard with the new regulations. 

I was out of school (opting to go online) for about a month because of quarantining, so I wouldn't be exposed or anything and then go out of state. 

Michelle: I wasn't sure the race was going to happen, but I got hold of (the race director) at the end of September and he kept us informed. 

Oct. 31 - Tully Covid Series 3 (17:31)

Nov. 7 - OHSL Patriot League Championships (18:06.3)

*Nov. 15 - Open date for XC Town USA Meet of Champions in Indiana didn't work out because New York slapped a travel restriction on Ohio, which the Raubers needed to drive through to get to Indiana.

Nov. 21 - Bemis vs South Tully (17.22.0)

Nov. 28 - Middletown, N.Y. for the Northeast Club Championships (5,000m in 17:00.3 for a 160 speed rating, her best of the year). 

Dec. 5 - Tallahassee, Fla. for the AAU Cross Country National Championships (5,000m in 16:54.9 for second)

Brooke: The state's regulation was that if you left the state for less than 24 hours you could come back and not have to quarantine. We flew in to Florida at 6 p.m. the night before the race, slept at the hotel, raced in the morning and then got out of there. (On a plane home by 1 p.m.).

Dec. 13 - Louisville, Ky., for USATF National Junior Olympic Cross County Championships (5,000m in 16:52.9 for first).

Brooke: We didn't know about the Kentucky race until the Florida race. I was taking the opporunities as they came.  

We drove to Kentucky. It was 10 hours there, and then back. We had to quarantine when we got home. Everything went smooth and we were super cautious and careful. I was not really worried about myself, but I didn't want to give (the virus) to my parents or grandparents. We drove (to Kentucky) because it was definitely a lot cheaper. 

Running is what I love to do and I wanted to do it as much as possible. My parents were so good about everything and giving me opportunities that are not available for everyone, so I'm really grateful for that.

I think the race in Kentucky might have been my best. I ran a PR for cross country on a hilly course, faster than I ran in Florida. I was trying to go out there with all I had, have no regrets about the race, and I did that.

Michelle: (Brooke) made sacrifices to make these races happen. A month prior to going on her travel she did not go to school because of concern about quarantine. We didn't want to make these plans and then not be able to go. She also has taken five or six COVID tests, which is more than anybody else I know.