He did his best. No, he REALLY did! Cole Hoffman, at the State Championships, May 9, running the final meters of the thousands of miles he’s traveled in his incomparable Llano track career, captured a silver medal in the Class-3A, 3200-meter race, and he finished fourth in the 1600.

Hoffman’s splendid time in the 32 was nine minutes, 29.90 seconds, close to 15 seconds better than his previous personal record. He ran the metric mile in four minutes, 23.75 seconds, about a second and a half quicker than his old number one. Both are school records.

“I’m very pleased,” Hoffman told reporters after he had been given the prestigious runnerup medal with the State Capitol looking on from, oh, a distance of maybe 3,200 meters. “The competition helped my time.” A number of observers thought that might be the case, as Saturday after Saturday this spring, Cole appeared to run solo as he demolished one field after another.

Blake Woolums, of Argyle went to the front, right after the starter’s gun sounded, in the 3200-meter challenge. Through four laps (half the race), Cole was third, maybe three meters behind Woolums and right on the heels of Sann Allison of Canyon.

“I’ve been the front runner all year,” Woolums said. “I think it would hurt me to be behind; I just stuck with what I’ve done best.”

Hoffman, on the sixth lap, eased past Allison, and the young man in Orange owned second place. One lap later, Allison was done, and it was a two-man duel.

Cole trailed Woolums by four meters as the bell rang for the final run around the track at Mike Myers Stadium. “I thought I might catch him,” Hoffman disclosed, but then he added, with his usual candor, “I sort of died out there.” Woolums’ lead stretched to eight meters, and he reached the wire in nine minutes, 23 seconds, his personal record, and Hoffman got silver seven seconds later.

Cole’s family, friends, and fans couldn’t have been happier. His sister, Cindy, and brother, Benny, especially enjoyed the day--the twins were celebrating their 29th birthdays. (Benny, a Jackets’ track star of the 1990s, has played a major role in his brother’s development in the middle distance contests.)

“It was an awesome race on Cole’s part,” Llano track coach Dan Hughes declared. “He executed the race plan perfectly: stay close and give yourself a chance to win. All the training of the last couple of years led to this one moment. It’s great to see him do so well after working so hard.” Hoffman has said in The Llano News Hughes is a huge reason for his success.

More than 100,000 students are in Class 3A schools in Texas; only one runs the 3200 faster than Cole.

While the 32 took place on the morning of May 9, the 1600 was held close to 9 p.m. Hoffman again ran his best-ever, but Will Barry of Pleasant Grove of Texarkana won Gold with a time of four minutes, 18.22 seconds.

Cole's dad, Roy, was a runner for Llano High in the mid-1970s. “I was proud of the way he handled himself in both races,” Roy Hoffman said. “He stayed in the pack for most of the 1600 and only missed winning a bronze medal.”

four minutes, 23.75

Cole says Roy urged him to continue to run when the boy was in the seventh grade and ready to forego the “mere” six-or-eight-mile-a-day workouts.

No records seem to fall as quickly as those on the track, but if future Llano speedsters speed past Cole Hoffman’s marks, his efforts won’t be diminished.

At worst, he will always be a former record holder, and at best, a young man whose achievements stopped the watch at a remarkable number, a number which others will pursue, knowing they will have to commit to tireless-and-punishing miles-and-miles of longer and longer strides.