Brandon Lawson puts forth an analogy to best explain the mental approach it takes to be a successful distance runner. The North Hall senior cross country star says that it’s best to put yourself in the mindset that you’re a metal rabbit riding the rail in a race with a pack of hungry dogs nipping at your heels.

“And if you’re the rabbit and you get caught, it wouldn’t be good for the rabbit,” Lawson said.

Now that the year’s complete, Lawson managed to escape the chase without a scratch.

Lawson obliterated the course record at Unicoi State Park during the Region 8-AAA championships with a time of 15 minutes, 40.77 seconds and placed sixth at the Class AAA state championships last month in Carrollton. He finished the year by placing first six times and finished second to begin the season at the Northeast Georgia Championships (16:20).

For his efforts, Lawson is The Times’ 2011 Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.

“This year was exciting and definitely a lot of fun for me,” said Lawson, who is currently leaning toward walking onto the program for track and field at Louisiana State University next year. He said he’d also entertain offers from more local schools like Georgia, Georgia Tech or Tennessee if they should arise.

Lawson was properly groomed the past couple years for his leadership role by 2010 graduate Ty McCormack, now running at Clemson University, and 2011 graduate Cody Barger, now at Army. He said the mental preparation is just as critical with learning how to have the heart to succeed and confidence, as is putting in the miles to be physically sharp.

“He runs year round and is as dedicated of a runner as I have seen,” Trojans coach Drew Rogers said. “He has been a great leader for the team this year.”

Even though the year didn’t start with a win — he placed second at the Northeast Georgia Championship in Athens — he did assert himself as a runner to watch for the rest of the season with a time of 16:20.

And by the time the region championships rolled around, Lawson knew it was going to be his time to shine. He knew all the main points of the course outside Helen that were key to winning: Starting at a moderate pace, keeping the pace going uphill, ease up a bit going down the mountain and then having something left in the tank for a sprint along the final 1,000 yards of the straightaway to the finish line. When Lawson failed to start his own watch at the beginning of the race, he had no clue that he was on pace for a 15:40 and crush the 16-minute mark for the first time in course history.

“That was the best race of my life,” said Lawson, who shattered the previous record of 16:11 by North Hall’s Nolan Clark in 2008.

At region, Lawson was also as impressed by the fact that North Hall earned each of the top five spots in the race and all under 17 minutes.

His success this season wasn’t guaranteed when he started experiencing pretty persistent pain in his leg during his junior track and field season. First, he started to alleviate the pain by cutting down on his miles. On top of that he increased his stretching and warm-up regiment as a preemptive measure, along with ice to cut down on any swelling.

It seemed to work to perfection. Lawson was loose and running at full stride all season during cross country.

Lawson gravitated to running in the seventh grade, partly on a dare but mostly to condition for his first love at the time — baseball. Even now, Lawson laughs about his own and McCormack’s success in distance running at North Hall. According to Lawson, only a few years back, McCormack wanted to be a football star and Lawson was gunning for baseball glory. That all changed for Lawson when he became accustomed to the runner’s high. During Christmas break, Lawson plans on trying to get in about 70 miles of training each week to prepare for the 1,600 meter and 3,200 in track and field season.

As for North Hall next year, Lawson says that the Trojans should be just fine. Coming back are rising seniors Witt Nix and Tucker LoCicero, who were part of the Top 5 in region, and will be in the hunt for the state title next year, according to Lawson.

“The team is going to have really good depth,” Lawson said.