For those who don't know, Holmdel is considered one of the toughest courses on the East Coast and plays host to the state championships each year. The 5K course is constantly changing direction, going up, down and all around.

But, believe it or not, Wilson prefers hilly terrain and considers hills to be his ultimate strength. Saturday afternoon, he showed exactly why.

Wilson flew through the course, finishing with a time of 15:40 — a full 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Dylan Tarpey of Freehold Township (16:03) and accomplished his goal of setting the school record.

The funny thing is, the record had been held for 11 years by Cherokee graduate Marc Pelerin — now an assistant coach for the Chiefs — and Wilson’s mark is now a Holmdel Park record for county runners.

“Breaking the record basically means the world to me — it’s just incredible right now,” Wilson said. “Coach Pelerin and I have been having a competition of our two careers, so it’s great to take another one of his records down.”

Wilson finished the race in just about a dead sprint and said that once he hit the final straightaway, he knew he had to give it his all if he wanted to break the record.

As he crossed the finish line, he nearly collapsed from exhaustion and was held up for a few seconds by some teammates, smiling the whole time. The first to congratulate him was Pelerin, smiling ear to ear.

“He’s put in so much work; he’s been so focused and dedicated — it’s awesome,” Pelerin said. “He deserves this. He does everything that we ask of him. He’s got a good attitude and he just outworks everyone.

“I was kind of expecting him to beat it today because he’s prepared for everything and he’s got big goals in mind. It’s a record that’s stood for a long time and it’s one that had to go down.”

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