University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Amber Tanner
April 26, 2021 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Amber Tanner didn't come to Georgia intent on becoming the fastest 800-meter runner in the women's track and field program's history. Tanner wanted to be the next great pentathlon or heptathlon star for the Bulldogs, but while the path she wound up on wasn't the one she expected, she said during a recent Quick Chat, "it was the perfect path for me."
After setting the indoor school record in the 800 meters last year, Tanner, a graduate runner from Brentwood, Tenn., claimed the outdoor record earlier this month, running 2:01.36 at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational at Florida, on April 17.
During our Quick Chat last week, Tanner talked about finding her path, working in social media, Nashville hot chicken, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: What has been the biggest change in you as a runner and a competitor since you first got to Georgia?
Tanner: I think just the consistency. I think I'm still the same runner I was before but having essentially four and a half years now under my belt has made a big difference.
I was actually talking to someone yesterday and we were reflecting back on my freshman year outdoor SECs when I ran a 2:09, and I remember saying how excited I was for that. That was a huge milestone and I was so pumped, and I didn't feel any differently (after running 2:01.36 at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational) — it was just a new milestone.
I think just that consistency, always staying true to myself and always believing in myself has just carried me through this whole five years.
Frierson: What got you into track and field initially, and how do you go about becoming an 800-meter runner?
Tanner: I actually was a soccer player for essentially my whole life. I started running track my sophomore year in high school, and it was actually after I tore my ACL my freshman year. I just fell in love with working out and training, and I have some friends who had run and they told me that the training that I was enjoying while doing my rehab was super similar to what they were doing (in track).
I was like, my favorite part of soccer is running, so let's go try it. I actually started out being a short hurdler, doing a little bit of 300 hurdles, 400, with just about any sprint event thrown into it.
My senior year, I decided that I was going to do the multis, so I did the pentathlon. And that's actually what led me here to Georgia because I knew how incredible a coach Petros (Kyprianou) was. I thought this is what I want to do, compete in the multis, and obviously we see that that's not how things turned out. But it's the path that led me here and I'm super grateful for it. It wasn't the path I thought it would be, but it was the perfect path for me.
It's something that I like to tell other people: You can have this idea in your head of this is how it's going to go — I'm going to win this, run this time, go to these trials — but you kind of have to trust every step of your process, and that's what's going to make you the best. It's not dependent on any other people or any other people's ideas of success, it's really up to you.
Frierson: The 800 is too long to be an all-out sprint yet not long enough to be an event in which you really pace yourself, so how hard is it finding that sweet spot?
Tanner: I think it's really difficult. I think that comes with experience. It's one of those events where, if you're fast and you go run a 100 or 200, that's still strategic but it's a little bit more of, go sprint, and it's less of the experience that you need to be good at the 800. I think that's something that has taken a while and it's something that a lot of people get frustrated with because it is such a process.
Some people can go out (first lap) in 57 (seconds) and some people need to go out in 62, but they can both finish with the same time. It's really understanding what kind of runner you are, and also just trusting your coach's understanding of that. I think this year is the ultimate point in which everything has kind of lined up and I'm really understanding the 800, which is a long time coming. It's been about 5 years and I finally feel confident, like, I know how to run an 800.
Frierson: Away from track, what do you do to get away and relax?
Tanner: Something that I've been doing that grad school has really granted me is, I've been doing a lot of social media work for various companies. When the pandemic hit, my dad, he works for a wood refinishing company that's based in Nashville, so he was reaching out to me, like, my LinkedIn needs a little work, can you help me? I was like, I have nothing else to do so why don't I just run it for you.
I basically took over his Linked In, I took over his company's franchise development Twitter, and I worked on those for the whole summer. Their marketing department actually reached out to me in August and said that they loved my work and they wanted me to come on and actually do a full-time social media position for them. I did that until about three weeks ago, when I got an offer from the third-party company that works with their social media, as well. So now I'm managing not only theirs but three other super cool campaigns.
I like to say that in my free time I like to do work, but it's fun social media work so I don't really consider it work.
Frierson: How do you feel about the Nashville hot chicken craze?
Tanner: I love it, it's amazing — Hattie B's, I wish we had a Hattie B's here because every single time I go home that is the first place I want to go. It is my favorite.
Frierson: Do you go with the super spicy version? I know some of those can kind of blow your doors off they're so hot.
Tanner: I can never do the super spicy [laughs], I usually do the medium one which I think is just enough spicy but still has flavor. I feel like if you get it too spicy, it doesn't have any flavor it's just spicy.
I've never actually eaten in Hattie B's because I first got into it when COVID was happening, but the line out the door is amazing. Any day, any time of day, it is crazy.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Tanner: Whenever COVID started, that's when I started cooking every day. I cooked a ton before that but having everything shut down, I was spending so much time at home and I would go find cool recipes.
Something I could eat every single day is definitely vegetables, which I know is an unpopular opinion. Specifically, it would probably be sweet potatoes or brussels sprouts — those two I could eat every single day and be so happy.
Frierson: I have to ask, you have an "Every Second" necklace on — what does that mean to you?
Tanner: Everyone assumes it's based on track but it's actually not. For my first birthday present from my boyfriend of almost four years now, he got me this. It was from this saying he would say to me: "I love you more and more every second." This is actually in his handwriting and he put it on my necklace, and it's my favorite present I think I've ever gotten.
I think over the years it's translated to so much more than that, and especially in these last few years of track it's really translated into giving my all every single second. Especially with everything that happened in 2020, you don't know when your last race is going to be or when your last anything is going to be, really. I think that's something that I've embodied this year, just giving truly 110% every single second that I can.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Amber Tanner didn't come to Georgia intent on becoming the fastest 800-meter runner in the women's track and field program's history. Tanner wanted to be the next great pentathlon or heptathlon star for the Bulldogs, but while the path she wound up on wasn't the one she expected, she said during a recent Quick Chat, "it was the perfect path for me."
After setting the indoor school record in the 800 meters last year, Tanner, a graduate runner from Brentwood, Tenn., claimed the outdoor record earlier this month, running 2:01.36 at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational at Florida, on April 17.
During our Quick Chat last week, Tanner talked about finding her path, working in social media, Nashville hot chicken, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: What has been the biggest change in you as a runner and a competitor since you first got to Georgia?
Tanner: I think just the consistency. I think I'm still the same runner I was before but having essentially four and a half years now under my belt has made a big difference.
I was actually talking to someone yesterday and we were reflecting back on my freshman year outdoor SECs when I ran a 2:09, and I remember saying how excited I was for that. That was a huge milestone and I was so pumped, and I didn't feel any differently (after running 2:01.36 at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational) — it was just a new milestone.
I think just that consistency, always staying true to myself and always believing in myself has just carried me through this whole five years.
Frierson: What got you into track and field initially, and how do you go about becoming an 800-meter runner?
Tanner: I actually was a soccer player for essentially my whole life. I started running track my sophomore year in high school, and it was actually after I tore my ACL my freshman year. I just fell in love with working out and training, and I have some friends who had run and they told me that the training that I was enjoying while doing my rehab was super similar to what they were doing (in track).
I was like, my favorite part of soccer is running, so let's go try it. I actually started out being a short hurdler, doing a little bit of 300 hurdles, 400, with just about any sprint event thrown into it.
My senior year, I decided that I was going to do the multis, so I did the pentathlon. And that's actually what led me here to Georgia because I knew how incredible a coach Petros (Kyprianou) was. I thought this is what I want to do, compete in the multis, and obviously we see that that's not how things turned out. But it's the path that led me here and I'm super grateful for it. It wasn't the path I thought it would be, but it was the perfect path for me.
It's something that I like to tell other people: You can have this idea in your head of this is how it's going to go — I'm going to win this, run this time, go to these trials — but you kind of have to trust every step of your process, and that's what's going to make you the best. It's not dependent on any other people or any other people's ideas of success, it's really up to you.
Frierson: The 800 is too long to be an all-out sprint yet not long enough to be an event in which you really pace yourself, so how hard is it finding that sweet spot?
Tanner: I think it's really difficult. I think that comes with experience. It's one of those events where, if you're fast and you go run a 100 or 200, that's still strategic but it's a little bit more of, go sprint, and it's less of the experience that you need to be good at the 800. I think that's something that has taken a while and it's something that a lot of people get frustrated with because it is such a process.
Some people can go out (first lap) in 57 (seconds) and some people need to go out in 62, but they can both finish with the same time. It's really understanding what kind of runner you are, and also just trusting your coach's understanding of that. I think this year is the ultimate point in which everything has kind of lined up and I'm really understanding the 800, which is a long time coming. It's been about 5 years and I finally feel confident, like, I know how to run an 800.
Frierson: Away from track, what do you do to get away and relax?
Tanner: Something that I've been doing that grad school has really granted me is, I've been doing a lot of social media work for various companies. When the pandemic hit, my dad, he works for a wood refinishing company that's based in Nashville, so he was reaching out to me, like, my LinkedIn needs a little work, can you help me? I was like, I have nothing else to do so why don't I just run it for you.
I basically took over his Linked In, I took over his company's franchise development Twitter, and I worked on those for the whole summer. Their marketing department actually reached out to me in August and said that they loved my work and they wanted me to come on and actually do a full-time social media position for them. I did that until about three weeks ago, when I got an offer from the third-party company that works with their social media, as well. So now I'm managing not only theirs but three other super cool campaigns.
I like to say that in my free time I like to do work, but it's fun social media work so I don't really consider it work.
Frierson: How do you feel about the Nashville hot chicken craze?
Tanner: I love it, it's amazing — Hattie B's, I wish we had a Hattie B's here because every single time I go home that is the first place I want to go. It is my favorite.
Frierson: Do you go with the super spicy version? I know some of those can kind of blow your doors off they're so hot.
Tanner: I can never do the super spicy [laughs], I usually do the medium one which I think is just enough spicy but still has flavor. I feel like if you get it too spicy, it doesn't have any flavor it's just spicy.
I've never actually eaten in Hattie B's because I first got into it when COVID was happening, but the line out the door is amazing. Any day, any time of day, it is crazy.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Tanner: Whenever COVID started, that's when I started cooking every day. I cooked a ton before that but having everything shut down, I was spending so much time at home and I would go find cool recipes.
Something I could eat every single day is definitely vegetables, which I know is an unpopular opinion. Specifically, it would probably be sweet potatoes or brussels sprouts — those two I could eat every single day and be so happy.
Frierson: I have to ask, you have an "Every Second" necklace on — what does that mean to you?
Tanner: Everyone assumes it's based on track but it's actually not. For my first birthday present from my boyfriend of almost four years now, he got me this. It was from this saying he would say to me: "I love you more and more every second." This is actually in his handwriting and he put it on my necklace, and it's my favorite present I think I've ever gotten.
I think over the years it's translated to so much more than that, and especially in these last few years of track it's really translated into giving my all every single second. Especially with everything that happened in 2020, you don't know when your last race is going to be or when your last anything is going to be, really. I think that's something that I've embodied this year, just giving truly 110% every single second that I can.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
Sprints/Multi-Events
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