When you’re skating at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, it’s easy to feel inspired.

The Olympic rings, the banners, the history … everywhere you look, greatness stares right back at you.

It’s also the home of U.S. Speedskating .

And for me, that meant trying to go a little faster around the ice. During my warmup laps, I pushed as hard as I could.

My best time? One minute and 23 seconds for a single 400-meter loop. Not bad for an amateur, but it got me thinking, what does fast really look like?

That’s when I decided to ask Olympic bronze medalist Casey Dawson, a Park City native and the U.S. national record holder in the 5,000-meter, if he would race me.

I had been covering Dawson for about five years, so we had a good working relationship.

He agreed it would be fun.

Dawson sh

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