He Has Raced to the Front of His Family : Cross-country: Martin Brix, University High sophomore, is one of the top runners in the county.

Martin Brix finally can outrun anyone in his family, which means he can outrun most in high school cross-country.

Brix, a University sophomore, faces stiff competition from his athletic relatives. Consider:

* His father, Bjarne, is a former national kayaking champion from Denmark and coached the Time Machine U.S.A. running club in Mission Viejo from 1984-93.

* His sister, Tanja, won the Southern Section 3-A Division 3,200 meters in 1992 as a senior at University. She is a junior on the UC Irvine cross-country team.

* His mother, Edith, also is a runner and helped Bjarne coach Time Machine.

Five years ago, when Brix was a precocious 11-year-old breaking into the national cross-country scene, he told a reporter his only goal was to beat Tanja.

That goal was surpassed long ago.

These days, Brix finds family runs--which typically start at the beach near El Moro Canyon and wind into the hills--an easy day.

“Basically, he is running too fast, now,” Bjarne said. The rest of Orange County is beginning to discover just how fast Brix can run.

Brix, 16, won the Division II sophomore race in 15:14 Sept. 30 at the Dana Hills Invitational and had the fastest time by a county athlete, finishing second in 15:25 Oct. 7 at the Central Park Invitational.

Although Brix has enjoyed his recent success, he sees the sport as little more than a recreational activity.

“It’s just something to do,” he said. “I like it and it’s fun. If I wanted to quit, I could. My parents wouldn’t mind.”

Brix first came on the scene in 1990, when he placed eighth in the the Midget division (ages 11-12) at the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships at Omaha, Neb. A few months later, he won the Midget division 1,500 and 3,000 meters at the TAC national championships at Lafayette, La.

Running aficionados predicted great things from Brix. Bjarne said his son’s talent was clear at an early age.

“I think you can always tell by looking at the way they are running, the form, and you can see it in the times,” he said.

But soon after his first few successes, Brix disappeared from the national running scene. He spent the past two years in Oslo after Bjarne was transferred there for his job as a software engineer.

Brix, who grew up skateboarding in Southern California, found himself attending a strict, British international school in a cold, foreign country.

“[Norway] would be a great place to visit but not live,” he said.

But as far as his running career went, Norway might have been a blessing in disguise. Displaced from his normal running routine and the pressure to compete in national races, Brix took a year off from serious training.

The break couldn’t have come at a more opportune time--his body was going through a growth spurt and his knees needed time to form without taking a pounding every day.

Last year, Brix began running again with a local track club in Oslo, which ran short distances. Brix looked forward to returning to the United States to resume his cross-country training.

“It was a good timing,” Bjarne said. “When he came back he was more enthusiastic.”

But Brix also was enthusiastic about returning to his American school and friends. One of Brix’s favorite hobbies is collecting reptiles.

He has played surrogate father to a string of lizards, snakes, spiders and rats over the years--”any kind of creep,” as Bjarne explains them, but no mammals, which take too much time for his busy schedule.

Brix’s knowledge of nature greatly pleased the 6- and 8-year-old daughters of University Coach Janice Rolfing at a team camping retreat near San Diego this summer--he knew right where to look to find tree frogs.

Rolfing said Brix is a typical teen-ager.

“Running is certainly high on his list of priorities, but . . . he likes to laugh it up with the guys,” she said.

But Brix certainly is not a typical high school runner.

“He is a very talented young man,” Rolfing said. “A lot of times you get a high school athlete that has a lot of ability but they don’t have the racing background. . . . He knows what it takes to be a great athlete and he knows how disciplined you have to be and I think a lot of that comes from his home environment.”

But before Brix’s family can teach him anything more about running, they’ll have to catch him first.