A RUNNER’S HISTORY

MY ROOTS

One day I went for a run during a “chose your own activity” session in eighth grade gym class. As they say, the rest is history.

The strange kid who actually enjoyed the mile run during fitness testing eventually joined the track team in high school. Nothing especially impressive happened during my high school career and I assumed that part of life was behind me. Yet, the unexpected chance to join the first track team in school history presented itself during my freshman year of college. My minimal talents were back in action once again, this time in the slow heat of the 1500m at Division III meets across the upper midwest.

When the school decided to launch cross country the following fall, my purest running love was born. The swelter and anonymity of the summer “trial of miles” gave berth to the crisp fall morning team runs along the River Road. And the races. Each one with it’s own truly unique place in time and history, different even from the previous year’s experience. The team score, the sense of pure competition with yourself and the opponent. Still to this day you will never convince me that there is a more pure form of competition than a small college conference championship meet among committed runners.

Somehow, despite my minimal talents the opportunity to be a captain in track and cross country presented itself in such a young program. Equally baffling was earning an all-conference award in track my senior year for total point accumulation over three events (steeple, 1500 & 3200m relay). Yet my eligibility was expired before my degree was complete and the man who gave me a shot to be a college runner also gave me a chance to lead my former teammates as an assistant coach.

COACHING AND THE MARATHON

Over the following 16 years it has been my great privilege to have coached cross country and track while also guiding several runners in their marathon preparation. In the years following my graduation I became a sponge for anything and everything running related. The spartan Cerutty, legendary Lydiard and of course iconic Bowerman. Canova, Daniels, Dellinger, Vigil. Whatever I could find I tried to synthesize into something 19-20 year old kids with minimal talents could use to become their best version of Snell, Zatopek and of course Pre (though we were more influenced by more recent names like Goucher, Kennedy, Benoit and Tollefson because we were in Minnesota of course).

Though I acquired several national coaching certifications and a masters degree in kinesiology, the students and runners I got to coach taught me more about the sport than any classroom or text book ever could. I fell in love with competitive running because of the team and my coaching has continued to be carried by the love each runner has for the sport and their team.

During my early post-collegiate running I found the marathon for my own personal running goals and managed to fit in 10 races despite the rigorous demands of coaching and working full time in college athletics. Though, in my heart believe I have yet to tap my max potential as a marathoner, I did train well enough to run 5k, 10k and 10 mile personal bests that were better than what I earned in college. Using my own experience and knowledge as a coach to guide my own training, I also developed an approach that helped the college runners I coach become faster, more confident and often competitively successful runners.

CURRENTLY

After a 17 years working as a head coach at the college and high school level and also covering Minnesota high school cross country/track & field through the Flosports/MilesplitMN website, I am currently serving as an assistant for the boys and girls cross country programs at Concordia Academy, Roseville and working for the registrar at Northern Illinois University in athletic eligibility.

My heart is to one day earn the opportunity to once again lead college program but for now I’m serving my family of two boys and, Allison, my wife of almost 11 years as we await the arrival of a baby girl in April 24. I’m also training for a 33 mile run around the Minneapolis Grand Grounds Parkway for 30 for Freedom to raise money for sex trafficking victim rehabilitation. You can find out more about that effort HERE.