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WHEN ASKED WHY HE ROBBED BANKS, Willie Sutton once replied, "Because that's where the money is." If you want to find a coach, first visit your nearest track--because that's where the coaches are, usually beginning mid-afternoon. Even if they're not willing to coach you themselves, high school or college coaches may be able to steer you in the right direction. Coaches who train adult road racers also use tracks for speed workouts, most often in the early evening, after work. An example is the Jacksonville Track Club's Bob Carr, who assists several dozen adult runners in speed workouts each Wednesday on the Bolles High School track. But don't stop at the track. If you're looking for a coach, there are additional places where you might find, or at least identify, one: --CLINICS:
Many major road races have pre-race clinics connected with the
event, usually as a sideshow to the Expo where runners pick up
their numbers and browse through equipment displays. Check the
list of clinic speakers. In addition to guest celebrities from
out of town, there may be several local running experts, including
those who coach out-of-school runners. --CLASSES: Many major road races, particularly marathons, also have classes for the benefit of runners training for their event. For example, the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon offers a training class that attracted nearly 2000 participants before its year 2000 race. The class, under the direction of Brian Piper, Bill Fitzgerald and Tom Moran, lasts four months and features mid-week clinics in five locations and weekend workouts, also in a half dozen locations. Nor is the Chicago Marathon clinic unique. The Honolulu Marathon Clinic, begun by Jack Scaff, Jr., M.D., has been functioning for more than two decades on Sundays in Kapiolani Park, conveniently near the finish line of the marathon. In Oregon, Patti Finke, Warren Finke and Bob Williams organize a six-month training clinic aimed at the Portland Marathon. Robert Vaughan leads a training group for the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, Texas. Joining such a class provides you with a group coach at least for the period of the class and may help you to locate and identify other coaches, who later can work with you on a more personalized basis. --CAMPS: Historically, summer running camps have functioned to train high school runners (boys and girls) to get ready for the fall cross-country season. Dozens of summer running camps are scattered around the country, many of them on college campuses. Roy Benson, chairman of the RRCA coaching committee, and a private coach in Atlanta, operates summer camps for runners in North Carolina and Vermont. Benson recruits top coaches to appear at these camps to dispense advice and offer training plans to willing runners. Most other camps also have well-qualified staffs. Many college coaches offer camps on their campuses. Recently, adult runners have begun to infiltrate these once youth-oriented camps, running side-by-side with runners half their ages. Young and adult runners co-exist better than you might think, because of a mutual love of running, but lately camp directors have begun to spin-off separate weeks just for adults. Camps are good places not only to get coaching assistance for brief periods of time, but also to make contact with long-term coaches. Each spring, Runner's World and Running Times publish guides to running camps both in print and online (www.runnersworld.com/calendar/). Additional guides are carried in the March and April issues of The Harrier, a publication edited by Marc Bloom and aimed at cross-country runners. (The April issue usually has the most camps.) To obtain a copy of that issue, send $5 to: The Harrier, P.O. Box 41, Marlboro, NJ 07746. --HEALTH CLUBS: "Athletic Clubs" in major metropolitan areas traditionally served as downtown gathering places for wealthy male businessmen, who swam or played squash, but more often dined with customers or lounged in soft chairs reading The Wall Street Journal. The New York Athletic Club and the Illinois Athletic Club, founded in the late 19th century, began in this manner. So did the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the Boston Marathon, although the BAA no longer has a paying membership or club house. With the arrival of the aerobic revolution, these clubs and newly-created health clubs in many cities broadened their programs to serve a more active clientele. To stay even with the competition, privately-owned tennis clubs and YMCA's added racquetball courts, then weightlifting equipment, then running tracks. Many of these clubs have jogging classes and/or aerobics instructors, who can help with your running program. Warning: Not all of these instructors are qualified to function as a coach for a runner who is serious about improving his or her 5-K time, as opposed to achieving a level of aerobic fitness. Typically, health clubs hire young people at minimal salaries. These instructors often have physical education degrees, or a love of sports, but may not have much personal experience coaching runners. Unfortunately, they move on to better-paying jobs at about the time they learn what they're doing. That doesn't mean you won't find some highly qualified and very dedicated running coaches connected with health clubs, but it's very much an area of "buyer beware." --SCHOOLS: Whether or not the local high school has a coach willing to direct your training program, you may be able to find school-based fitness programs, particularly in the area of adult education. You're most likely to find such programs at community colleges, the so-called "junior colleges" that once served mainly as two-year feeder programs for commuter students who went on to attend larger universities, but increasingly have expanded their curriculum to encompass non-credit classes for adults seeking different educational skills, or simply something interesting to do evenings. Along with sewing classes and How to Create a Web Site, jogging and fitness classes have found a place on the curriculum. Ron Gunn, the athletic director at (two-year) Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac, Michigan pioneered a Monday-night class for joggers, who moved on to finish marathons. Gunn's class (dubbed Marathon 101) was unique when he started it in 1978. Other schools now offer similar programs. --WELLNESS AND CORPORATE CENTERS: Many hospitals now have individuals trained in exercise science on their staffs, as well as physical therapists. They sometimes have sports medicine centers and clinics. Frequently, hospitals offer classes in fitness, nutrition, walking and sometimes running. Whether or not the hospital has a specific program designed for your needs, individuals connected with the hospital may be able to point in the right direction. Similarly, many corporations provide their employees with fitness programs and have in-house health clubs. Unless you're a member of that corporation, most likely you will be unable to participate, but people in charge of the corporate fitness program may be able to offer help, or do some coaching themselves. The important point is that individuals trained in exercise science often find jobs in hospitals and corporations. Look for them. --PARK AND RECREATION DEPARTMENTS: Parks certainly are ideal places for running either individually or in groups. The park and recreation departments in many large cities often provide jogging programs. The City of Victoria Department of Parks and Recreation in British Columbia offers a six-week program of clinics for the beginning, recreational level runner, given by two instructors from the Victoria Track Club. During the summer in my home town of Michigan city, IN, two coaches from the high school run a Park District - sponsored program at the track. I often run with them. If your local park department doesn't sponsor its own program, the recreation director may at least be aware of groups using the parks. In your search for non-profit organizations sponsoring running and fitness classes, also don't overlook your local YMCA or YWCA. Those organizations offered exercise programs long before anyone coined the term "aerobics." (Many YMCA's built during the first half of this century had overhead running tracks in their gyms.) --RUNNING STORES: The specialty sport store where you buy your running shoes may be able to help you identify a coach. Not all stores are equal in this area; some are staffed by high school students, who may have little knowledge about running as a sport. For many chain sports stores, sales of running shoes may be only a side activity to the sales of T-shirts and posters linked to pro teams. In the case where the store is owned, or managed, by a runner, or runners; however, those individuals usually are happy to suggest where to find coaching help. In fact, some runners who work at stores may serve as coaches themselves. In promoting her coaching services, Diane Palmason leaves promotional information at specialty sport stores, and many other coaches do the same. --RUNNING CLUBS: Growing sources for coaching help are running clubs. The Annapolis Striders in Maryland, the Marion Pacers in South Carolina, and the Fort Wayne Track Club in Indiana are among member organizations of the Road Runners Club of America providing coaching services for their members. Whether or not your local running club has a resident coach, the officers and members of that club often know who in the community is functioning as a coach. As more and more people ask for coaching help, clubs will react and begin to provide it. How do you identify a running club if you're not a member and want to join? Answer: At all of the places above. Also, look in your local newspaper for information on local races and events. Most major newspapers carry such information, sometimes in the sports section, but often in special sections devoted to health, fitness or even entertainment. At the races, look around for runners wearing similar race singlets, such as the Houston Striders or the Buffalo Chips Running Club. Most runners are friendly when approached and happy to add new members to their organizations. Just ask! To locate your nearest RRCA member club,
contact the RRCA National Officeor view the list of RRCA clubs
on this web site. |
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