This article was taken from the Flathead Lake Distance Running Camp notebook.
Pat tyson, the former coach of the highly successful Mead High School Boy's Cross Country Team was a speaker at a distance running clinic held in Bozeman early in 1995, and gave great insight into his highly successful program. Mead High School won 9 consecutive State 3A titles in Washington (1988-1996). The Mead Boys had been ranked #1 in the country in 1992 & 1993.
1. Family:
The first step in building a strong distance running program is to develop a sense of family to the program. At Mead High School this is done in many different ways. One is to have the team members feel they really know one another, and feel that they can count on each other. This is accomplished through team activities such as Pizza nights, movie nights and BBQs. Another way of developing a family feeling is to have the younger runners feel that they are part of the program from day one. THis is done by having the older runners work with the younger runners early. Have the Junior High kids workout with the High School team every once in a while.
2. Tradition:
The second step for success in developing a distance program is to instill pride into the program by helping the runners to realize the tradition of the program. Every runner should realize that a successful program is maintained year after year and that a major goal for each season is not to let down the rest of the runners who have gone through the programs in the past. No runner wants to be on the team that loses the first dual meet in 117 meetings, or wants to be on the team that loses the state title for the first time in seven years.
3. Road Trips:
All team members go on road trips, and they all represent the team. Varsity supports Junior Varsity, Boys teams support the Girls teams, the program works together to help the whole. Road trips are a fun way to reward hard work with results that help to show the teams success to others and themselves.
4. The Eugene Experience:
Take a group to Eugene, Oregon to watch the Prefontaine Meet. Let the young runners see the great college and open runners to see what can happen with a lot of hard work and a bit of luck. Eugene is one place this can happen. It has been called Track Town, USA for over twenty years. Other big races can accomplish the same thing. The Mountain West Cross Country Classic held in Missoula each fall is a great opportunity for a chance to see great runners compete.
5. Summer Camp:
Try to have all runners attend a summer running camp. This is a great opportunity to have them learn about the sport, and make new friends in running. The best way to get a young runner motivated about running is to get them to get into an area surrounded by runners and running.
6. The Five Oregon Principles:
- Moderation - Try not to overdo it. In time you will progress to the level it will take to reach your goals. It is better to stay healthy, then to overdo it and be hurt and sick all the time. In some cases, moderation is the smart way.
- Progression - By building your workouts and milage at a processed level, you will be able to get stronger without getting injured. Try not to do too much too soon. Gradually increase mileage and intensity as you work through your training program.
- Variety - Try to keep workouts and courses fresh. This will help to keep runners from becoming bored and stale. Runners will then tend to have more fun.
- Adaptation - Remember, to reach a goal in a race, a runner must have adapted to similar stresses in training. If we want to have successful races, we should aim to have successful training sessions. Gradually build stress up so that the body will be able to recover sufficiently for the next workout or race.
- Callousing - This is a principle that teaches a runner to be able to run through discomfort. Runners should attempt workouts that will toughen his or her mental abilities. An example would be that if a runner wants to run will in heat, they should train for it. One way would be to train in several layers of sweat suits to prepare the mind for the physical and mental discomfort, which will be encountered while racing in hot weather.
7. Publications
Have young runners read about their sport. There are several magazines and books available about the spot. Some of these magazines are: Track and Field News, The Harrier Magazine, The Cross Country Express, Running Times, and Runner's World.