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<strong>A closer look at the people behind the magic...</strong></p>
Kevin Akers exhorts a runner in a race early this spring. Colorado Track XC file photo.
With the slower months of summer upon us, we resume our series of coach profiles. First up for the summer is Longmont's cross country and assistant track coach Kevin Akers:
Tell us a little about your time with the Central Missouri State Mules--what you studied there, what you ran, a highlight or two of your career there...
I was at CMSU (now the University of Central Missouri) from 2002-2006. Kirk Pedersen and Kip Janvrin were my coaches and I learned a great deal from them. I studied exercise physiology because it seemed like a fun study area for a runner, and it was! Lifetime PRs are: 1500 4:04, 3000 8:52 (altitude converted), 5000 15:17. I would say the highlights were being around teammates like Jon Dalby, who most people in Colorado have heard of, and many more you've never heard of. Training, racing, eating, and traveling together are the most fond memories I have. Actual times/places highlights are pretty scarce. I was involved in a car accident at the end of my freshman year and it took awhile to get over that, mostly because I was an impatient and immature young runner.
How did you get from Central Missouri to Lyons--where I believe your coaching career began.
Lyons was my first coaching gig. I worked at Boulder Running Company for seven years. Greg Weich still works there and introduced Mark Roberts to me when I first started. Mark is the easiest person in the world to talk to and we would chat everytime he brought his kids in about anything and everything running related. I can recall one instance where we talked about the Olympic Trials Marathon for close to an hour while I was "working." All of his kids besides Paul were practically pulling him out the door (Paul loves to listen to Dad and anyone else talk running). One day he invited me over for dinner and asked me to coach the distance runners, and I said yes. Outside of asking my wife to marry me, it is probably the best decision I've made in my life.
A lot of great things happen in the Lyons track and cross country programs. Tell us one invaluable thing you gained from your time there.
This is a tough question to answer because there are so many tremendous advantages Lyons has. I would have to say just being around Mark Roberts for four years was the most invaluable thing. So often you hear about the "art of coaching," and he really has that down on many levels. I could give you examples until you tell me to stop. The number one thing I learned from Mark is that your attitude, effort, and commitment level as a coach are more important than your balancing of mileage versus intensity, your taper plan, racing strategy, etc. If you love the kids, they'll love you back and that goes farther in the development of student athletes than anything else.
You've now been the coach of the cross country program at Longmont for two years. What have been a few of the challenges of taking over a program that struggled in the time before you got there, and what are some highlights from what's happened since you got there?
The biggest challenge so far has been getting kids out for cross country. We had 17 my first year and 25 last year. Every year I was at Lyons we had more than that. Considering the enrollment at Longmont is nearly sixfold of Lyons, it was a bit of a shock at first that there was so little interest in cross country. The same was true during track, there are several instances where kids don't want to run 400, or anything longer, because "it's a distance race."
I think the success Longmont has had in the explosive sports had almost made cross country an afterthought. There isn't much distance running tradition, at least not yet. I think there were back to back boys state titles in the 1950's. There have been two girls individual state champions: Stacy Crystal in 1977 or 1978 and Jennifer Ward in 1985. Changing the way it is viewed in the general school population has been a challenge as well. There were four girls my first year who were embarrassed to do strides on the track while the football team was on the infield. Those types of attitudes have slowly faded, and kids are proud to say they run cross country.
Lastly would have to be testing of my own patience. My high school and college teams were fairly successful and my time at Lyons was highly successful. I didn't fully realize how large of a challenge was ahead until St. Vrain Cross Country my first year. We didn't have a girls team score and our boys were last place. To come from back-to-back track state titles on both the boys and girls side, plus several top-five finishes in XC while at Lyons, to that meet was humbling to say the least. I realized right then and there it was going to take some time.
All that said, it has been really fun to watch the progression of the team both from a results standpoint and a bonding standpoint. From a results standpoint, we had two boys break 19 my first year and I think eight the second year. On the girls side, we had no girls break 22 the first year, and five broke 22 the second year. I know the times aren't crazy fast but it was a good feeling at the end of the year to know we're making solid progress. From a bonding perspective, I would say the kids are a unit now instead of being a group of individuals which is more satisfying than anything else. Their new favorite post-run activity this summer is to pile in the same car(s) and get slurpees from 7-11. In the past, once practice was over, the kids all just went their separate ways. Now they'll hang around and chat after practice or hang out together. I know most of my best friends to this day are my high school XC teammates, and I think the kids at Longmont would say the same right now.
You are widely recognized as one of the more animated coaches in the state. I enjoy seeing that in a coach. Is that part of the warp and woof of your personality, or is it something that comes out mostly during races?
I would say I have a fairly normal temperament most of the time. When we're at practice, I would say the same thing unless the kids are running a workout. For some reason, when the kids are running fast in practice or during a race I get excited--to say the least. It has been really difficult to not go crazy for some of the Lyons kids I still have a connection with (haha). A few of the kids at Longmont are scared by me the first time I go ballistic even though I try to prep them for it on pre meet day. Eventually most of the kids make fun of me for acting like a crazed lunatic.
Your day job has changed a little recently. Tell us something about that. What does the future hold for you in that area?
I had spent the past seven years working at Boulder Running Company and Jeff Boele had worked there nine years. Jeff is the distance coach at Lyons, the most underrated coach in the state, in my opinion, and one of my best friends. Recently an opportunity came up for Jeff Boele and I to become part owners of a new running shop in Longmont. We're partnering with former Lyons runner Colin Anderson, Colin's father Roger Anderson, former Thompson Valley runner Dave Zakavec, and a Lyons parent Mike Donohoe. Our concept is actually half running store, half taproom and will be called Shoes and Brews.
Jeff and I will head up the running side of the store. We'll have separate entrances but will be the same business under one roof. On the shoes side we'll carry Adidas, Asics, Brooks, Hoka, Mizuno, New Balance, Nike, and Saucony.
I don't think Shoes and Brews will change coaching too much for me. I've been balancing the two jobs for a few years now, the new one will have a bit more responsibility, but I'm going to spend 45 fewer minutes in the car each day. I think the two complement each other very well, and it keeps me balanced. Sometimes there is nothing better after a day of work than getting to be around teenagers for two hours! I'm more worried about finding a balance with the new baby my wife and are I expecting the week of St. Vrain XC than anything else.