your first 2 sentences sums it up.
your first 2 sentences sums it up.
No, it's true and not even worth lying about. I never said my team was remotely competitive. That's part of the reason I want them to become "geekier." This is just a small part of my assault on the previously-existing team culture.
Maybe all of my workouts should be like Tom's. "Now we will run all out for three minutes and fifty-three seconds, because that's Alan Webb's high school mile time. If this doesn't make you remember who he is, I don't know what will!"
Over the years I slowly became interested in the sport. My freshman year, we had a guy running like 4:1x / 9:1x and I was just amazed at how fast he was. Even more amazing was seeing that he wasn't even the top guy at most meets.
After that, I slowly found websites, like dyestat and what not, and then one day I stumbled upon the video of Alan Webb smashing the high school record in the mile and that just turned me completely on to the sport. I was shocked someone could run a 3:53 mile, much less a high schooler.
Perhaps showing them that video or maybe other videos like Nike Cross Nationals/Foot Locker Nationals would help? An exciting video where the stands were up and screaming, like when Obea Moore chased down that guy at the California state meet in the 4x400 (though maybe that one for Sprinters...), or maybe just some motivational record-breaking-exciting race.
I'm a junior in high school now and I remember some people from my team going to Arcadia my freshman year. I wasn't fast enough to make the team, but our team was pretty good back then. So I followed Arcadia and heard about a crazy fast runner called Jordan Hasay, and it was there that I started getting interested in the sport and following Hasay and learning about Christine Babcock, Laurynne Chetelat, etc. I started running more and started going on places like this to learn about the sport... I was amazed by the times people like Hasay were running (I watched her break the 1500 HSR on TV) and I think it motivated me in a way.
i didn't know who Pre was until i was 18, and they made 2 movies about him while i was in HS. I saw a picture of Bob Kennedy, and saw that he ran fast, but b/c he didn't run the 1600 or 3200, i didn't really comprehend how good he was.
then in july of '99, i was in hawaii on vacation (summer before senior year) and i was watching ESPN and for about a minute, i heard, " 'gibbidy goobidy' broke the world record for the mile running 3:40 something." I knew it was fast, i couldn't pronounce his name, and that was all there was to it.
I give this background, b/c i was your typical high school runner--intimidated by fast people, wanted to get better, and thought that I had a good future with the sport, but felt neglected by the coaching/ team.
since you asked for help, i think that HS kids want role-models. today's students also enjoy the internet quite a bit. show them flotrack, and introduce them to interviews of other high school kids. I loved the "High School Runner" magazine that Runners World put out--even though it was the same issue. While i couldn't tell you who Pre was, i could tell you who Jorge and Eduaro Torres were in 1997. Flotrack is a great tool for you--email them links to cool vids/ races. they'll start clicking around and exploring on their own.
how about spending more time coaching your team and less worrying about what professional runners they have heard of. who cares what they know, they run cross country/track because they want to run, that doesn't mean they should give two shits about the professional running world. clearly they're concentrating on their own running, so let it be.
It will happen slowly Coach. I coached at a team that was awful and had zero running culture when I started there as well. I think one of the more helpful things (aside from what you are already doing in talking to them about it) is using guys they already know. "Chris Solinsky just broke the American Record in the 10K in 26:59, to put that in perspective for you, remember Joe Blow who won the district title in the 3200m last year? Well he just ran a 10K for his college in 32:18 last week."
As your athletes start to get into competing a bit, they will want to start learning about who they are competing against, and then it can grow from there. My guys started by learning who the top runners in the league were, and as they got closer to them in times, they start looking at who are the top runners in the state, then at the national level.
Some of your athletes will never care, but many, once they actually enjoy competing, will grow into the sport as they get older.