David goes above and beyond for the running community. Back when he was just getting started, traveling to Europe and racing, he would spend a week working at a CA high school running camp for a couple hundred bucks for the week. He wasn't the guy showing up and giving one talk and taking a check. He was living in a dorm room for a week and organizing activities as well as running with the kids. Now that he is with the Bay Area Track Club, he runs his BAXC cross race, which he mentioned, but he (and other members of the BATC)also puts on a high school clinic, which is one of the highlights of the year for the athletes who I coach. Between David and Magdalena Lewy Boulet, they look forward to it every year. They make our athletes excited to be out there. I'm not sure I'd go as far as to call them heroes because of these events, but I can say that running is better in our community because they are a part of our community.
This is a little long, but here is a clip from a Q and A that they did at that clinic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAtYRL-QH3I
. David gives a pretty good answer to the question, "What did you wish you knew in high school?" at about 3:45 and one about injuries at about 8:55.