Should High School Cross Country Coaches Run with the Team?

I should also point out that there was a long article in the paper (2 pages which is a lot in this millennial!) where they interviewed like ten former runners. Almost every one of those former runners stated how important it was to have those coaches run with them. (The head coach was a former top miler and the assistant was fairly average.) They were impressed with these people!

I also know of top CC and Track & Field coaches who did it by car. They were equally respected.

What's the old saying: "There are a lot of ways to Rome."

However the key elements must be there. The kids must be serious about the program. You cannot just post the workout and expect to see results. You cannot stand around and talk to the girls team while your boys team is out for a run!

The sports you mention are skill sports, and constant interaction is necessary for those sports. It is VERY simple when training high school distance runners.

1) "Group 1, you are running 8 miles today...out to the 4 mile mark on the bike path and back. Group 2, you are running 6 today...out to the 3 mile mark on the bike path and back." Easy to know what pace they should be running and when they should return.

2) In the team handbook, you list expectations for behavior on runs, and then you make them all sign to abide -- this includes doing the run prescribed and running where told to run. You consistently tell them to represent the school in the best way possible. Any variation from the plan is cause for punishment.

3) So, if the coach is too old or slow to run with the team or bike with the team, then he can't be a coach any more?

Coaches should not be running with their athletes. Just because they might want to doesn't make it right.

NoXCinCoach wrote:

H.S. Coach #73698 wrote:...if you're doing track workouts with the kids, you're a tool.

Bingo. This annoys me to no end. Even worse when it is a male coach of a girls' team.

Then I must be a tool and annoy you :-)

Usually only happens for longer workouts and one of my athletes is miles beyond the rest. 5:00 miler vs 5:30 or slower team.

*Remember I am one that started out running with the kids but ran with them less and less over the years. Read my earlier posts.

Maybe instead of coaches running with the kids you would prefer that they do all of their workouts on the track or on a dirt circle? How long do you think that will be considered fun? (Hard core athletes do not mind running in circles though I think many kids might be turned off by this.) There have been some great programs that do all their running in a circle. But they are also well supervised.

Your reasoning is faulty especially in these times. We know now that kids must be supervised. Sport is not always going to be fun. In addition the coach must have enthusiasm for what he is doing. If he doesn't know the kids it's not going to be much fun. The kids will also feel this way.

Like I said before, the coach does not always have to run with them but should supervise them by bike or car for sure. I do not think that running with them leads to immaturity but rather to maturity. Isn't that what we are trying to do, make boys into men or girls into women?

This has been an interesting thread because it has made me think about something I never considered before. (Remember I am one that started out running with the kids but ran with them less and less over the years. Read my earlier posts.)

It's not wrong to run with the kids. Like everything else it's HOW you do it.

I don't think there is a standard answer. I did sometimes, but most of the times I didn't. Yes, sometimes I used it as a veiled opportunity to get a workout in, but I never forgot my job is to coach. With new runners for example, it's hard to teach fartlek without demonstrating and sometimes it easier to run with them to show them the course. However, as others have stated, you don't want to be a helicopter coach and disrupt the bonding that occurs when the coach is not around. I have some found HSXC memories of some stupid things we did on runs when the coach was not around. At the end of the day, we always had TCs and older runners who made sure we got the workout in. I've had coaches who were too fat to run or even ride a bike and I've had coaches who where very fit and his easy run was a workout; it worked out either way.

A coach is out there busting himself and that annoys you?

Jealous much?

Yes...sit there and wait for them to come back, or run around in circles while you wait (so you can see if someone needed to come back early). I knew someone would defend this behavior, but it just isn't right. High school coaches should not be running with their athletes. Bad form.[/quote]

I wonder if you are just trying to get replies. What if some of the kids don't come back? What if they go into someone's house while they are out running?

You do not know what they might do.

It's doubtful that you have coached before as a head coach.

fasdfsdfs wrote:

What do you say, high school cross country coaches? Is it better to ride a bike to more quickly go between different groups, take a vehicle, or run with the team?

After ten years as a varsity head coach of cc and also 12 total years as a track & field coach, using a car is the best way. It's the safest but I would be leery of picking up a kid of either sex nowadays! But you can get help quicker.

There are times when you can run with them and I see nothing wrong with it.

Flagpole will have to give better arguments from a coach/athletic director viewpoint.

Yeah.. were you ever a kid? Did you ever dirty talk??

My daughter is a freshman on one of the top teams in our state, but the coach really emphasizes participation and has 90+ runners (many with almost no experience). The boys and girls both have strong team leaders and they do what they are supposed to do. On distance runs, he runs with them sometimes but stays with the group in the back because the ones in the front know where they are going. I don't understand objections to an approach like this.

Centrowitz it is...Yes! wrote:

Flagpole will have to give better arguments from a coach/athletic director viewpoint.

If he could have, he would have, "Run It Up The Flagpole."

But he didn't because he couldn't.

Bitter guy. Kind of a"Drip." Referring to him as a "Wet Blanket" would offend blankets everywhere. Soggy white bread seems a closer comparison.

Happyjack wrote:

Centrowitz it is...Yes! wrote:

Flagpole will have to give better arguments from a coach/athletic director viewpoint.

If he could have, he would have, "Run It Up The Flagpole."

But he didn't because he couldn't.

Bitter guy. Kind of a"Drip." Referring to him as a "Wet Blanket" would offend blankets everywhere. Soggy white bread seems a closer comparison.

Flagpole is a busybody with no kids of her own, but she knows exactly how you should raise yours.

flagpole=hot air wrote:

Happyjack wrote:

If he could have, he would have, "Run It Up The Flagpole."

But he didn't because he couldn't.

Bitter guy. Kind of a"Drip." Referring to him as a "Wet Blanket" would offend blankets everywhere. Soggy white bread seems a closer comparison.

Flagpole is a busybody with no kids of her own, but she knows exactly how you should raise yours.

Wow. I'm sorry. I thought I was talking to a he, not a she. Had I'd known, I'd not have used the word "Drip." Could be mistaken for a sexist comment. Not my intent.

Please forgive me if my words were harsh. I meant to direct them towards a male not a female.

H.J.

Hdhdjdjd wrote:

No. Separation of roles. You coach they run. Run on your own time.

WRONG, as long as the coach is actually faster than the kids, then they are good pace setters. They don't need to do that for every run, but it's good to keep them honest and get the most out of them.

Ummm most hs teams aren't big. If you go state by state and team by team I think you'll find out that most teams are relatively small. Hate to break the news to you.

Another vote for "it depends"... I agree with many of Flagpole's comments and concerns. They are valid. The only point where I disagree with him is on his hard fast line of NEVER NO WAY EVER EVER EVER...

Running the route backwards so you make sure everyone is on the right course and not lost, starting behind and catching up for the same purpose, on very easy days, or the oft mentioned recent college grad that can help the fastest runners pace.. all legit reasons in my book.

fasdfsdfs wrote:

What do you say, high school cross country coaches? Is it better to ride a bike to more quickly go between different groups, take a vehicle, or run with the team?

Ran with the kids and they really appreciated it and wouldn't bellyache about workouts and long runs because I was right there with them so knew how tough it could be.

You really don't know what you are talking about. Honestly. You think that they reason a tennis coach would be on the court with players is the absence of a hitting partner?

How are you going to give a pace to kids on a mountain trail run, especially when they don't do the same trails all the time? That's just silly.

A good program doesn't have kids that struggle? What????? I'm dumbfounded by that remark.

You have zero credibility and really should stop posting. It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed for you.

The right answer here is "sometimes" and it depends on "how you do it".