Rusty McCrea

Running came to me much like it comes to most of the people who begin running.  I wasn't very good at other sports.  In fact, in football they called me "Stone Hands" because I couldn't catch a pass to save my life.  I had never been very good at school so I really did not have anything going for me, or so I felt.  Then came 7th grade track.  I was forced into the middle distances, which was one of those life changing moments that was thrust upon me.  I ran the 800 and the mile and all of the sudden I was good at something.  I didn't win, but I beat all of the kids in my class and most of the kids in the race.  I was pumped!  From that moment on I was a runner.

In high school I competed for Nampa Christian.  I became a 9 time individual state champion in different events ranging from the 800 to cross country.  I learned to love the pain involved in running and racing as much as I had first hated it.  Later I ran for both Boise State University where I was third in the WAC in the 1500 and Northwest University where I was 7th at NAIA Nationals in the steeple chase two years in a row. 

During and after college I have been able to work with some of the most successful coaches in the country, and have learned a great deal from those coaches.  It is now my passion to help other people gain some of what I have gained from the discipline of running, and from the excitement of seeing oneself improve.  Most of my best runs have not been races, but long runs alone in the Boise Foothills running through the trees and sagebrush near the top feeling really truly alive.  I think very few people get to feel that rush even once in their life, and I can feel it nearly any time I want to.  Distance running is an accomplishment all by itself.  Whether you are the first or last person in a race you have done something truly difficult that you can be proud of.  That is what I want my athletes to feel.  Below are just three lessons that I have taken with me into all aspects of my life that I learned primarily from running. 

"Success Builds Success"- Improvement in one area of life helps improve an entire person. The disciplines that it takes to become a better runner will also make better students and citizens out of young men and women.

"If you do what you've always done you'll get what you've always gotten"- Improvement in athletics does not come by chance. If you aren't improving after an extended time change things. If life isn't working for you, change the way you approch it. It sounds too simple, but change takes change.

"Wherever you are, Be there"- We live in a society where people rarely take the time to enjoy the moment they are in. One can find enjoyment in the pains of getting into shape, the discipline of running when no one is looking, and the elation of achieving a hard earned goal. I want people to celebrate those moments as they happen.