I was born in South Africa and was inspired by the first sub-4 minute mile by Roger Banister in the early 1950s. At 19 years old, I ran in the same race as the great Peter Snell (last man to win the 1500 and the 800 in the same Olympics in 1964). Finished WELL behind him, but did get to meet his great coach ARTHUR LYDIARD. This started my interest in following a successful training system. It was a - LONG, TOUGH journey! Never ran more than 6 miles in my life, so 18 - 20 miles was a mountain to climb! I worked on it and got up to 70 to 80+ miles a week (not the 100 Arthur recommended).

From there, I was lucky to get an offer for a full scholarship to Howard Payne College in 1967. Very average in college, but did run a 3:52 PR once I returned to my hometown. Two years later, I moved to Waco to work on an MBA.

I graduated from Baylor University with an MBA in late December 1972. I started coaching a former New Zealand Olympian (a sprinter) who was married to a Baylor professor, and wanted to try for a come back. She ran the 200m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 8 years later, she was still faster than me over a 100m! Through her I met two great people, one was the great Robert Vaughan of Dallas.

THE BEGINNING OF METROPLEX STRIDERS

Robert and I formed the Metroplex Striders Track Club in early 1973. The club was for women/girls only - since there was only a boys club in Dallas at that time. Initial members included Miki H (late Miki Snell), Doreen Porter (1964 New Zealand Olympic sprinter), other women and Junior high girls. Early great runners included KATHY VETTER (2:07, 880 yards), soon followed by great sprinters, long jumpers and hurdles. Most won or placed high in both Texas State meets and USA national championships. Robert Vaughan guided this process, worked with sprinters etc, while teaching me how to coach middle and long distance runners. He still is a brilliant coach to this day!

First, only women, then later boys and men were added. Robert started working with older, great women, including the fantastic Francie Larruie Smith. I kept working with younger runners well into the late 1990s. From there, started the camp and kept working with runners who were motivated to get better - not all great, but most improved

A WAVE OF TALENT

The second wave of great high school girl runners included - Cindy Tolle, Juanita Wilson, Sis Robinson and Robin Packholder, all could run the MILE in under 4:50! CINDY TOLLE (Plano HS ) held the UIL State meet record for 23 years starting in the late 1980's!

So the STRIDERS held the UIL mile/1600m record for 33 years!!!!

In the 1990's high school track for girl runners became more important, so club coaching became more difficult. So, after the great Michelle Byrne from Richardson, I stepped away from coaching HS runners for a few years. Michelle went on to a great career at the outstanding program at the University of Arkansas. Later, I coached her to many post collegiate PRs, including a top USA finish in the World Half Marathon Championships. Michelle was a great inspiration to Strider runners in the early 2000's, after I returned to coaching - she showed both boys and girls HOW to train! In my return, I began working with Emily Field and Jessa Vassec. Without these two, I might have never return to high school coaching.

In the early 2000's I worked with a number of REALLY good runners! This started with the Lyndsay and Erin Bedell, Logan Sherman, Robert Morrow, Krystal Rodriguez, Valirey Lawer, Cameron Villarreal, Rachel Johnson and MANY MORE!!! There was a major surge in camp numbers at this time. At one point, Metroplex Striders hosted 3 camps per summer. Runners from all over the state gathered together for a week at at time to train together and learn from each other.

FORMER ELITE CAMPERS

ERIN BEDELL

While at Plano West, Erin had one of the most amazing accomplishments in UIL History! Bedell broke the Texas 800m and 23 year old 1600m record in TWO HOURS.

Erin went on to attend Baylor University where she went on the win the Big 12 1500m. She also competed in multiple USATF Championships in the 3k Steeplechase. Erin was a representative for Team USA multiple times and has been a professional runner, representing Adidas.

LOGAN SHERMAN

Logan was a Texas State Champion for JJ Pearce HS and attended Texas A&M University. Logan is a chiropractor in Dallas and uses his experiences to better help his patients. Dr. Sherman is also a BMW Dallas Marathon and Cowtown Marathon Champion.

CAMERON VILLARREAL

Cameron attended Arlington Martin where he qualfied for Nike XC Nationals, USA XC Championships, and ran a 4:08 full mile. He continued his running career at Texas A&M, where he is listed among the school's all-time top 10 lists in six different events. Cam was an NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifier twice in the 1500 meters (2015, 2018) and once in the 5000 meters (2018). He was listed on the Texas A&M Athletic Director's Honor Roll seven times and was named to the SEC Honor Roll three years.

RACHEL JOHNSON

Rachel ran for Plano HS when she attended Striders XC Camp. Rachel was arguably the best Cross Country Strider ever. In the span of a week, she won the Nike XC National Championships and was runner-up at the Footlocker Cross Country Championships. She continued her running career at Baylor University where she was voted the Cross Country Runner of the DECADE!

Since completing her eligibility from Baylor in 2015, Johnson has competed in the steeplechase at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and finished seventh in the 2016 USATF 5K Championship on the roads.

During her time at Baylor, Johnson captured a gold medal for Team USA in the steeplechase at the 2014 NACAC Under-23 Championships and was 4x Big 12 Champion. That same year, she placed fifth in the event at the USATF Outdoor Championships in a personal-best 9:41.56.

It has been a great journey - still looking ahead!