Got Coach?

I believe most athletes, whether professional, hardcore amateurs or weekend types will acknowledge the  value of a coach and how essential he or she is to their athletic careers. I know professional athletes acknowledge, accept and adhere to their coaches training philosophies. If not, the athlete's probability of success will be greatly diminished. It's the coaches way or the highway.

In the world of track and field there have been many trailblazing and renowned coaches. Bowerman, Lydiard, Squires, Dellinger  to name a few. I'm quite sure track and field aficionados have their favorite legendary coach. While it may not be possible to be coached by a legend, you will nevertheless benefit.

This much I know, self coached athletes, rarely, if ever really improve or reach their full potential.

Run, don't walk to the nearest coach.

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Hall inductee Griak had knack for coaching runners

Longtime University of Minnesota cross country coach Roy Griak will be honored Sept. 15 by being inducted into the DECC Athletic Hall of Fame, along with former major-league pitcher Jerry Ujdur, two-time Olympic ski jumper Jim Denney and Larry Ross, the late International Falls hockey coach.

By: Rick Weegman, Duluth News Tribune

Garry Bjorklund is certain his running career would have been an uphill struggle if he hadn’t run for Roy Griak.

The former U.S. Olympian from Twig and Proctor High School, who ran for Griak at the University of Minnesota from 1969-74, credits the longtime cross country and track and field coach with kickstarting his career.
“It’s entirely due to Roy,” he said. “I came out of high school and people thought I was a miler. I wasn’t a miler and Roy knew that immediately. Even though I dragged my heels, Roy shifted me up (to longer distances) and by the spring of my freshman year I was running 10,000 meters and making the national team.
“I would have been a fair cross country runner and a mediocre miler at the college level. Instead, Roy found a niche for me where I really belonged. I was blessed to have a coach like that.”
Griak had that knack with dozens of runners during 33 years (1963-96) as Gophers cross country and track coach. The venerable 86-year-old from Morgan Park will be honored Sept. 15 by being inducted into the DECC Athletic Hall of Fame, along with former major-league pitcher Jerry Ujdur of Hermantown, two-time Olympic ski jumper Jim Denney of Duluth and Larry Ross, the late International Falls hockey coach, who grew up in Duluth.
Griak, who resides in Plymouth, Minn., remains active in the Minnesota program. He’s in his 15th season as a full-time administrative assistant for cross country and track, taking care of scheduling, budget and equipment duties, while planning special events, projects and fundraisers.
“I have a passion for it,” he said. “I like to be around the young men, to be able to give them pearls of wisdom, whatever they may be, and I like to watch the young coaches we have on the staff. I don’t get involved in their business, but am very observant of what kind of teachers they are and how they handle the personnel.”
Enjoyed growing up in Duluth
Griak attended Stowe Elementary and Morgan Park High School. Before graduating in 1942, he delivered the News Tribune as a paperboy in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
“I remember my Duluth days,” said Griak, who retains a detailed memory. “I had 135 customers and had to deliver those big stacks on Sunday morning. My mother, my brother and two sisters would help me; I put them all to work and gave them about two-bits (25 cents) to help me.”
Griak played basketball and ran track at Morgan Park, which did not have cross country at that time. He set the school’s half-mile record, which remained until it closed nearly 30 years ago.
“Morgan Park did not have an elitist-type attitude,” he said. “The track was not very good and they did not have a junior high program of any kind. You just went out and tried it to see what you could do.”
Griak spent three years in the U.S. Army during World War II, eventually serving in the Pacific theater. He went to Minnesota Duluth for two years before transferring to the main campus to earn a master’s degree in 1950.
He landed his first coaching job at tiny Nicolett High School, coaching five sports, then had stints in Mankato and St. Louis Park before being hired by the Gophers in 1963.
Cared equally for all runners
Bjorklund says Griak’s greatest attribute was being as concerned with Joe Average as he was elite athletes.
In his senior year, Bjorklund recalls Griak being animated watching Minnesota’s Keith Ottoson in a two-mile heat.
“All of a sudden I saw Roy across the track, animated like I had never seen him before, jumping up and down and so excited,” said Bjorklund, who has a half-marathon named in his honor. “I look around and wonder, ‘What on earth is he so excited about?’ Here comes ‘Otto’ around the corner, and Roy is cheering him on like he’s setting a world record. When Otto finished his race, he and Roy embraced and did a victory dance. I swear Roy had tears in his eyes. All I could think was, ‘Oh my God, what have I ever done that would make Roy that happy?’
“Otto ran a personal best by 20 seconds, and Roy always has been as excited for the fastest or strongest or best jumper as everybody else on the team. If you wore maroon and gold for Roy Griak, you were privileged.”
Steve Plasencia wore those colors for four years in the late 1970s. The two-time U.S. Olympian from Cooper High School in New Hope, Minn., and now the Minnesota men’s cross country and track coach, said Griak showed a personal touch during his recruitment — and ever since.
“Roy has a big personality that makes people feel special,” he said. “When I was an athlete, he made you feel important, and you wanted to be around him.”
Longtime Minnesota Duluth coach John Fulkrod, who stepped down as cross country and track coach last spring, recalls Griak in the same vein.
“He really cares for people ,and he’s the kind of guy who would do whatever needed to be done,” Fulkrod said. “I can remember him in the early days, when they had the old dirt track indoors, putting the lime down and setting up the (hurdles).”
‘He’d give the shorts off his butt’
Griak coached Minnesota to two Big Ten cross country titles and one track title, while 47 athletes earned All-America honors and three won NCAA championships.
Bjorklund, who owns two concession businesses in Fort Collins, Colo., was one of the most acclaimed runners.
“When I got to Minnesota, I had absolutely no doubt that whatever Roy Griak told me would be the right thing,” he said. “When he has a chance to give his athletes an opportunity to improve and step onto the bigger stage, he could get it for you. He’s absolutely instrumental.”
Griak was even there when all that was required was something as simple as donning the proper uniform. Plasencia remembers a time when his coach helped runner Dave Griffin do just that.
“Roy is the type of guy who would give the shirt off his back to a guy around him,” Plasencia said. “One time at the Big Ten cross country championship, one of our guys got to the starting line, pulled down his sweat pants and there he was with just his jock strap and no running shorts. Roy went into the bushes near the course, pulled off his shorts, putting his sweat pants back on and passing (his shorts) on to the guy on the team.
“Not only would he give the shirt off his back, he’d give the shorts off his butt.”
Nobody expects Griak to end his tenure any time soon.
“He is not from the take-it-easy generation,” Bjorklund said. “Roy Griak, Sid Hartman … those guys are going to die with their boots on with a smile on their face, doing what they love to do.”
Griak credits his mother, Mildred, who died at age 93, with instilling a great work ethic. He hasn’t regretted a single minute of the journey.
“It’s been a labor of love,” he said. “I wish I could start all over again.”