The Montoya's

I have been thinking about something lately and even more so since I received my latest Runners World magazine.  In the latest issue, the cover story features Bernard Lagat, a Kenyan by birth who has since earned his American citizenship and who has established a running career much longer and more successful than most elite runners.  Although the story goes into lots of different aspects of Lagat's running and  personal life, the thing that has stuck with me was his childhood growing up in Kenya.  You see, the thing I have been thinking about lately is how the kids I see in Socorro have little drive and no consequence and how this affects sports, education and ultimately their lives.

In the Lagat article it is described how a young Lagat was crudely circumsized in front of the male elders of his village.  If he showed any sign of weakness he would be labeled as a coward for life.  Lagat did pass and earned his manhood and the respect of his village elders.  Beyond this, he worked on his family farm taking care of livestock and running to and from school daily.  Lagat and probably 100 more boys in his village were raised this way and were no strangers to work and discomfort.  That's a stark contrast to the US where teenage years are viewed as an exemption from work and responsibilities.   

Here in Socorro, discomfort is something far away from most people.  Even families who are not financially well off can receive government aid and live a pretty decent life as far as I can see.  There is no shortage of cell phones, iPods, and clothing that I can tell of in our hallways.  From what I see the kids who seem capable of success at a University are the minority.  It is almost as if being a delinquent is the norm and socially acceptable because afterall, it's Socorro.  I hear that excuse a lot actually.  Not many kids are willing to work for anything worthwhile, whatever is good enough academically and athletically.

So this brings me back to sport.  Being a XC coach, I need to teach kids to be OK with discomfort for extended periods of time.  That's a tough sell when I try to recruit new runners for the team.  I have to convince them that running can be fun and rewarding.  I also have to acknowledge that we run... a lot... and it's uncomfortable for the most part... but it is rewarding.  When a kid can learn to embrace the work and see value in it I feel that I have accomplished a much bigger thing than making my team better.  I recently had one of my top returning runners tell me that he really wants to have a good year in XC next year.  He experienced some success as a freshman and he likes that feeling and wants more of it.  The first thing I told him was he is very capable of being a very good runner BUT he is going to have to be willing to work, welcome discomfort and get used to it.

Over the weekend, I invited 2 kids for a mountain bike ride.  They aren't bikers at all but they each own a bike and were willing to go ride for 2 hours up and down mountains and through river beds and learn a new kind of pain in the hope of becoming a better runner and person.  I'm proud of each of these kids for who they are becoming.  So I guess there are those kids out there who are still willing to work and fortunately I have 30 of them out for XC.  If they're GPA says anything about them, the average team GPA this season was 3.88.

The truth is for every one of these kids there are probably 4 more who aren't anything like them.  In the mornings I teach in portables in the ELC alternative department of our school and I just had a kid say that he turns 18 soon and he is going to go buy a big ol' bong and get all high.  Aspirations huh?