Atkinson brings Olympic spirit to Palos Verdes High School Cross Country
Former Olympic runner Jeff Atkinson coaches cross country and track at Palos Verdes High School. Photo by David Rosenfeld
“How many of you are planning on watching the Olympics this week,” asked the Palos Verdes High School coach, wearing the same outfit as the students – red shorts and a white T-shirt. A show of hands went up.
“When you’re watching the games I want you to remember that without the drive and hard work, none of those athletes would be there,” Atkinson said. “It’s that same drive I want you to take to your own training.”
Then the coach, without a mention of his own accomplishments, ran off with the team down the street.
That’s the way it is with Atkinson, who says most of the younger students don’t even know he ran in the Seoul Olympics in 1988, that 25 years ago he was one of the world’s fastest runners.
“If they find out it’s only because someone told them,” Atkinson said. “It’s not that I want it to be a secret, I just don’t want any of the younger runners to feel intimidated.”
In 1989, Atkinson was ranked the nation’s fastest runner in the mile. He still holds the Stanford Track Record with a 3:55 mile. And his record at Mira Costa in the 3200 meters still stands with a time of 9:07.
As the Olympic Games take place this month, renewed attention on athletes like Atkinson show just how rare it is to compete on the world’s largest stage. Even 25 years later, Atkinson is still considered the most successful runner to come out of the South Bay since Louis Zamperini in 1936.
Atkinson said he attributes his success to hard work, staying relatively injury free and natural ability.
“You do have to have the drive and some reason you’re willing to do all that work for a very esoteric goal,” Atkinson said. “I feel like running is a noble pursuit and an honorable way to spend your time on planet earth.”
Despite the odds, every young track star dreams of running in the Olympics. While standing on an Olympic podium represents a lofty goal, it should not be the end-all, Atkinson said.
“It’s not about becoming pro or making the Olympics. It’s about providing opportunities for success, defined as the best you can be on any given day with the tools you’ve been given,” he said.
Runners on the PV High cross-country team record their training regiment on their t-shirts. Photo by David Rosenfeld
That’s the message Atkinson brings to his team of cross-country runners and success likely follows. The team typically ranks among the best in the state, including last year when the boys and girls cross country teams won the Division 3 state championship.
As a testament to the team’s training regiment, on the back of each T-shirt is a printed calendar where runners, including the coach, record the distance they run each day with a marker. The T-shirts are a constant reminder that running is as much a personal challenge as anything else, Atkinson said.
Along with coaching at PV High for the past 10 years, Atkinson teaches private running instruction for kids and adults. He said he’s run across many parents over the years who believe their son or daughter will someday compete in the Olympics.
“There is a prevailing feeling in all parents that their child is going to do something great,” Atkinson says. “We try and ground them in reality.”
Only about one-tenth of 1 percent of high school athletes play at the next level, and the same thing happens at the college level, he said. One athlete moving on to next stage from PV High, Rebecca Mehra, will attend Stanford next year on a running scholarship. Atkinson said she’s the best runner to come through PV High in 13 years.
“Ultimately, he was an awesome coach,” Merha said. “I was so lucky to have someone like that who competed at such a high level. He always knew how to push me just the right amount.”
While Merha’s entire family is in London enjoying the Olympics this month, Merha plans to stay in California to continue her training as she heads into her freshman year. Asked if she wants to run in the Olympics some day, she said she’s only trying to take it one step at a time, spoken like a true champion. But the Olympics would still “be cool,” she said.
Few athletes will ever attain the success enjoyed by runners like Atkinson, and even Merha. Yet the dream of standing on an Olympic podium, one of the rarest achievements in sports, remains one of the ultimate goals for any athlete.
“Every runner dreams of being in the Olympics when they are at a cross-country meet,” Atkinson said. “So that’s part of the show. You have to have the big goals to keep people motivated and interested. At the high school level it’s really important to emphasize that it’s about the process and not the goal. It’s about the experience along the way which is far more fulfilling and life changing than any championship.”
Atkinson said he hopes that his style of coaching helps form bonds among the students in the same way sharing difficult experiences in an army boot camp strengthens the connection among soldiers.
“My whole goal now as a coach is to create an environment for that experience to occur for the kids that I coach,” he said. “They don’t actually have to achieve lofty levels to get the full understanding of commitment, honor and character, satisfaction and integrity that’s a result of all this activity.”