Coach Brad Barnes teaches high school runners from the inner city to excel both on and off the track
In 1998, Brad Barnes developed an idea. He had been coaching high school running clubs for 14 years, had produced two national championship cross-country teams and helped more than a dozen kids earn state titles. He decided to focus his knowledge on helping inner city youths excel in running, in academics and in their community. He designed a program to help kids overcome negative social and economic backgrounds and attitudes by getting involved with a team. "I like a challenge," he said.

Brad's new club "Team XC" started at Denver West High School in the spring of 1999. In a period of three years, Team XC was able to accomplish its goal of building a winning program from scratch. He discovered and motivated a team of boys to become the 2002-5A Cross-Country State Champions. The team brought to their school a championship trophy that Denver West had not seen since 1959 in any sport. Since then, the boys won a second state championship title at Denver West and then a third state championship when the program moved to Denver South High School.

Barnes recruits runners before they have any interest in running. He tries to create an interest in the sport in the 7th and 8th grades by hosting pizza parties and telling the students that they can make a better life for themselves. He helps the students improve as runners, but also academically. Every team member is expected to try to go to college and they must maintain a 3.0 grade point average to compete on the traveling team. Nicknamed "Captain Blood" by his pupils, Barnes coaches the runners nearly year-round. "I teach discipline and structure," he said. The 45-year-old coach runs the high schoolers 40 miles a week. "We do a lot of tempo running, like three laps around Washington Park in about 42 minutes. There is a lot of quality running and farleks. Even on off days, the boys are cruising at six minute pace."

(Pictured left to right) Joel Kimball, Abdurahman Faki, Hassan Abdufatah, Alex Lind, Berenice Gonzalez, and Derek Munoz have a final practice before the state track meet.

It's a program that breeds success. Mohammed Ige was in junior high when he met Barnes. He had a simple reason to get involved in the running club. "I wanted to go to college and coach said he'd help me get there. Now running is in my blood." Ige just finished his junior year at Denver South High School, but he will have no trouble getting a college scholarship next year. He can run 800 meters in 1:53, a 4:11 mile, and an impressive 9:18 two mile. He also won the mile in this year's state track meet and took second place in the 800 meter race. Ige is thankful that the running club has allowed him to travel around the country. "With my family, the only place outside of Colorado that I had ever seen was Kansas. I would never have gotten to go to all of those places if it weren't for running and the club."

Barnes believes that in order for athletes to become the best they can be, they must compete against other top athletes across the nation. This philosophy requires Team XC to travel out of state to race. The program has a sponsor for these regional and national events. The American Zang Education Preservation Foundation, a non-profit organization, and College Coach, a college placement company, has helped with a portion of the travel expenses. The athletes have competed in Arizona, Nevada, California, North Carolina, Wisconsin, New York and Oregon. As you can imagine, this can be an expensive proposition for most families; however, with the Zang Foundation and College Coach support in addition to fund- raising activities, Team XC has never left an athlete behind due to money.

Photo: Coach Barnes and Hassan Adbudfatah talk about lap times.

Aden Ahmed is the only senior that graduated from the team this year, so most of Team XC's 20 members will be back next year. Ahmed just won the two mile race at the state track meet and boasts personal best times of 1:58 in the 800, 4:20 in the mile and 9:22 in the two mile. "I used to play soccer, but when I met coach in the 8th grade, he motivated me to run." Now Ahmed will be able to attend Adams State College in Alamosa next year to pursue a business degree. It's only possible because Barnes helped him receive a full athletic scholarship. For Ahmed and his family, it's a dream come true. "My family is so excited. I will be the first member of the family to ever attend college."

Even those runners that join the team later in their running careers find that the teammates and the camaraderie are inspirational. Sophomore Alex Lind joined the team for spring track and quickly watched his 400 meter time drop from 64 seconds to 57 seconds. "The workouts are a big part of it," Lind said. But beyond running, Lind says that he loves being with the team members.

Barnes plans to continue the club team at Denver South High School until 2010, when his current class of recruits have all graduated high school and are on their way to college. "I eventually will need a break. My wife is very patient. I'm spending about 25 hours a week of volunteer work." But "Captain Blood" won't likely stay away from coaching high school kids for long and his future protegees will be lucky when he's back.