COACH BEN
Hello.
My name is Ben Larson and I am a volunteer Cross Country coach at Rapid City Stevens High School. This is my 5th year of volunteering with the team.
Family and Background.
I was born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado. My parent’s Wayne and Andrea still live in my childhood home and my little sister Meg lives in Lake Tahoe, California working in Hospitality Management.
My Mom integrated me into the running community at a very young age. My sister and I were always on the sidelines to cheer her on at the local 5k, 10k, and marathon races. I joined her in my first road race at the age of 5.
I moved to Rapid City for the first time in 2014.
I met Cameron through the Colorado State Cross Country Team and decided that it would be fun to spend a summer working and running in the Black Hills. That one summer has quickly turned into six.
Things I Do.
Anything outdoors. Running, biking, camping, climbing, fishing/hunting, golfing, skiing and anything else that’s an excuse to get outside. I am a very energetic person so as long as I’m moving, I’m happy.
Athletics.
I grew up loving every sport my parents would let me play. I loved being a part of a team and the structure that athletics created for me. I found that it was also a great way to channel all of the energy I had as a child.
Baseball was always my favorite sport, but when I got to high school my mom forced me to join the Cross Country team. I hated cross country my Freshmen year, but as I made friends on the team it slowly grew on me. I was a very average high school runner, but I became very passionate about the sport.
I was fortunate to be asked to walk on at Colorado State University as a Cross Country/Track and Field athlete. I struggled a lot my first three years running in college, but thanks to some coaching and mindset changes I was able to find success in my 4th and 5th years.
I was part of the 2013 Cross Country team that placed 26th at nationals. I also held the indoor 5k school record for CSU with a time of 13:58 and posted several “Top 10” times in both the 5k and the 10k.
Coaching.
I am relatively new to the coaching world but it is something that has always come naturally to me. My biggest goal in coaching is to help young athletes find a passion for running and hopefully avoid some of the mistakes I made in my own career.
This is my third season coaching Cross Country for Stevens High School. I also coach Track and Field for the Rapid City Flame Special Olympics program.
I am very excited to be a part of this coaching staff and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish.
