It is nearly 4,000 miles from Raleigh, NC to the United Kingdom. The distance in between is the hard work champion runner Jason Smoots is putting in to get him to London. It’s the site of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. “I’m training six days. Monday through Saturday. The only day I get off is Sunday. Pretty much every day for about two and a half hours.” With the Olympics now just a little over two months away, time is of the essence. “I’m doing acceleration work which means [running] 30 to 65 meters. Top End Speed, which means anything from 70 to 90 meters. Over Speed which is [running] anything from 110 meters to 250 meters. That’s per week. Then, I’m in the weight room three days a week. That’s pretty much my work week.”
Smoots, a 2006 World Cup 4×100 relay gold medalist, is hoping to clock his best time yet in his specialized event, the 100 meters. Right now, it stands at 10.01 seconds. “I’ve been competing. I’ve never stopped. I’m trying to stay consistent.” The last time he participated in a major track and field event, he ended his campaign ranked number five among the finest sprinters in the nation. The Gadsden, Alabama native believes he can one up his previous accomplishments thanks to the plan he along with his newly hired coach, John Burks, have put in place to help him prepare. “I switched coaches. That made a big difference in my training. When you change coaches, it’s a new environment. A new system. So, it takes a little while to adapt to the new system. I decided to work with a guy I’ve been knowing for a good while. We kept meeting each other on the track, and we just started talking. So, I thought let’s just give it a shot. We have a good relationship. We talk back and forth. We work together. That makes it a whole lot better. When you have been in this game for a while, you know what you need. We sit down and talk daily and weekly and put together a program that we both think is best.” It’s different from the relationship Smoots had with his former coach. “I was a lot younger then. Before, I was dependent on them [coach] to say ‘do this’ and ‘do that’.”
When he’s not training himself, Smoots is helping a future generation of runners step into the shoes he now occupies by coaching high school students. “I just kind of fell into that. That was nothing I was looking for. It just happened. A friend met a principal at a meeting. My name came up. He said he’d heard of me. He asked if I’d come out and help the team two to three days a week and I could use the school’s facilities the same. I called him. Talked to him. I tried it. That was Enloe High School last year [Raleigh, NC]. That individual got another job at another school, Southeast Raleigh [High School]. So, when he moved he took me along with him. Now, here I am coaching a high school team! I just came back from a meet. I took four sophomores. They ran the 4×100 meter relay. They got second at the state meet. Now, they’re getting ready to go to nationals in three weeks in Greensboro [NC]. So, I’ve been coaching (laughs). I never thought I’d be doing this, but I enjoy it.” Being a runner himself, Smoots is able to manage a good gauge on what his runners need, when they need it. “Me and my athletes have a great relationship because I’m laid back with them. I don’t stand over them. I don’t force them. They’re kids and they’re young. So, I lead them where they are. They have days when they come in and they’re alert. Then they have days where they just want to play. I just go along with them, but I make sure we get the work done. I just don’t stand over them and push them too far. For that, they respect me, and I respect them.”
One sports figure, Smoots has a high level of respect for is Dr. Leroy Walker. Walker, the first African-American to head the U.S. Olympic Committee and former Chancellor and track and field coach of Smoots’ alma mater, North Carolina Central University, passed away in April at the age of 93 years old. Smoots, who attended Walker’s funeral, had the special honor and distinct task of leading mourners by carrying the Olympic Torch from the gate of the cemetery to Walker’s gravesite in Durham, North Carolina. “I was the last athlete he coached. So, I got the phone call where I was asked to carry it.”
As the 31-year-old moves forward and focuses on his future, he’s also preparing to celebrate his birthday in July. True to his nature, it will be in a laid-back fashion. “I haven’t thought of anything yet. I just want to be alive to see my birthday. I’ll go from there.” And, with his focus on having an elite performance on one of the biggest track and field stages he has yet to run on, there really isn’t time for Smoots to focus on anything else except the task at hand. Not even to get caught up in the excitement of it all. “I’ve always been a laid back guy no matter what’s going on. I will be excited, I will also be working.”
For more sports features follow Brand Newz Sports Feature Writer Nicole Allen on Twitter @AllenNicoleM
