James DeMarco

Academy Director

James DeMarco has been involved in every aspect of running. He was a member of five state championship teams in high school (two in cross and three in track), a member of the 1996 NCAA Div. II National Championship Cross Country running team in college and an All American. He has directed more than twenty races (including road races and large invitational cross country meets) and nine running camps for high school athletes and adults. James was also an Alaska Region IV and State Meet track and field official, awarded adidas/ USATrack and Field travel grant and TDA grant, coached individual and team state champions, severla high school All Americans, coached athletes from ages 10-81, a certified coach by USA Track and Field and taken college courses in Exercise Physiology, Human Anatomy, Nutrition and Performance, Mamillian Physiology, Prevention and Care of Athletic Injuries, Coaching Track and Field, etc. James was also invited as a coach with one of his athletes to an elite distance camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. His athletes have been invited to the prestigious Golden West Invite, AOC, USATF Junior Nationals, Nike Indoor Nationals and Nike Cross Nationals. James also owns RUNabout Sports, a running specialty store and teaches the run/ walk lab for the Health 200 class at Radford University.

In Alaska's harsh and challenging climate James was able to motivate his athletes to look past their obstacles and achieve great success. "Alaska at the time had no indoor tracks so creativity in training was very important. The seasons are very short (nine weeks for cross and nine for track) so we would focus on the things we could do. Distance running is pretty simple in that we don't need much for training purposes. Billy Mills, Jim Ryun, Prefontaine, the great Africans and Flying Finns prove that. It really comes down to believing what your doing, working hard, and enjoying the process."

James now coaches at Blacksburg High School in Virginia. He started coaching the girls xc program in 2005 and the boys in 2006. In 2004 James made his start coaching the Blacksburg boys and girls indoor and outdoor distance runners.

Distance Coaching highlights (1998-2000 in Alaska, 2004-2008 in Virginia):
- Coached seven state championship teams
- Coached six runner-up teams and nine other teams to top five finishes
- Coached nine state championship relay teams
- Coached seven individuals to 19 state individual titles
- Nine athletes have earned NCAA Div I Scholarships
- Coach two Marc Bloom National Top Fifty XC Programs (2006, 2008)
- Coached three NIN All American Relay Teams (2006, 07, 08 all in 4xmile)
- Coached two individual Indoor 2Mile All Americans (Peter Dorrell, Morgan Ekemo)
- Coached one NXN Qualifier (Allison Homer)
- Coached one freshman NIN All American in boys mile (George Carter)
- Coached 11 girls under 12 and five boys under 9:50 for 3200
- Coached nine girls under 5:10 in the 1600, four under 4:30 for boys
- Coached seven girls at 2:18 or faster, five under 2:00 for 800 meters
HONORS:
- Coached Milestat.com 2008 VA Girls Team of the Year
- Roanoke Times Timesland Girls XC Coach of the Year 2005, 2008
- Milestat.com VA Girls XC Coach of the Year 2006
- 16x River Ridge District Coach of the Year

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