Jason Pyles Interview

Coach Jason Pyles is the Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach at Davis & Elkins College. D&E is a small liberal arts college located in Elkins, West Virginia.

Mike McMillion - Before we jump into all the coaching questions, when did you first start running?

Coach Jason Pyles – Like most, I started running mostly through other sports and with the Physical Fitness Mile Run. I developed the itch for competition during 3rd grade, when myself and the top 6th grader got to have a duel race in front of the entire school. Running to me remained just about the competition side of things. That was until I got to college and started to learn how to train properly.

MM - Did you run track or cross country in high school or college? If so, where?

JP – I attended Point Pleasant High School and ran track. We didn’t have cross country at the time, but I probably wouldn’t have run it at that point in my life anyways. My dream was to play college basketball, which I did live out by playing one year on the Marshall University basketball team. After my freshman year of college, I switched my focus entirely to just running cross country/track at Marshall University.

MM - What is your favorite part about being a runner or running?

JP – For me it is just something I have a lot of passion to do. Having the ability to get out the door each day for a run (or two) is my favorite part. As simple as it sounds, I just feel blessed for each day I can continue to get out the door!

MM - What personal running accomplishments are you most proud of?

JP – This is a tough one. About two years after college, I took a big step back and started to have a better perspective on running and racing. Up to that point, I was always running and racing to become a runner I just wasn’t capable of being. From that point forward, I just shifted to wanting to be the best I could be. Almost every run or race from then on has been an accomplishment in some way or another.

If I was going to pick one single race that I was most proud of, it wasn’t one of my fastest races, but I would pick winning the Charleston Distance Run in 2010. As a fan of the sport and especially of the CDR, it wasn’t something I thought would ever happen. I just got lucky to be fast enough on what was a down year for the event. It still means a lot to me that I’m able to say I have won CDR though.

MM - Were you ever sponsored as an athlete? If so, can you tell us a little about it?

JP – I was! But again, it was a bit of good luck to how that came about. I got connected with Matt Downing (multiple time D1 All American from Wisconsin) in the fall of 2008 at the USA Marathon Championships in Twin Cities, MN. Either of us had the race we wanted, but we shared the same taxi to the airport afterwards. He liked my excitement towards the sport and about a month later he called to offer me and my wife Marian both contracts to run for the company Strands.com that was being sponsored fully by Puma. We got to live out some dreams over the next few years getting monthly living stipends, free travel to any race we wanted, and all the gear a runner could every use (for a lifetime).

I was blessed to get the support I did as it helped give me lots of experiences I never would have had without it. It took me to races all over the country including Eugene, Austin, San Francisco, and Miami Beach just to name a few of the over 20-25 races I ran while sponsored by Strands/Puma.

MM - What do you consider the peak of your personal running career, and do you ever enter any races now?

JP – Probably between 2007-2011 with 2009 being my fastest year for many long distance best. I think I ran over, or close to, 4000 miles each of those years. I could run 24:34 for 8K, 1:07:48 for Half Marathon, and 2:29:34 for the marathon during this time frame.

I have entered one race in the past year (1st Place in a small 5K in Philadelphia, PA). My racing has taken a big backseat to my coaching which is what I want, but training wise, I love running with the team and have found myself up over 80 miles a week the past 6-7 weeks trying to keep up with them. They have motivated me to want to maybe jump in a race or two when it fits in around what they are doing. I get just as much satisfaction doing a hard workout or a time trial on my own as I do with racing anymore. I just love running and sometimes it still leads to wanting to run hard still!

MM - When did you begin your coaching career?

JP – I got my official start in 2005 when I got an assistant coaching position at Winfield High School, while I was student teaching with Coach Bailey. To be still in college, I couldn’t have asked for a better setup. I got to help coach a very talented group of mid and long distance runners plus learn from Coach Bailey and Coach Anderson on how to run a track program. It was a great experience!

MM - Let’s focus on the Senators now. When did you take the Head Cross Country/Track & Field position?

JP – I was hired in January of 2016 at Davis & Elkins College. I always felt this college could be a gold mine with the surrounding areas to train. Obviously starting track & field was only going to help get recruits to believe the vision I have for building a big-time program. I have been truly blessed with this opportunity. Last year I was recruiting countless kids off only the vision I could see at that moment, but with the success we had this fall it’s nice to recruit kids now and they don’t just hear the vision I’m telling them about—they can see it for themselves with what this team has done already! It sure makes things a while lot easier with recruiting!

MM - Did you coach anywhere else prior to working in Elkins? If so, where?

JP – I have 5 years of previous collegiate coaching experience starting with being a graduate-assistant at Marshall University for 2 years. I was a part-time head coach at University of Charleston for 2 years. I also coached at WV Wesleyan for one-year last fall. The Marshall and Wesleyan positions were both the most beneficial as I got to learn from head coaches on how they run their programs.

MM - What motivated you to be a coach at the college level? Who was your mentor?

JP – For me coaching on the collegiate level is living out my dream every day! The years I went into high school teaching showed me this more than ever. I was hoping and praying for this opportunity I have now to get my own team and build something special.

I would say my coaching mentors would be Casey Batey and Sean Cleary. Both have shared so much training and coaching wisdom with me over the years. I talk with Casey almost weekly still about training ideas.

My friendship with Casey goes deeper than just being a coaching mentor though. He is a big reason I got the chance to develop the passion for running/coaching that I have today. He was the reason I attended Marshall University and even bigger reason to why I gave up basketball to focus on running only. He was and still is a great leader!

MM - Have you ever considered coaching at a Division I school, or do you envision staying at Davis & Elkins for a long time to come?

JP – I get this question a lot from recruits and parents when they visit Davis & Elkins College. It’s an easy one to answer for me. I plan to be at D&E for as long as I do a good enough job for them to keep me around. I have everything I could ever want in a coaching job here. I have the full support of the administration, they compensate me to a level that it allows my wife to be a stay-at-home mother to our two wonderful daughters, and I absolutely love the small mountain town living we have here in Elkins. As a distance runner, this might be one of the best areas to train. We sit at around 2000 feet elevation but we are just a short drive away from miles and miles of dirt roads and trails that sit up above 4000 feet. A lot of colleges travel in to have preseason camps or summer camps in the Canaan Valley region, it’s basically our backyard!!

I never know exactly what Gods plan is for me, but my plan would be to coach at Davis & Elkins College for as long as I coach.

MM - Many college athletes are so focused on only playing for a Division I school. Is it tough to recruit talented runners because you are a private Division II school?

JP – I think it will always be tougher for D2 schools to battle against the D1 schools when it comes to recruiting. I was able to get some very talented recruits this year who were being heavily recruited by the D1’s. To reach the goal and vision I have for this program, I must continue recruiting the kids that are also getting heavy recruitment on the D1 level. It’s a good challenge and problem to run into if a recruit’s final choices come down to a D1 and us.

As much as it is great to land the bigtime recruit, I truly enjoy bringing in the runner that isn’t being recruited that hard or is a diamond in the rough and trying to develop them into a top 7 runner.

MM - Does your school offer scholarships?

JP – Yes, we offer academic and athletic scholarships. We do everything we can to bridge the gap between private and public schools when it comes to cost.

MM - Why should an athlete choose an in-state school verses an out-of-state school?

JP – Most importantly I know you can get a great education by staying in state. But athletically, it is a special thing to represent your home state on the collegiate level. Especially as a West Virginian where our state supports our own. When a talented athlete goes out of state, I know the state still supports them, but those same athletes support would be at another level had they stayed in state.

MM - Are there any advantages of attending a smaller school? If so, what?

JP – Individual attention in the classroom is a key advantage of attending Davis & Elkins College. The professors here make it part of their job to be available at almost all times. Most will swing by on a weekend or after hours at night if it is what the student needs for support.

Also, a key advantage that I enjoy compared to my time at a bigger university is that you are known and supported very well on your own campus. With the success we have had this fall, it is nice to see the team getting noticed and be the talk of the campus after big meets. I’ve had professors come up to me in the dining hall to say congrats on the team’s success after races. It’s hard to beat the family feel atmosphere that we have here.

MM - What conference does your athletic program participate in. Can you tell us a little about it?

JP – We compete in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). It officially sponsors not just Cross Country and Outdoor Track & Field but also Indoor Track & Field which isn’t always common on the D2 level. Our conference is loaded with national ranked programs. We have 8 colleges this year, but have 5 more colleges joining next year. Between last year and this fall alone, up to 5 programs from this conference have been nationally ranked in the D2 Top 25 for either cross country or track & field. With the addition of the new programs next year, on the cross country side our conference will have anywhere from 2-5 national qualifying teams every year. We will keep setting the goal to win a conference title in the coming years, winning a title in this conference will truly mean something special!

This fall alone, the Men’s cross country team finished 3rd in the conference just behind Malone College in 2nd. Malone finished 23rd in the nation last fall at nationals. We must keep recruiting well, training hard, and not looking at those programs as unbeatable. If we do that I truly believe we will win a conference title at some point in the future. But that is something that can’t just be talked about, it requires a lot of hard work.

MM - Without going too far in depth, what is your training philosophy for your distance runners?

JP – Each athlete is different on what level of volume they can handle, but my main focuses are on higher volume and high volume quality days. Training this way will ride a fine line of success or failure, but to reach the very top you must be willing to take the chance.

I feel the most important training run is the long run. When building a training plan, focus on the long run and everything else will fall into place!

I’m a big fan of Lydiard, Joe Vigil, and Mark Wetmore’s training philosophies.

MM - What is your favorite part about coaching at D&E, and what are you most proud of as a coach?

JP – I love the support I get from the entire college here. I love how beautiful our campus is. Most importantly I love coaching this team. Those things combined make it a true blessing to come to work here each and every day!!

We’ve had numerous big personal records, won multiple meets this fall, beat regional/national ranked programs for the first time in the school’s history and even went to a highly competitive conference meet with a chance to win. But it’s meant more to me to see the entire culture and program shift that has happened. Last year I talked to many recruits that had never even heard of Davis & Elkins College, that hasn’t been an issue anymore. The future is bright here, I’m just so thrilled to be here and be part of it!

MM – D&E just added Track & Field to their program. What does having an indoor and outdoor track program mean to you

JP – “Track is back!”

I cannot wait for that first official track meet (December 3rd at WVU). I was unfortunately part of the Marshall University Men’s track & field team when it was dropped. To be part of the building and establishing of a brand-new program is more special to me than I can ever explain.

Lots of school records to come this year!

MM - What off season training do you suggest for a high school distance runner who is planning on running competitively in college? What are some things they can do during their Junior and Senior year to prepare for the next level?

JP – I recommend the high school runner sits down with their high school coach and makes a plan and discusses what they need to do to reach the next level. Since the high school coach can’t work with them during the off season in WV, I would recommend they join one of the Track Clubs across the state or form their own club with teammates. It helps keep the motivation to train during the off season high and greatly enhances the experience!

MM - Do you believe that high school runners race too much. How can a high school coach change their training program because their runners compete on average every week of the track or cross country season?

JP – This is a tricky one. I would say that the dedicated high school runner probably does end up racing too much in high school. It’s a tough balance I’m sure for the high school coaches to figure out when coaching multiple athletes of very different abilities and commitment.

I’ll say that I love the college setup much better for seeing those big jumps in improvements. For Cross Country, this fall we competed just six times, basically having a meet every other weekend. This allows for much harder training throughout the season and for each race to have a bigger effort put forth.

That’s all the background and coaching questions I have. I just have a few more personal questions.

MM - Are you married? If so, do you have any children?

JP – Yes to both! I’ll have been married to my wife Marian for 10 years now this coming July. We are blessed with a 4-year old daughter (Clara) and 2-month old newborn (Chelsea).

MM - What are your interest?

JP – Spending time with family and coaching/running.

MM - What is your favorite Book(s)?

JP – Once a Runner, Running with the Buffaloes, and Duel in the Sun to just name a few.

MM - What is your favorite running shoes?

JP – Newton Distance or Nike Lunaracer.

MM- What is your favorite quote or verse?

JP - God has given me the ability. The rest is up to me. Believe. Believe. Believe. - Billy Mills

MM - Thanks coach for your time. As a former D&E alumnus, it makes me proud to see you leading the Senators in a bid to a National Division II Cross country appearance. Good luck at the NCAA Regionals.

JP - Thank you so much for the honor of doing this interview. Thank you so much for being such a supportive alumnus to the D&E Cross Country/Track programs!! Thank you for everything you do for the sport of running in West Virginia!!

The Davis & Elkins men’s & women’s cross country team will race at the 2016 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships Mid-West Regional on Saturday, Nov. 5th, at Angel Mounds in Evansville, Ind. The men’s 10K race features around 30-35 teams and will start at 10:30 a.m., while the women’s 6K race features around 30-35 teams and will start at 11:45 a.m.