By Bill Pennington
July 13, 2017 6:00 p.m.
Tooling around the island in his Mercedes SLK two-door convertible sports car is a manifestation of Roy Benson’s passion, profession, and life. The speed, freedom, and sporty dynamics, are constant reminders of running and coaching distance athletes.
“When I’m driving that car it gives me that exact feeling,” he said through a TGIF smile. “It’s exhilarating.”
His exhilaration has been fueled for over 56 years, whether driving his two-seater, athletes, running dabblers, or himself. The nearly 76-year-old former University of Florida cross-country and track coach is a renowned running expert, both on Amelia Island and around the country. For endurance athletes, he is a Google search minus the keypad and flashing low battery beacon.
Benson’s battery never seems to run low since he and his wife Betty moved to Amelia Island in 2009. Officially, they retired to the area. However, rocking chairs, long naps, and stress-free living are not in Coach Benson’s spirit. Presently, he is Fernandina Beach High School’s veteran volunteer head cross country coach, the founder and director emeritus of both Smokey Mountain and Green Mountain Running Camps, the co-author of an upcoming book on ‘Running for a Lifetime’, a freelance coach for elite runners looking to improve on their results, and the organizer, coach and driving force behind the Amelia Island Runners Wednesday night track workouts. Additionally, he has been an integral part of the club’s three annual running events including September’s Turtle Trot 5K beaches run, December’s Reindeer Half-Marathon, and February’s Pirates on the Run 10K and 5K.
“When you’re involved with something that keeps your motor running, that keeps you inspired, it doesn’t feel like work,” Benson said. “Everything that I’m doing now, keeps me connected with the sport… you could say that it gives me a natural high.”
When he’s not coaching the high school team, Benson passes his years of experience and knowledge to area young, middle-aged, and older amateur runners and walkers weekly from 6-7 p.m. at the Fernandina Beach High School track where a group assembles for midweek exercise and training. While leading the workout, he is also available for everything from a 16-week-marathon training schedule, to individualized instruction and injury-avoidance tips.
“I’ve coached some great athletes and have enjoyed a lot of fulfillment at the college and high school level,” he said. “But, it’s just as satisfying to watch regular people around here turn into gazelles and antelopes doing speed work at the track; or seeing someone who is a jogger turn into a runner; or someone who goes from being completely sedentary to completing a marathon. That’s what this sport is all about.”
As a competitor himself since high school, Benson’s accomplishments are quite impressive with a personal best of a 4:19 mile, 17:22 for a 5K, and a 3:09:05 Boston Marathon finish at age 40. He also continues to place in the 70 and up age group in local races. As for coaching, he’s reserved a spot on the Mt. Rushmore of high school track and field. His boys and girls teams won a total of 16 state cross-country championships during his 15 years of coaching at Atlanta’s Marist High. Included in those championships were 20 individual cross-country and track titles with Brendon Mahoney winning the National High School Mile Championship in a school record 4:04.7. And, during Benson’s time as coach at the University of Florida (1969-1979), he was the assistant head coach when their Florida Track Club’s Frank Shorter won gold in the 1972 Munich Olympics marathon.
Despite his noble resume, his coaching style is quite simplistic. He is not one who bloviates with running dissertations, but instead provides easy-to-disseminate tips to help athletes improve.
An example of his no-nonsense wit was on a typical Wednesday Amelia Island Runners’ track night when a concerned runner with furrowed brow asked Benson about an issue with his left foot going numb when he was in the middle of a long run. This sounded serious… numbness in a lower extremity? Could this be a circulatory issue, a prelude to a heart problem, a case for the Doctor House team? The group leaned in like Danielson to Mr. Miyagi to listen closely to his coaching wisdom. “Loosen your shoe laces,” he said matter-of-factly. A week later, the runner reported that he took the thumbnail advice, and the problem vanished… ‘wax on, wax off’.
“The sport is great because it isn’t complicated,” Benson explains. “Put on your shorts and shoes and do it.”
And, his guidance for new runners is uncomplicated as well. “I always tell people who are just beginning to run to lose weight or start an exercise routine to remember the rule of t-o-o,” he says. “Don’t go too far, too fast, too often, or too soon.” He explains that a newbie should try to cover 20 minutes with walking, jogging, and running without breathing too hard, then run a little more and walk less for the 20 minutes, then extend to 30 minutes and try some more running and less walking.
In his new book that he is still in the process of writing, Benson gives hope for those who begin running later in life. He believes that a runner’s evolution is determined by the amount miles logged on one’s legs, not chronological age. The first stage is adolescence legs when you are new to the sport, adult legs when you learn to train wisely, aging legs when you are still competitive but understand that you’re slowing down, and ancient legs when they became weaker with shorter stride, but you can still do it.
“The satisfying thing for all runners is not necessarily being the fastest, but improving,” Benson explains. “It’s really gratifying to see someone improve. I think Steve Badorf, who will be our high school cross-country team captain, is the poster boy for patience, practice, hard work and big improvement. He will be our 3rd or 4th fastest runner, but seeing his transformation and improvement from his freshman year to now (an upcoming senior) has been very rewarding.”
And our island is also rewarded with a local mentor who drives both athletes and weekend warriors to become purring racing machines.
William (Bill) Pennington is a former sports columnist for the Savannah Morning News and Florida Times-Union. He was honored as Writer-of-the-Year for the Road Runners Clubs of America as well as a Associated Press award winner and Georgia Sportswriter columnist winner. He is a contributing writer for the News-Leader. We thank Bill for his contribution to the Fernandina Observer.
Nice article 🙂