Running Games for Track and Field and Cross Country

Running Games for Track and Field & Cross Country is divided into eight categories of running: Icebreaker and Team Building, Warm-up and Cool-Down, Tag, Relay, Running, Fartlek, Distance, and Specific. Each of the eight categories describes 20 main games and numerous variations, making a total of more than500 games presented in Running Games for Track and Field & Cross Country that will provide fun and fitness through running! The number one reason people participate in athletics is to have fun! The challenge lies in making running fun, and increasing the motivation levels and therefore the effort level so maximum benefits on the physiological and psychological levels can be achieved. Successful coaches are successful because they motivate participants to become enthusiastic about participating and therefore increase ability to perform at higher levels. It is the motivation and enthusiasm towards running that Running Games For Track & Field and Cross Country addresses. The many ideas and workouts are designed to increase motivation and develop a positive attitude towards running. Some of the running activities presented are old games that have been played for years. Other running activities are modified from games with a running component added. Still other running activities presented are new activities that specifically develop the training component, techniques and tactics involved in the development of a runner. Running Games for Track & Field and Cross Country is designed to use sound physiological and psychological principles that maximize running development. Coaches who want and need ideas to increase motivation will find many readily available to use activities. Many of the activities are team building activities that will increase team cohesiveness.

Dr. Mark Stanbrough is a professor in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Emporia State University in Kansas. He teaches graduate and undergraduate exercise physiology and sports psychology classes and is the director of Coaching Education. The Coaching Education program at Emporia State is currently one of only ten universities in the United States to be accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Coaching Education. He was a co-founder of the online physical education graduate program, the first in the United States to go completely online. He received his Ph.D. in exercise physiology from the University of Oregon, and undergraduate and master's degrees from Emporia State in physical education. He has served as department chair and has served on the National Association for Sport and Physical Education National Sport Steering Committee and is a past member of the board of directors for the National Council for the Accreditation of Coaching Education. Mark has over thirty years of coaching experience at the collegiate, high school, middle school and club level. Coach Stanbrough served eight years as the head men's and women's cross country/track and field coach at Emporia State (1984-1992) with the 1986 women's cross country team finishing second at the NAIA national meet. He has also coached at Emporia High School and Glasco High School in Kansas. He is a Level I and II USATF certified coach. Mark has served as the USATF Missouri Valley Association President and as the head referee at numerous national meets. He is a member of the Emporia State University Athletic Hall of Honor and the Health, Physical Education, Recreation Hall of Honor and has won numerous coach-of-the-year awards at the high school and collegiate levels.