Tony Saxon
tsaxon@guelphmercury.com
GUELPH — It would be easy for Dave Scott-Thomas to have a bit of an ego.
The phenomenally successful University of Guelph cross-country and track coach saw his teams capture four Canadian university championships this year — the only four won by the school.
He also coached two of his Speed River Track and Field Club runners — Eric Gillis and Taylor Milne — to Olympic berths, helped organized five community charity runs and for the second straight year hosted an impeccably-ran Canadian Cross Country Championships.
Yet the Guelph Mercury’s male Newsmaker of the Year remains almost terminally humble.
“I’m really proud to be part of this town,” said Scott-Thomas, 44, who at the recent Canadian Cross Country Championships spent a chunk of his day delivering pizza and drinks to volunteers on remote parts of the course.
“There’s a nice ethos here. It’s a real healthy vibe.”
It is a vibe Scott-Thomas has helped create. He formed the Speed River Track and Field Club 11 years ago. That club now boasts 100 members and runs The Running Series of community races throughout the year that attract hundreds of runners. His athletes train alongside masters runners and can be found amidst the throngs at the annual Thanksgiving Day Races. They also run the Lunch on the Run program, aimed at introducing elementary school children to running.
“He’s definitely helped make Guelph a great running community, particularly at the elite end,” said longtime local runner and running columnist John Marsden. “It’s a real achievement that the post-secondary school runners stick around and come here from other places.”
Marsden said Scott-Thomas has done an “amazing job” of helping create a running culture in the city.
Born in Vancouver but raised in Sudbury, by his own admission Scott-Thomas was not much of a runner himself. Soccer was his sport.
He came to the U of G to study, not run, then landed on the cross-country team while chasing a girl he had a crush on at the time.
“I had medium talent, but a strong work ethic,” he said. “But I got to be on the bus all the time with Margot.”
Margot eventually went out with Scott-Thomas’s buddy. But the die had been cast for a future in coaching.
After graduation he worked as a marine biologist on the Great Lakes. He eventually taught high school and adult education in Kingston, where he met his wife Brenda, a former all-Canadian runner at the University of Manitoba.
He also started coaching locally in Kingston and that eventually led him to the National Coaching Institute in Vancouver. In 1997 he came to Guelph.
“Brenda and I decided to chase a dream and give it three years,” Scott-Thomas said. “I told (then director of athletics) Dave Copp ‘give me three years. If I can get the cross-country teams in the top five in the country, then I’d ask for more money.”
The entire budget for both the track and cross-country squads that year was $10,000, which included Scott-Thomas’s $3,000 salary.
The exotic road trip that first year was packing 30 athletes into three hotel rooms in Windsor. A milk crate full of rusty shot puts was bought for $50, sandblasted and painted. Two recruits from British Columbia slept on the Scott-Thomases’ floor and sofa.
But the rest, as they say, is history. Scott-Thomas has built Guelph into arguably the premier distance running centre in the country. High performance athletes flock here to work under his tutelage, which has garnered him 15 Canadian university coach of the year trophies over the years.
“Dave makes such a great coach because he combines knowledge of the sport from a science perspective in combination with the ability to motivate and connect with his athletes,” says Reid Coolsaet, one of Canada’s top distance runners who came to Guelph 10 years ago and never left. “He still manages to keep things fun and progressive, which is very important for longevity and improvement in running.”
Scott-Thomas has had numerous offers to leave Guelph for more financially lucrative jobs, be it with private clubs or universities on both sides of the border.
“All the time. They still come in. I used to get three or four a year. Now it’s about one a year,” he said. “They offer me more money. Better facilities. But I’d never get the same feeling I’ve got here in Guelph. We built this thing up from nothing. I’m not going anywhere. My home is Guelph now.”
The son of a mathematics professor, Scott-Thomas lived in 18 different places the first 18 years of his life and he, wife Brenda, who owns a physiotherapy clinic, and their three young daughters enjoy the stability Guelph gives them.
Besides, being a well-liked coach of two university teams and the Speed River Track and Field Club has its advantages.
“We have 100 awesome babysitters.”
Photo by Ryan Pfeiffer, Guelph Mercury
