For Canadian Olympian and world silver medalist Gary Reed, it's important to show young athletes that it doesn't take superpowers to find success at the Olympics or world championship.
"They want to know what it feels like to run in the Olympic Games," said Reed. "I think a lot of the times it helps when they understand that I'm just a human being - I'm just like them. I was just a young athlete like they were, struggling, training hard and trying to come up through the ranks."
Reed will serve as head coach today for the inaugural Gary Reed Athletics Fund Track and Field Camp, put on in conjunction by the Prince George Track and Field Club and the Canadian 800m record holder's Reed Athletic Foundation at Masich Place Stadium. The training camp goes from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Reed went into the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing as a medal threat after capturing the silver medal at the 2007 world championship, but wound up finishing fourth and off the podium. After a disappointing result at the 2009 world championship, Reed said it was nice to come full circle at the world athletics final later that year where he took the silver medal.
The 31-year-old said it was a natural fit for him to team up with the Prince George track club.
"What they do there just sort of runs in parallel what I'm trying to do all over the place," said Reed.
He started up the Foundation to help young athletes after retiring from competitive running in 2010.
"I saw a real problem with athletes funding in the country, it's something I experienced for sure," said Reed. "There was a real void there to fill and I didn't see anything really happening on a government level that indicated any super, super big changes so instead of trying to swim that path, and the fact that I'm kind of a guy that's quite entrepreneurial and I like to start new ventures and do my own thing, that's the route I took and started my foundation."
Reed said it's the talented athletes on verge of success, but struggling financially to put food on the table while they train, that he wants to help, because they're the ones who need the support. Once an athlete has reached a certain level in their training there are many resources to help them, but getting there is the real struggle.
"We're just trying to take some of that burden off the athlete's shoulders a bit and put a little bit of mental stability on their path," said Reed.
In addition to instructing the young athletes on basic running drills at today's training camp, Reed said he'll also educate them on the fundamentals of staying positive, goal setting and maintaining a two-way relationship with their community.
"It's important for young athletes to understand that your community is not a one-way street," said Reed. "The hope is you would give back to the community and the community would give back to you. It's a very important thing in basic fundamentals of support. It goes two ways, it' always does; it's like any other healthy relationship."
For more information about Gary Reed's foundation visit http://reedathleticsfund.ca.
