Photo ID: Dennis Barker Embarks on a New Journey

Dennis Barker

Runners of that era will recognize the hairstyle as familiar to that of Western Kentucky University and the UK's Nick Rose, who is a runner Dennis Barker admires.  The great talent, the gritty front running tactics, and the long, flowing hair attracted the St. James, Minnesota native who said his off track attire at the time this picture was taken was green bell bottoms and a T-Shirt with the peace sign on the front.

Raised on a farm, Barker was like most high schoolers who used sports as an outlet. Sports became an often used vehicle that gave one an identity, a persona. Today they'd call it a "brand." He started his athletic career  as a seventh grader on the football team, but after not playing a single down during his first and only season, he got the message that the coaches did not believe he would be the next Adrian Peterson.  He thought about playing baseball in the spring, but his football experience made him fear that if he was also not deemed talented enough all he would do is ride the bench.  Instead Barker opted to try track.

He chose to run the sprints, hurdles, and long jump, but soon discovered that speed was not one of his athletic talents.  As fate would have it, junior high kids back then ran the 660 as part of the President's Physical Fitness program.  He ran.  He won, and a long distance running career was launched.  That Fall, as an eighth grader, he went out for cross country.  "When you have a little bit of success," he said of the 660 victory.  "You want more."

It was as a high school cross country runner that Barker was introduced to his first  coaching mentor, St. James coach Norb Renner.  "He had a real passion for the sport," said Barker.  "He was a pioneer in cross country (coaching.  From him) I learned about how to treat a team."  That year, with Barker running as fourth or fifth man,  St. James ended Mankato High's 16 year streak to win the  District championship and then finished second in the  Region meet to qualify for the State Championships.

As  a Senior, Barker came into the State Meet undefeated.  Going into the race he was thinking he could win.  Instead he learned a lesson on the power of the mind.  About two miles into the race, Barker realized  he wasn't going to win.  His dream shattered, Barker fell apart, not physically, but mentally.  At one point he was passed by a runner who he had beaten in an earlier race that season by over a minute.

Barker finished 17th.  He "barely made it" to the finish, he recalls, because once his goal of winning was lost, Barker lost all motivation.  Physically he was capable of finishing much better, but his mind checked out once he knew that he wasn't going to achieve his goal.  The experience taught him not to invest everything into a single objective.  That once the primary objective was lost, don't give up, have at least a Plan B.  Don't "check out" just because the ultimate goal proved to be out of reach.

Fortunately for Barker, Golden Valley Junior College coach Sev Legred didn't give up on recruiting him.  It as Legred who taught Barker the value of high volume training.  Mega miles.  Prior to each cross country season Legred would take the team to St Croix State Park where they would run three workouts on some  days, running up to 150 miles a week.  Instead of breaking him down, Barker discovered that the high mileage training suited him, allowed him to build the stength that allowed him to outrun some of his teammates who, Barker believed, had more natural talent.

It was high volume training with "speed work" being five minute mile pace, even for interval training sessions where the quarters were done at  5-minute pace.  Knowing ahead of time what it was going to be like, Barker worked up to run his first 20 mile training run in August prior to the training camp.  For the long run at the camp, Legred would drive them  far away from their camp site, and they would run back, a journey that could take up to five hours.

The training camp was  a great team building experience, says Barker.  "We were united in our suffering," he said.  Already lean when he went to camp, he came back gaunt. "My cheeks were hollow," he said.  "I had a slight fever and a headache," he said.  "I didn't run for three days...But I didn't get injured and I improved a lot."

In junior college he competed against a fellow named Beardsley, lapped him in a 10K.  Iowa State coach Bill Bergen came to watch one of their meets. He was recruiting Barker's roommate who was a 1:51 half miler.  Bergen noticed Barker, liked what he saw and offered him a partial scholarship to join Bergan's up and coming program at Iowa State.  In Barker's first season the team placed second in the Big Eight conference, and the training program was radically different than Legred's.

Shorter morning runs and fast interval work.  Some of the mile interval workouts, for example, would have the team's top runners finishing up with 4:20 miles.  For Barker this tempo was more like running a race than a training session, so  instead of trying to keep up with the leaders, he'd do his fastest interval miles around 4:40.  On the other end, he upped the morning runs he did to eight miles.

While he couldn't match their speed, Barker learned that by working on his endurance, he could outrun some of his faster teammates.  It was a valuable lesson in finding out what worked for him and altering his training to fit his strengths, not trying to do speeds or distances that suited others.  Prior to the first NCAA championship meet Barker ran for the team, they watched a video of the famous epic battle between Nick Rose and Steve Prefontaine as that race was on the same course they were running.  It was a two loop layout, and  at the end of the first lap there was Rose, hair flowing behind him, attacking, front running with about a 70 meter lead on Prefontaine.

When they came around the second time, though,  Pre had caught Rose and would outrun him to the finish.  But it was Rose who caught Barker's eye.  The long, flowing hair.  The attacking style.  He didn't win the race, but he captivated the farm boy from St. James.  Inspired him.  That inspiration would motivate him as an athlete and later as a coach, and remains a fond memory to this day.

For 20 seasons, Barker has taken what he has learned from those who taught him, inspired him, and passed on that knowledge to the runners who have gone through the track and cross country programs at Augsburg.  Today Barker moves on to another phase of his coaching life, stepping down from his posts at Augsburg, retaining his position as coach of Team USA Minnesota.  He'll also continue coaching other runners who seek his knowledge and guidance.  And he hopes to do some writing. While one "journey" ends, another begins.

Augsburg press release on Dennis Barker is HERE.