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By Cynthia Scott
Itís a well-worn sports cliche that a team is like a family.
For dad and daughter Bob and Christine Frandsen, who participate in Rush City cross country, that cliche is literally true.
Perhaps, then, that makes Coach Kevin Smith ñ the programís only coach in its 28 year history ñ something of a grandpa...er, grandcoach.
The lineage goes like this:
Smith coached Bob when Bob ran cross country in 1976, the programís first year.
Smith now coaches Christine as she competes in her fifth and final year of varsity competition.
Bob also coaches Christine, since he has continued to give to the program in his capacity as a longtime volunteer coach.
Bob and Christine share at least two similarities, besides their obvious love for running.
The first you could call post-Homecoming blahs. In his senior year, Bob played in the Homecoming football game on Friday night v. Cambridge-Isanti, and then got up the next morning to compete at a cross country meet and couldnít finish the race.
Smith recalled that Bob was favored in that meet but he cramped up and couldnít finish.
Christineís homecoming blahs came this year, when she presided as queen during the Sept. 24 festivities and had a weak showing the following morning at the Princeton Invitational.
Second, and more significant, Bob and Christine might both be considered overachievers, in the sense that a rigorous work ethic pushes them beyond where their natural abilities might take them.
Christine is, according to Smith, ìmeticulousî in her training, noting that she works hard on her own time as well as at practices.
ìSheís not satisfied with just doing OK. She works harder than most at maximizing. She listens very well and is willing to try something and see if it works for her,î Smith said.
Bob describes his own high school career in much the same way, saying he was ìshort on talent but a hard worker..î Since Bob also played football, Smith said he rarely made cross country practices. But, he said, ìweíd get to the meets and invariably heíd win.
ìI didnít know anything about coaching then, so I probably didnít do much to help him get better,î Smith said.
The jury is out on whether or not Bob was really short on natural talent; he still holds the school record for the mile run and Smith called him one of the all time fastest in Rush City in cross country. ìNot for a long time have we seen anybody run like him.î
But Christine may be close. ìChristine is the schoolís best female runner. She is so much ahead of the other girls that she trains with the boys,î Smith said.
For Christine, whose goal is to reach the state competition for the second consecutive year, itís the best of all worlds to have her dad on the coaching staff. She considers him a role model ñ though sometimes, she admits, ìI just want him to shut up.î She has the utmost regard for Smith and assistant coach Mike Vaughn.
ìThereís not a lot of coaches who run with the kids,î Christine said. ìAt meets itís really nice to have the coaches run the course with you. Itís calming. And theyíre always at the start, shaking your hand. The coaches are never really negative,î Christine said.
This will be Bobís last year as a volunteer coach, though he plans to continue volunteering with track until someone breaks his mile record.
Smith will miss Bob. ìHeís always there to drive the kids somewhere, or fix something. Heíll send the kids up to the local ice cream shop and itís already taken care of. Heís the type of person in a small town that makes it go.î
And so is Smith, who came to cross country by accident and stayed by choice.
ìOur program is all about doing the best you can. Cross country runners and kids in general try to limit themselves. If you think ëhey, Iím going to run with that guy or maybe pass him,í thatís the key to running,î he said.î
Apart from her goals for this season, Christine envisions running as a lifetime sport. She wants to compete in college and some day finish a marathon. Her dad, who has run eight marathons, plans to stick to his daily runs but out of consideration for his knees figures heís finished with marathons.
ìThe only way I would ever run another marathon is if my kids want me to do it,î he said.
Perhaps, then, no one should be surprised to see Bob and Christine running Grandmaís Marathon together sometime in the future.
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