March 14, 2017

Meet Rich Kenah of Atlanta Track Club in Midtown

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rich Kenah.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Rich. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My running story reads more like a marathon than a sprint but I will try and give you the speed workout version.

I ran my first road race at the age of six after being inspired by watching Bruce Jenner at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. But there was no hint of an Olympics in my future as I finished dead last in the four-mile race. In fact, I was so far back that my father had to flag down a police car to go looking for me. From the age of six until high school, running was a fun weekend activity that my dad and I would enjoy. It lacked any structure or real training. But my appreciation for and love of the sport grew during this time.

I became increasingly more serious about my commitment to training in high school and college and found that the harder I worked, the better my results. Go figure! I was fortunate enough to have great coaches along the way and managed to win a high school and NCAA title during these years. I committed to chasing my Olympic dreams after college. While it took a long time and required dealing with lots of ups and downs, I achieved my dream of representing the USA at the Olympic Games in 2000.

The sport has had an immeasurable impact on my life, and I am privileged to now have a career at an organization whose mission it is to impact the health and wellness of people’s lives through running and walking. At Atlanta Track Club, we spend our days, nights and weekends providing running and walking solutions the Atlanta Metropolitan area. For this running geek, a job where I can talk about running all day long is as good as it gets.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth is not a word I would use to describe my journey in running and in my post-professional athlete career path.

As most competitive runners know, disappointment and injury are everyday occurrences. From the half dozen stress fractures to falling short at two Olympic Trials to many more losses than wins, I’ve experienced many lows as an athlete. Likewise, as a sports marketing professional, I’ve had more near misses than I’d like to admit. As cliché as it might sound though, the failures I experienced on the track have taught me how to deal with personal and professional setbacks better than most non-runners.

In 1996, I missed making the U.S. Olympic Team by an increment of time that one cannot even measure on your standard watch. I was devastated and had every intention of ending my lifelong chase of an Olympic berth. Through a combination of random chance and stubbornness, I decided to give myself another four years to realize that Olympic dream. And from 1996 until the time I retired in 2001, I won two World Championship medals, set a world record and secured that privilege of walking into the Olympic Stadium wearing a USA uniform.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Atlanta Track Club – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Atlanta Track Club is a nonprofit organization with a mission of creating a healthier Atlanta through running and walking. We are probably best known for organizing the world’s largest 10K – the AJC Peachtree Road Race – but we offer more than 30 events throughout the year that touch people at every stage of the runner life cycle. With more than 115,000 participants at our events and 28,000 members in 2016, we are the second largest running club in the United States.

In addition to our events, Atlanta Track Club offers training programs, group runs, member benefits and elite team opportunities. Our free Kilometer Kids youth running programs helps children develop healthy habits at an early age. The Club has also been expanding its commitment to the high school running community over the past few years. Our goal is to provide a running or walking solution for everyone and anyone in metro Atlanta.

There is no running organization in the country, and maybe the world, that has the breadth of programming that our Club has. We offer a first-time youth running opportunity as well as training opportunities for Olympic hopefuls. We host everything from a cross country meet to track & field meets to a marathon. We inspire fitness walkers who are taking their first steps toward better health to some of the top high school athletes in the country. I love our mission. And I am proud of the commitment by our staff, board members and thousands of volunteers to keep Atlanta moving forward.

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