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25 Years and Still Running
01/19/2012...Lethbridge, Alberta - "You have a rock and you polish it and then it becomes a diamond.”
The above statement is the philosophical reply and words of Bertil Johansson (left) when asked, “Why do you still, after 25 years, continue to coach cross country running?”
For Johansson, the rock is the athlete and the diamond is the final product - athlete and person.
Since 1987 Johansson has passed on his passion for sport to countless athletes at: Lethbridge College in the role of cross country coach for the Kodiaks.
A former decathlon national junior champion from Sweden, Johansson takes that same drive as an athlete to the coaching ranks.
“I guess you could say that I’m a little bit of a perfectionist,” admits Johansson, 56. “I am competitive and always in the pursuit of excellence. Be it family, religion, coaching, and service to the community…I will do my best.”
Such is the case for Lethbridge Kodiaks runners. Here are some of the highlights: Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference: 25 Gold – 14 individual, 11 team; 17 Silver – 9 individual, 8 team; 16 Bronze – 9 individual, 7 team.
Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association: 15 Gold – 8 individual, 7 team; 4 silver – 2 individual, 2 team; 5 bronze – all 5 individual.
That’s a total of 82 medals!
A large portion of those trinkets have been captured by Kenyan athletes attending Lethbridge College.
“It was about 11 years ago that I responded to an email from Thomas Mutai,” said Johansson in a recent interview. “He was living in Nairobi training with Paul Tergat's military running group. He was assisted to come to Canada by a training camp leader Mr. Philip Too who works at one of the Universities in Nairobi (accounting).
“He (Mutai) also knew Kip Kangogo (later NCAA all American for Brigham Young University and Texas Christian University). Then Kip (who helped me recruit Mary Kamau, future NCAA all American at University of Idaho) and Kip’s brother Ed Kangogo, who helped me recruit Willy Kimosop and so on.
“I took (the e-mail resume) on blind trust and we then later established an international tuition fund.”
Johansson said majority of the Kenyan runners come from the Kalenjin, an ethnic group of Nilotic origin living in the East African Rift in western Kenya.
According to Wikipedia “The Kalenjin have been called by some "the running tribe." Since the mid-1960s, Kenyan men have earned the largest share of major honors in international athletics at distances from 800 meters to the marathon; the vast majority of these Kenyan running stars have been Kalenjin.
From 1980 on, about 40% of the top honors available to men in international athletics at these distances (Olympic medals, World Championships medals, and World Cross Country Championships honors) have been earned by Kalenjin.”
“Most of the Kenyan recruits have family members or friends arriving, as they need strong local support and with my various connections we are able to place them with families, friends and the community at large,” said Johansson of the transition.
“Obviously a system that takes several years to develop, as Canadian post-secondary student athletes are limited to a grant covering only full tuition and fees. Furthermore, these last few years have been difficult to recruit due to “Visa granting irregularities” and political unrest in Kenya. I often work with two-to-three contacts in Kenya, who provide names from training camps in Eldoret, Kaspbarnet etc.
"The most important is to recruit a runner with strong and positive personal characteristics, and who is dedicated to academics and career goals! They need a 1.5 GPA to stay eligible to compete and a 2.0 GPA to receive scholarships, so the race is two-fold.
“Being a Swedish citizen myself, competing on the international scene in the 1970-1980"s it has been absolutely a dream job for me here at Lethbridge (coaching, teaching, fundraising, hosting running events and promoting wellness) in seeing these international students setting goals, pursue an education, getting work permits and jobs, build homes/relations and friendships, and enjoy a safe haven of what many African youth could only dream about.”
Along with his Kenyan runners – the likes of Purity Kandie, Mary Kamau, Ed Kangogo, Kip Kangogo, Peter Kayla, Willy Kimosop, and Gladys Kochei – Johansson has created a United Nations of sorts with runners from Holland, Japan and Colombia mixed in with local runners, be it from Lethbridge or elsewhere in Alberta.
“I still have the passion to take an athlete with talent and shape it,” said Johansson who has also coached athletics at the University of Lethbridge. “A decathlete is usually a driven person who wants to succeed and that carries over into life.”
Johansson was inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame (2009) and his 2003 and 04 Women’s XC team and 2005 and 06 Men’s XC team were enshrined in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
Johansson who has also received the 2010 Lethbridge “Citizen of the year Award” has no regrets in choosing Lethbridge as his adopted home.
“I personally, have the college experience to thank as well, as I have been able to achieve a B.Ed. degree (U of Lethbridge) and a Master’s Degree at the University of Victoria and a national level four NCCP certification from the National Coaching Institute in Victoria, along with many other fitness leadership and self-defense certifications,” said Johansson, who retired from competitive athletics in 1986.
Of the possibility of retiring as a coach?
“I can retire next year if I want to (long pause) but maybe I will coach until I am 60. When I am 60 I may try something else.”
Until then the Kodiak Kenyan Kick Konnection will continue as will the championships.
