By Ethan Farber

With all the construction going on, it seems that University City High School is getting a new look.  But even with this new face, we still having some old ones lurking—or in this case, running—around.

James “Jim” Crowe, 56, has been the U-City cross country coach for ten years, and in that time, he’s become a regular site on the roads here.

“When you do what I do for as long as I have, you get to know people.”

If seeing him everyday weren’t enough to remember him by, then surely his name and somewhat-skewed, infectious sense of humor would.

“People have always given me trouble for my name,” he said.  “It’s hard not to.  But I’m one of those people who you can call by my last name.  ‘Hey Crowe’ or ‘It’s Crowe.’  It made people remember me.”

Crowe has been running for 40 years.  He practically lives for running.  In fact, for a few years Crowe ran to support himself.

“I ran for Nike® for a few years,” he said, “but all they gave me were shoes and gear.  I roomed with a few guys who also ran.  We would sign up for races, win them, and collect the prize money for groceries.  If I needed some shoes, I’d look for a race that was giving a pair away, go run it and win the shoes.”

Now, Crowe substitutes his prize money with his job as a University City Parks Supervisor.  When he’s taking a break from that and running, he practices his hobbies of botany and squirrel-shooting.

“I’m from South Dakota, man,” he defended.  “We eat what we kill.  That’s why our murder rate is so low.”

Crowe got started on cross country once he realized how ineligible he was for any other sport.

“I was too small and uncoordinated,” he recalled.  “And at first I hated running.  But I found that the harder I worked, the more people I beat, and pretty soon I fell in love with it.”

Once Crowe got started running cross country, there was one team in particular that stood out.

“When I was in high school,” he recalled, “University City was the track and field and cross country team.  They had huge teams, and they always came in first or second in state… I remember when we would run track meets there.  The stadium was always jam-packed with people, and when you would come around the far curve there was just this wall of people screaming and shouting at and for you… It was exhilarating.”

So when he moved here and began working, Crowe volunteered as a coach for the U-City team.  However, something is different here than it was 40 years ago.  Only a fourth of the students at UCHS are participating in after-school activities.

“U-City used to be the greatest,” he repeated.  “Their teams were huge.  We could have so many more kids out—they’re just intimidated by the distance… I don’t care if the kids are running, so long as they are out exercising and representing U-City.”

Running for the sake of running isn’t everything Crowe gets from being a coach.  His biggest reward is giving his runners more options for post-secondary education.

“The majority of our kids get money to run at college,” he said.  “It’s nice for me to know that I’m helping them pay for college.  Oh, and torturing teenagers—I love it.”