Tag Archives: coaching

On the Olympic Matt

02 Tuesday Apr 2024

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Matt Robinson (right) is congratulated by IOC President Thomas Bach

A year ago this month, CRR Matt Robinson, “self-appointed CEO” of the Creek Road Runners, graduated from the International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program. In the photo above, he is being congratulated by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

Robinson heads the University of Delaware’s Community Engagement Initiative, but he has spent the last 20 years doing sport development work funded by the U.S. Department of State, the IOC, and the U.S. Olympic Committee. He has collaborated with the NBA, FIFA, U.S. Soccer, and the Olympic committees of multiple countries. 

Robinson leads the International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program (ICECP), which has trained more than 400 coaches from 120 countries in 25 sports. He is a sought-after speaker on the topic of sport diplomacy, athlete and sport development, and developing legacy plans for cities and countries that host major international sporting events.

Plus, Robinson has always been a staunch supporter of running, and particularly the Creek Road Runners. Congratulations to our “CEO.”

Photo courtesy of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee

Run, Train, Race

05 Monday Feb 2024

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Jim Fischer’s book Run, Train, Race
photo of Jim Fischer trackside
Coach Fischer at a UD track meet in 2011

Minnesota native and Delaware Sports Hall of Famer CRR Jim Fischer has just published a book called Run, Train, Race. Based on his 50 years of running, teaching, and coaching, in his book Fischer offers practical distance-running advice for runners at all levels.

Locally, Fischer has been conducting training sessions on the track at the University of Delaware and more recently at local high schools for more than 30 years. Anyone can take advantage of this type of coaching. And, indeed, over the years several Creek Road Runners have done so and benefitted from his expertise.

Fischer is a Level III certified coach in endurance and has taught Level I and Level II certification classes across the U.S. He served on the NCAA Men’s Cross Country Coaches Association’s Executive Board, presented at the Seoul Olympic Scientific Congress, and conducted coaching and training clinics in China, Egypt, Honduras, and Yemen. He was an assistant coach for the “East Team” at the 1991 U.S. Olympic Sports Festival in Los Angeles.

> Purchase the book online

Fischer named 2020 Delaware Coach of the Year

27 Wednesday Jan 2021

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For CRR Jim Fischer, it can seem like a bit of a redemption story, though not of his own choosing.

You see, Fischer had coached the University of Delaware’s DI men’s cross-country and track-and-field teams for three decades in his previous coaching life. That came to a gut-wrenching end in 2011, as UD erased its men’s running program over the course of three years while he was at the helm. Something about Title IX, despite all the good he was doing for the young athletes, most of whom happened to be great students as well.

photo of Jim Fischer trackside
Coach Fischer at a UD track meet in 2011

“It really hurt me,” Fischer admitted. “It was not only that that’s what I loved. It was also that it wasn’t a valued program to [the UD administration], and that hurt even worse.”

Well, after having had his job eliminated at UD, Fischer took positions with Delaware Technical & Community College and then Sanford School, respectively, before getting an opportunity with the Ursuline Academy—an all-girls’ school most famous for having produced WNBA superstar Elena DelleDonne. In the five years Coach Fischer has been at Ursuline, the school has won the past three girls Division II state cross-country titles, displacing the perennial juggernaut Tatnall School. Prior to his arrival, Ursuline hadn’t won that coveted state title since 1998.

Now, Coach Fischer has been honored as the 2020 Delaware Coach of the Year for these latest accomplishments, just another in a series of awards for one who is already a member of the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame.

A native of Minnesota, Coach Fischer has been a Creek Road Runner, as well as a member of the Pike Creek Valley Running Club, since coming on the scene in Delaware back in the ’80s. He has always been an advocate for running and racing and has for decades now been holding community workouts on Tuesday nights, helping runners of all abilities to improve and/or meet their goals.

Hearty congratulations, Coach, from Creek Road Runners!

> See full News Journal story.