Catching up with El Dorado coach, Peanut Harms

Today, we chat with El Dorado (SJS) coach, Peanut Harms. He has been the El Dorado coach since 2000 with a lot of success including many league and section championships and many trips to the state meet. Aside from coaching, Peanut and his wife, Tena, are enshrined in the UC Davis and Sacramento Running Association Hall of Fames. Peanut has also been a great ambassador of our sports (see below) as well as a leader in coaching education such as the upcoming "Athletic.net SuperClinic" at Jessup College on Jan. 24th.

1) First, your name is Dwayne Harms, but everybody knows you as Peanut or Nut. How did you get that nickname?
-My mom named me Peanut when I was very young. It caught on, and the positive aspect of being named an unusual name is that it is memorable. Especially when I went into sales; name recognition is crucial.

2) What sports did you play in your youth? What made you decide to switch to running your senior year in high school? Favorite sports memories/accomplishments before college?
-I played all sports through HS except XC & TF. Our High School only had 400 kids in it (John Swett HS in Crockett), so athletes played 3 sports: Football, Basketball, & Baseball. I switched to TF in March of my Senior year because I ran 1:30 low in the 660 with no training (except just being an active kid!). The Track Coach ask me to go to a Track Meet (what is that?), I ran 2:07 the first time stepping on a Track and finished with a school record of 1:58.5 after five meets.

3) Tell us a little about your college experience and how you eventually ended up at UC Davis. College highlights?
-I decided, was not recruited, to go to Diablo Valley College. I had knee surgery the first Fall so I didn't run XC. I ran 1:58 in my first year, recovering. I decided to get serious and run during the summer for fun. I ended up 11th in the League and 11th in NorCal (top 10 advanced to state). The track season of my second year I came of age and ran 4:14 in the Mile and 1:53.1 in the 880 (finishing 6th in the State). John Pappa, the Track Coach @ UC Davis recruited me from DVC along with about 6 other Teammates (we had a Great Track Team 8-1 in the GGC (Golden Gate Conference). He struck gold. My College Highlights were many. First of all, I had Great Teammates who made the rigors of College Training not only tolerable but FUN much of the time. This is where the Aggie Running Club was born. I won a lot of Track and XC Races eventually running 1:50.4 (Far Western Conference Record) and 4:06 Mile. I won the Aggie Invite, Walnut Festival, All Cal XC 2 years in a row.  I eventually set the school record on the UCD course. While all of that running (and an overflow of fun & frivolity) the Best thing that happened at UCD was meeting my "More famous runner than me" wife Tena Anex. I could write a book about all of the antics at UCD while earning my Bachelor's & Master's degrees. 

4) Tell us how the Davis Aggies were formed, and do you have any good stories that you can share during your time with the club? Any good Bay to Breakers centipede stories? 
-The Aggie Running Club was an on campus club at first, encouraged by our Coach Dr. Bill Adams. It grew to a "city wide" family Running Club. I believe Tena was the first President, and then I think Angel Martinez followed her. Angel brought the club experience from his time with the Alameda Running Club. There is not close to enough room here to share ALL of the UCD stories OR Bay to Breakers stories here. All I can say is this, "what would any coach give to have a team of 13 runners run 7.6 miles at 5 minute pace with a 1-13 "Gap" of 6 seconds??". It is important to note that the Aggie Running Club centipede also ran (and set World Records) in the Boston, LA, & New York Marathons. We also ran the Hayes Street Mile and were flown to race in several High Profile 10k races. There is No Team Running Experience like racing right next to 12 of your Running Friends. I use the Centipede in my HS XC Training to this day.

5) During your running career, who were the coaches that had the biggest impact on you, and what did you learn from them?
-Mal Decker, my youth Baseball & Basketball Coach, Lou Signer my High School Basketball Coach, John Farnum my HS Track Coach (who "got me on the bus" to my first track meet), Mike Miramonte my DVC Distance Coach, Jim Shettler my DVC XC Coach, John Pappa my UCD Track Coach, and most of all, Dr. Bill Adams, my UCD Distance Coach. I owe my entire life to these gentlemen.

6) Your wife, Tena, was inducted into the UC Davis and Sacramento Running Association Hall of Fames. Tell us a little about some of her accomplishments during her running career.
-You will have to talk with her to get all of the details. She was an Age Group Phenom for Will's Spikette's out of Sacramento. I know she held two American Records, the 3,000m on the track & the 20 miler (Clarksburg). She was on the USA World Cross Country Team (finishing 3rd I think)- she was 13/14 years old!! She ran 2:11 in the 800 & 4:51 in the mile as a High Schooler. 

She was a force in Women's Running and is her on Story. She is the Best Runner in our Family!! 

7) Where have you coached, and how did you end up coaching at El Dorado HS? What have been some of your proudest accomplishments for past teams and individuals? What is the training area like near your school?
-I began coaching as a Freshman in HS coaching 3rd, 4th, & 5th grade basketball. I think I've always been a coach.

Recently (relatively) I began my coaching career in 1974 upon Graduation from UCD (1st degree) as a Graduate Assistant/Distance Coach when Dr. Adams went on Sabbatical. I gained All of my Basic Knowledge of Endurance Training from Doc A, UCD was a science based program. In April of 1974 I was chosen (another whole story) I was selected by the USAID/US Government to be the Olympic Distance Coach for Nigeria West Africa in preparation for the 1976 Olympic Games.

Upon returning from Nigeria I once again became the UC Davis Distance Coach (Men) until relocating to Mountain View for work for Angel Martinez at Starting Line Sports while I pursued my Coaching/Teaching Career. I was hired at Foothill College to be their Head Track & Cross Country Coach. I remained there until 1988 after winning many Championships and guiding (with excellent assistant coaches like Joe Mangan- who eventually took over at Foothill). During the 90's myself and Tena raised and Coached our 4 daughters as they navigated Elementary School. In 2000, El Dorado was looking for a Track & Cross Country Coach, I applied and was hired, and I have been there ever since.

-I have a million Coaching Highlights with my children and the other kids I have Coached. First, Coaching 5 CCS XC Champions from 5 different High School while living in Los Altos. Those Champions were: Danny Gonzalez, Mike McCollom, Scott Marconda, Grant Foster, & Craig Blockus. I was NOT a skimmer (coaches that go around and recruit kids from HS teams and attach themselves to the kids success) these kids were brought to me by their HS Coaches because of Extreme Ability. In Africa, I coached our Jr. Team (Nigeria is NOT a Distance Mecca) to 3rd place at the World XC Championships. At El Dorado the Coaches (head, assistants) have now won 46 TF & XC League Championships, 7 TF & XC Section Championships & have qualified an individual (twice) or team (13 times) to the Ca. XC State Meet 15 Consecutive Years. Great kids, committed Assistants! Most importantly, are all of the lives the programs I have overseen that have been changed and elevated because of their experience in programs I have been in charge of.

-El Dorado High School is on a serious hill. Everything we do is Hill Training. We also have incredible trails in the Foothills. Many Ultras are run within close proximity of our School ("Way too Cool", Western States, etc.). Our school draws athletes from 2000' to 4000' elevation. We don't recruit, we coach what we get, we are a Blue Collar school, and my kids are Gritty, Tough kids.

8) Aside from coaching, what other occupations have you had that were directly linked to running?
-As a result of working at Starting Line Sports in Mt. View (Runner's World) in the late 70's, I went into the Footwear Business. Without going into ANY detail I will say I worked for Converse, Reebok, & most recently, along with Jim Van Dine & Angel Martinez Assisted in the introduction of HOKA as their 1st Performance Marketing/Contract Athlete Manager. I have been in Performance Sports Marketing my whole adult life with stints at VS Athletics, First to the Finish, Pacific Sportswear & Accusplit. I am also proud to have been Co-Director (with Dave Shrock) of the Athletic.net SuperClinic to be held this year at Jessup College in Rocklin on Jan. 24th. My Involvement as the Ambassador of Fun & Frivolity at Track Meets in Eugene is a book in itself. Let it be said that Many of Us have enjoyed ourselves in Eugene at Track Meets.

9) From your days as a competitive runner to now, what do you feel has changed the most in terms of how distance runners are trained?
-Not to go "back in the day" on you but I will say that running was much more "primitive" than today. I mean, we didn't even own a Water Bottle! We didn't need shoes that gave us a bio-mechanical advantage. With that being said I would say that the Endorphin induced excitement and Love of Group Training and pursuit of personal excellence are the same. 

10) What does it take to be a successful high school runner?
-The Tolerance of Discomfort and the Curiosity of Pursuing the Upper Limits of One's Individual Capabilities.

11) What does a typical week look like for your runners? About how many miles a week for your varsity runners? Strength training per week? Longest run? Typical workouts? Morning runs? Anything else that you feel is important?
-Our program is Very Eclectic as I am constantly reading and learning. I Love Peter Thompson's Dynamic Coaching as he is also Always Learning. I like Jay Johnson's information and pursuit of Dynamic Coaching Education. Typical week follows "hard days hard, easy days easy" credo. We are very "Situational" in our training, we train to race, we try to imitate the Racing Experience and Rehearse the approaching challenges. We teach "racing intuition", running and racing by rhythm & repetition.

I have an incredible kaleodoscope of runners as we take anyone who wants to Work Hard and Achieve Personal Improvement. Varsity runners run approximately 40 miles per week. We strength train using a 5 part bodyweight method that works for us (3 legs, 2 arms). Longest run 6-8 miles on bike trails. Few AM runs. I feel athletes should train to find and develop their own racing rhythm.  

12) If you could change anything about California HS cross country and/or track and field, what would you change?
-I believe that our whole Athletic System is preventing kids from developing their ultimate best athleticism. We are piling sports on top of sports causing unnecessary anxiety for young people. We used to have a 10 day mandatory rest period when transitioning between sports; now winter sports begin BEFORE Fall League Meets. The system seems to be more Financially Driven than Athletic Development Driven. I'm also concerned about the elevated costs (entry fees). I also believe that there should be separate Divisions for Programs who only depend on athletes who actually live in their District. I believe there should be separate Public & Private School Divisions at all levels as there is now an Un-Level Playing Field. Lastly, I believe the "Everybody Gets a Trophy, Every Team Makes the Playoffs" team sport environment is having a Gigantic Impact on Athletes ability to transition between sports. I don't think anyone is even paying attention to this.

13) What is your advice for a new coach with aspirations of building a strong distance program at their school?
-Study Selling and Marketing because if you don't have kids, you don't have a program. The ability to Fundraise (with escalating costs) is becoming more & more important. Never Stop Learning as things keep changing. Attend clinics, like the "Athletic.net SuperClinic" at Jessup College on Jan. 24th. Integrate Fun and Social Enhancement into your Program.

14) Anything else you would like to add?
-I am always available to anyone who reads this to discuss anything mentioned here. We learn from each other. "Coaching ain't easy, but in the End it is All Worth It!"

Thank you very much for your time, Peanut! AJC