by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Long distance running coaches may also have long distance careers. The long distance coach career has made positive impacts of many lives on and off the track and course.
Clay Kicker Mayes III is the head cross-country and track coach at the University of Antelope Valley in Lancaster, CA.
“I grew up in Claremore, Oklahoma, and ran for Claremore-Sequoyah High School,” said Clay. “I started to train consistently at the start of the 7th grade. It all started when I was invited by a family friend to join them in a 5k road race. My first distance race was in 6th grade at Holland Hale and it was a mile. I distinctly remember hurling everywhere post-mile race.”
“Even before I started racing, while I was elementary, our physical education teacher used to let us do whatever and allotted 45 minutes during gym class in 5th and 6th grade. Immediately, I tried getting in a routine 12 to 16 laps each time as everyone socialized and mingled about the latest elementary gossip,” added Clay.
“My 5k times progressed from 22.35 as a sixth grader to my race as a senior to 15.11,” said Clay. “My college best 5k was 14.16 and 10k road race was 30.06 at 5,500 elevation.”
“My accomplishments include being the Oklahoma State 3200m Champion, Nike Outdoor Track Nationals 6th place, and last All-American spot, All Conference Big 12 in 10,000 meters in 2009, and scorer for University of Oklahoma’s 12th place at NCAA D1 XC Nationals Team finish.”
“Oklahoma tribes tend to be a little different than other tribes, not in a bad and not in good way either,” said Clay. “The culture is simply just a different type of culture. Not very many people really understand this outside of Oklahoma.”
“What I have clearly seen being passed on by generation to generation is certain traits,” said Clay. “The traits are almost stoic, quiet, and self reserved. That’s the best way I can explain it. There are certain mannerisms that also get passed forward. A consistent variable, almost an unwritten rule everyone comprehends, was for one to talk less, works immensely hard, and show their value a role model through their actions in which one builds their family and community to be better. There’s a sense of pride in working hard, and being a good family man/woman.”
Coaches have leadership philosophy statements that include lessons that help guide them. “I make sure my actions reflect what I say and teach,” said Clay. “I never drank once, never smoked, and I expect the same consistency amongst my runners. They deserve that standard! They love that standard in being righteous with their values and lifestyle.”
“For our cross country/track team, we are vastly different from most. We don’t take pride in simply being there, and being a number. The runners are different from any other team through their character, being 100% wholesome with their lifestyle, and they are the top athletes that hail from their communities,” said Clay.
“There are certain stigmas that have been associated with the Native community, and the goal is to eliminate that through being a role model, and of course, that also means speaking up regardless of how uncomfortable that may be,” said Clay. “That’s to cast out the bad eggs, and take pride in the god given talent, and sacrifices each runner and their families have made for them to be successful. If anyone hinders that overall, our perspective is that of a lukewarm Christian (half committed folks), Revelation 3:16, ‘But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!’
“This is why our team thrives in being the best Native American xc and track team in the country for the last 20+ years,” said Clay. “We aren’t a typical team that is simply happy to just qualify for nationals, as some teams can qualify being quite mediocre through a technicality of having an easy conference. We always expect to be near the front against top competition, and we will always be working towards obtaining a national team title.”
“In due time, these men and women will do so,” said Clay.
“I do feel confident for never giving in with running, coaching, and held on to my way of life through and through,” said Clay. “I’ve had my share of tests, but the one thing my dad taught me was ‘foresight.’ I always knew the advantage was to understand the value of one’s decisions, and my dad help create that. It’s why I trained hard, and it’s what motivated me. It’s what kept me from a bad crowd growing up, and it’s what has made me strong.”
“My Dad, also known as ‘Clay Mayes,’ oddly stubborn like I am, and if you want something done, you have to do it yourself,” said Clay. “The lesson I learned from him was anyone can be successful as they want to be. It didn’t matter what gender, ethnicity, or level of income someone had, anyone can decide how successful he/she will become. Although, it can be harder for some folks, everyone is given the beauty of free will and deciding their own fate.”
Josh Justice Dick, who Coach Clay coached at Tahlequah HS, OK, said: “Clay is a person that helped me, a young kid from a small town, kick start his dreams of becoming a D1 scholarship student athlete,” said Josh Dick. “It’s hard for me to give one story about him because he helped me get through the weekly struggles of not just running but life outside of running as well. He has helped shape me into something better than I was. He taught me that it’s not about killing yourself everyday to get better but just little bits at a time add up over time and you become stronger for it. He taught me to be consistent in my habits whether that is running, studying, or just life in general. I think that Clay Mayes III is an underrated coach and an even more underrated person. He has not just been a huge influence in my life but many other young athletes just like me.”
Mike Barber, Club XC and Track coach at Jenks American said: “Clay Mayes is a young man that I have coached and mentored and married to his sweet wife Melanie. He is a focused brilliant young man that wants to win at all he does! He is one of the hardest workers I have ever coached! During his high school senior year he excelled to amazing levels attributable to his amazing work ethic, his body’s ability to recover from hard workouts extremely fast, his fearlessness, and his desire to be the best with a fear none attitude. Clay went to OSU and OU to run collegiate. There he again worked so hard helping his two teams to peak performance. Clay was not the fastest athlete in his time that I coached but through his seemingly endless hard work few could beat him!”
“Post-collegiately, Clay has coached first in Muscogee at Bacone College in NAIA where through hard work his teams excelled and Jackson his #1 runner won the National NAIA XC Championship,” added Mike.
Mike Daney (Choctaw), former Haskell Indian Nations University XC and Track Coach: “From what I have seen thus far with Coach Mayes is that he has taken raw talent, not blue chip athlete’s, and made them believe in themselves, the program, and become very competitive student athletes. Not only that, he has done this at two colleges that are not traditionally running powerhouse schools. This is without the same resources as the other schools in his conferences and taken them to national prominence. In addition to his actual ability to get the most out of his athletes, he has made a personal commitment to do it with American home grown kids. If you look on any level, NJCAA, NAIA, or NCAA, the majority of the top schools are dominated with much older foreign athletes. Coach Mayes respectfully wants to take the raw, 18 to 19 year old American athlete, and give them a plan, vision, and confidence that they can and will compete against those types of programs and athletes. Coach Mayes focus is also on the under represented populations of Native American and Spanish nationalities.”
Dustin Martin (Dine’), Executive Director of the Wings of America youth development running project said: “I first met Clay when I was on a Wings National Team with him in the winter of 2006. If traveling to New York City with a group of near strangers wasn’t overwhelming enough, here was this young ‘Okie’ that never stopped talking and seemed to know my PR’s better than I did. At first it was annoying because I thought Clay was trying to stir up competition. But by the end of the trip I think we all realized that he was simply trying to get us to talk about the thing he loved most in the world- running. To this day, I’ve never met anyone that is as intrigued by the intricacies of distance training techniques as Clay.”
“It is an incredible blessing to the Native running community that a coach like Clay has decided to focus his energy on developing young talent from Indian Country. Even with all the challenges associated with recruiting off the ‘rez’, Clay remains positive with his eye on the goal: helping young men and women get an education while experiencing the thrill of collegiate competition. I have no doubt that any student-athlete under his program will benefit from the culture of respect and accountability he fosters amongst his runners. With the right financial support, I have no doubt that Coach Mayes could foster the next Billy Mills in a few Olympic cycles. Most importantly, he 100% believes that level of talent is still lurking out there in Indian Country. The trick is showing those runners it’s worth exploring their talent before they’re lured away by the basketball court or the responsibilities of adult life. If anyone can do it, Clay can do it,” added Dustin.
Tiajhae Nez (Dine’), top runner for Coach Clay at the University of Antelope Valley this season said: “I remember when I first came here to Antelope Valley my parents were scared to leave me especially my mom. We met up and had lunch with him and he was very nice and explained to them that if miss class or whatever that he would let them know. He also told them how he wants us to embrace our cultures and set examples for our communities back home.”
“He really emphasized on the community part. He wants us to succeed, whether it’s in schools, sports, and micromanaging the little things. He still empathizes that on us today because he doesn’t want us to represent the image that others may see us that may be alcoholics or drug addicts. He provided us a positive outlet to become successful in running and school,” said Tiajhae.
“Clay also is a big help when a few are struggling in school or if they need to go somewhere,” said Tiajhe. “He’ll ask someone on the team to tutor or to help them out throughout the semester and if we need a ride to the gym he’ll make sure something is arranged. When we need a mental break he’ll have us do a team hangout or movie night. He goes above and beyond for his runners, and that’s something not every coach would do.”
Jaiven Hale (Mandan/Hidatsa/Lakota/Pueblo), second top runner for Coach Clay at the University of Antelope Valley this season said: “Coach Clay is very supportive, helpful, and cares about me and to the rest of them team. He cares about us runners and wants us to do our best and to reach our full potential. He tells me that I can be a really great runner if I do the little things and believe in the training also to be patient. He also helps us with school asking things if we are ok in our classes, do we need help with anything, or asking if any our classes are hard. He keeps me healthy physically and mentally, asking me if I’m eating good or getting enough to eat if not he’ll be there to help. He talks to us telling us that we can be the best if we really want it. Most coaches wouldn’t do things that coach Clay does.”
Former runner at Bacone College, Brian Masayesva said: “Overall, Clay is the best coach I’ve ever had from all the other coaches I’ve had in collegiate running from Arizona to Michigan coaches. He is a coach I’d name my first kid after, due to his values of integrity, loyalty and most of all his faith in his runners. Clay goes above and beyond if you meet him halfway with educational and athletic goals. He is my coach!”
“I feel eternally appreciative for all the people that have directly and indirectly helped and allowed for our team to be successful,” said Clay. “I’ve had a great community that has also made sacrifices for the greater good. It took a whole village with people in my life, parents of the runners, local and far away communities, and so forth to obtain the success and honors we’ve collected.”
“My best advice is stay consistent,” said Clay. “The best way to eliminate encountering problems? Stay away from the people unwilling to change. If someone is trying to eat healthy but struggles doing so, the last thing they should do is go to the grocery store hungry. ‘Don’t tempt the devil.’ Good people and good runners want to be held to a higher standard, and often a ‘tough’ standard. Too many coaches either go through the motions, aren’t sincere, and don’t always understand the value that their men and women student-athletes can offer their community, and the world around them with their success as a student and athlete.”
“Even if one person, coach, or student-athlete goes on to change just one single person over the course of decades, it was well worth it,” said Clay.
“In regards to coaching, the greatest achievement was the fact everyone stayed healthy, and each runner impacted others positively to also pick up a healthy lifestyle,” said Clay. “These runners spoke up about the things that are hard to talk about, and they are ideal role models, and they take pride in having value and morals.”
“There is 320,000,000 million in terms of the population for the U.S.,” said Clay. “I feel being confident in one’s ability to coach and guide runners, there is more than enough talent to pursue in recruiting and coaching. The native community and their talent alone is still vastly untapped, in which, they account for 2 of 3 U.S. Olympic Medals in the 10,000m. That didn’t happen by sheer luck!”
“Being confident in one’s walk as a coach, why else look to the outside?” said Clay. “A prime example I came across was during the 2014/2015 school year, a young man I recruited who went from being lapped two times at his junior college indoor national 5,000m, to one of the best collegiate runners in the country within one year. A very gifted man, Jackson Thomas (Navajo), but definitely not the most talented runner I recruited or came across. At the time of recruiting him, Jackson was 100% committed to going to a top D2 college the following school year. Jackson reached out by phone and by email to pursue competing for this college the following school year, and was met with no response. I also followed up for him, as he was very straight forward he would go there and he asked for help with that process. I was also met with no responses by email and no returned calls. Within the emails I detailed Jackson’s ability was quite capable of garnering multiple national titles. Instead of being discouraged like most, Jackson decided to pursue where I coached at, and exploded onto the college scene garnering 5 national titles, beating nearly every single D2 and D1 runner he faced. Jackson triumphed over the 7 time D2 champ, and 3 time D1 runner-up (xc-indoor-outdoor), who was a stellar Kenyan runner.” Race video is included here: https://youtu.be/51aSgnw3Ch4
“What baffles me is how many people out there are like Jackson, who are met with no responses simply because a coach looks solely at a runner’s raw race time but not their potential,” said Clay. “Some coaches negate taking the time to see potential, and discard all reason to recruit the runner because of this one factor. In Jackson’s case, he lived less than two hours from the college he originally planned to pursue and later admitted if I didn’t reach out to him, he was going to hang up his running career to pursue another path with life.”
“Jackson’s success created a positive ripple effect in getting others to pursue the same cause and started to work towards being a great collegiate runner, and getting their degree to help build their community in various ways (like being a teacher for their community). There has to be relatability in order for others to feel empowered to follow suit of another successful runner. Seeing relatability with others successful student-athletes allows for one to more likely self-evaluate their own well being and potential, and to push to be better,” added Clay.
Jackson Thomas said: “Coach Clay is one of a kind coach. His dedication, determination, and love for the sport amazed me everyday. I’ve known him for about six or seven years now. In those years he’s shown me how to better myself with running and outside of running. Clay will go the distance for you if you put in the work and do as he asked. The rewards are endless but I don’t think it’s the rewards he looks forward to. It’s the improvement and seeing the person succeed and reach the goals they set out to do with running and their education.”
“Unfortunately, most college coaches at the top level simply thrive due to possessing bigger scholarships and resources,” said Clay. “It’s still quite possible to be successful without the same resources as these colleges but there is less room for error. With talented runners like Jackson, the talent has to be discovered and untapped, and importantly, the right mentality has to be brought in to be successful.”
“From one coach to another coach, I would suggest making sure you convey the right message, mentality, and culturally with coaching aspiring student-athletes,” added Clay.
Photo Credit: Jackson Thomas
