Wempe’s track club finishes third in nation

Earlier this month, Ken Wempe helped his team from the Atlanta Track Club to a third-place finish in the master’s 8K national cross country race in Derwood, Md., bringing home the highest national finish the club has ever achieved.

“I’m really competitive, and I’ve always liked endurance sports,” said Wempe, dean of Middle School students. “I love the way it feels after you’re done a race. Running is actually very relaxing for me – it helps me unwind and destress. To go for a run is not something that makes my day harder; it makes it easier.”

Wempe’s 28:23-minute finish in Derwood put him at No. 5 on his team of seven. Scores combined, the ATC earned a total of 56 points and the No. 3 slot in the race. This fall, the ATC’s master’s team (age 40+) also finished No. 4 at a national race in North Carolina and No. 8 at an event in Washington state. One of the largest track clubs in the country, the ATC is second in size only to the New York Road Runners Club.

Wempe, who has been a member of the ATC for five years, only began competing in national cross country championships once he turned 40 and became eligible to compete with the master’s team.

“I grew up playing team sports like basketball, football and baseball, so even though cross country is considered sort of an individual sport, my main goal in joining the Atlanta Track Club was to be part of a team,” Wempe said. “Our goal at this last meet was to have the highest finish we’d ever had. We thought it was realistic to aim for the top three, and we achieved it. I think our next goal will be to win a national championship. Honestly, I don’t really have individual goals. Of course, I want to be one of the top runners, but it’s more about the team.”

Like Wempe, who was captain of the Kenyon College cross country team, most of his teammates are ex-collegiate runners or athletes. And while they get together occasionally for speed training, it’s tough to do when your teammates are spread throughout Atlanta and northwest Georgia.

“Mostly, I’m training on my own,” Wempe said. “I run pretty much every day when I’m training. I’m actually running very close to what I ran in college. That’s probably the thing that I’m most proud of – that 20 years later, I’m running almost as well.”

And that’s a great lesson on life-long fitness for the young runners he coaches today on the Middle School cross country team.

“This gives me an opportunity to live what I preach as a coach and a teacher,” he said. “I think it adds an element of respect – knowing that when we go out to cross country practice, I am running with them and doing exactly what I’m asking of them.”