Interviews

This past week I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ask Gregory Gibson some questions about his role in founding the Lavern Gibson Course and about some of his personal experiences in running.

Gibson recalled, “When I was in junior high school, my physical education teacher urged me to go out for track. I ran in a track meet without really any preparation and I did okay. It really got my competitive instincts fired up, I actually started running to school in the mornings which was a long run, and I quickly became better and started having some success.” He went on to say that he really got into running at Terre Haute North under William Welch and believes his experiences there, “had something to do with his success in business and everything else.”

The Indiana DNR and federal government had a program for reclaiming old coal mines and restoring the land, but this program required that the government have control of the land for ten years. At the end of the ten years, Gibson came up with the idea of turning it into a cross country course, because he had “never seen a dedicated facility before. In all my career, we had always run in parks or golf courses, sometimes on school campuses… The idea of having a dedicated course seemed unique and like a fun idea to work on.”

“It has already grown beyond any hopes or dreams I had about it. A lot of that is due to the other people involved.” Gibson continued to elaborate that the course’s success wouldn’t be possible without coach Welch, coach McNichols , David Patterson, the convention and visitor bureau, and the Hall of Fame. “I have big dreams and I think it would be great to host a world championship sometime.” He further explained that there are various challenges which facing this goal, such as stiff hotel requirements, hosting a big international meet, and getting sponsorships. Another goal for the course is “to generate more public runs, where the running community outside of college and high school could get to experience the course.”

About ten years ago, Gibson purchased the Terre Haute House, which had been closed since the 1970’s. At the time, he received a lot of criticism for tearing it down because it was a historic part of downtown Terre Haute. The structural integrity of the building was just beyond repair, so “[he] saved all the limestone [he] could. I had ideas at the time of using the five huge limestone pillars for an awards stand out at the course.” Ten years later those ideas were brought to fruition as the construction of the new awards area at Lavern Gibson was finished. The new awards area is just another aspect of the course which sets it apart from most facilities and adds to the competitive environment.

“We’re always making new improvements… You have to keep getting better, especially with the competition we’ve got out there.” Gibson says when he designed the course, he wanted it to be spectator friendly. He still remembers driving out there with William Welch and parking his truck at the top of the hill and deciding the design of the course from that point so that the spectators could see most of the race. This spectator perspective driven design contrasts from all other course Gibson has run on or seen in his career.

“I started in junior high and I’m still running today. It’s something you can do your whole life, and it’s never too early and never too late to get in to it.”