"Brock Simmons’ STM Program came highly recommended from our daughter’s high school XC coach. After meeting Brock to discuss his background, running career, coaching expertise and approach, it was clear that his ability and personal ethos exceeded our expectations. We appreciated the methodical, science-based approach to training that continually adjusts intensity and duration based on the individual runner’s needs and goals.
Our daughter, Avery, started training with STM the Summer before her junior year of high school. At that time, Avery viewed running as a means to an end, which was spending time with her friends on her school team. Running wasn’t necessarily enjoyable for her, and she had the attitude that she “had to run” for training. Now, after eighteen months of training with STM, Avery cannot imagine her life without running; she “gets to run”. She finds it fun, and sees herself running for the rest of her life. Wow, what a change in perspective! The impetus for that change was STM training and the environment Brock creates for his STM runners. The environment is encouraging, positive and fosters a desire to succeed. Prior to training with STM, Avery had a substantial case of performance anxiety. Brock was able to alleviate Avery’s anxiety by providing her the confidence that only comes from the proper training and mental approach. She now looks forward to competitions instead of dreading them.
Since running with STM, some of Avery’s specific running highlights include dropping two minutes from her 3200m PR and, 40 seconds from her 1600m PR, a TAPPs State XC individual championship title, and receiving a substantial running scholarship from her college of choice. We know these accomplishments would not have happened without Brock Simmons’ STM Program."
“It is rare in this world to find a true “expert” in their field. Brock Simmons is exactly that….an expert in his field. Brock Simmons is directly responsible for the success of our two sons. We have parented them, and Brock has trained them in the challenging art of distance running. When our oldest, Drew, was entering high school 5 years ago, we didn’t even know who Brock Simmons was. What we thought we knew was that Drew would run a little bit over the summer, attend a few Cross Country Meets, and then join up with the baseball team in the winter. Come December of Drew’s freshman year, we find out that Drew isn’t going to try out for the high school baseball team. We were shocked!! Drew had consumed the magic Kool-Aid of Brock Simmons and was hooked for life as a distance runner. This is when we started doing a little research on Brock Simmons. Seems Brock does a little more than hold a clipboard and a stopwatch. What we came to find out is that when the high school coach could run a 15 minute 5k himself, attended University of Texas as a scholarship runner for 4 years, and had a brush with the Olympic Trials, kids seem to listen to him, and we started listening to him too. The rest is a storybook finish to Drew’s high school career that ended with a District record in the cross country 5K, 15 minutes 10 seconds (that has since been broken by another STM runner). Drew is a freshman in college running for a coach that will help mold him from an incredible runner into an incredible man. Without the knowledge, love and devotion of Brock Simmons, this would not be the case.
As for our youngest….he was smart enough to consider not running for Coach Simmons. He had seen the devotion and dedication his brother (2 and half years older) put into his craft, and to be honest….it scared Shane a little bit. Shane changed his mind, late in the summer, and took up cross country. Under the guidance of Brock, Shane started knocking down all the times Drew put up as a freshman. This continued into this current year, his sophomore year, where under the guidance of Brock and the STM Program, Shane has now surpassed all of his brother’s times from his sophomore year. Shane has a bright future in running, and as a STM trained athlete, there is no telling what heights he might achieve.
In closing, we would just like to say this, if running stopped tomorrow, for either of our boys, they are better men for having had Brock Simmons in their lives.”