Everyone at 6410 S. Dante knows Mr. Burke, the chill senior Theology teacher. Some may also know that he has been the cross country coach at Mt. Carmel for the last decade. 

If you ask the runners, they will tell you about two things during their four years on the cross country team. One–the view and location are beautiful as they get to run on the lakefront. Two–Coach Burke is a running maniac. In fact, these last few years he has taken his running capabilities to the extreme, as he has challenged himself to outrun  his top runners in practice. One could say that the man just likes running.

If there’s something that stands out about the spiritual coach, it's that he likes running more than anyone in the school. He has a unique philosophy that differs from other coaches when it comes to cross country. Burke believes that the best way to prepare his team is to out-train them every day. 

A typical practice usually ends with the coach beating the top runners by twenty-five minutes. Burke can be seen with a smile on his face, waving to the departing teachers as he gracefully sprints south on Stony Island Avenue. The freshman football team has to stop practice everyday at 4:00 to stare in awe as they see him whiz by. 

One recent Monday afternoon, runners Kevin Jacobs and Leonard Siegal came back to the school after a hard-fought eight miles. Coach Burke was spotted returning a minute later after his sixteen-mile run. Not knowing that Burke ran twice his distance, Siegal enthusiastically asked Coach how his weekend went. 

“Oh, it was pretty good,” Coach Burke responded after checking his Garmin running watch. “On Saturday I won Jeopardy for the third time, but I declined the prize since I thought I had an unfair advantage over the other contestants. Then, I had an average Sunday. I think I ran thirty miles, you know, just to kind of cool down for the week. I didn’t want to break a sweat, so I stopped after two hours.” 

It’s these kinds of events and responses that are common in Coach Burke’s life. 

Oftentimes, he likes to mess with his runners’ heads by not letting them know the workout for the day. He believes this translates to maximum effort in practice. During the team meetings after school, the guys always ask him what the run will be for the day. Burke typically says, “Oh, I think today we will be … running for an extended period of time.” This is followed with many groans and sighs among the team, as they dread the thought that they could be running for an “extremely” extended period of time. 

On one of these extended runs, the ‘98 graduate decided to switch it up a bit. After passing Promontory Point at 57th and Lake Shore Drive, he made all his runners hop in the lake and continue on swimming. The runners were all happy the first time this occurred, since they were able to cool down in the refreshing water. But then Burke decided to go for a team swim on a cold and rainy November afternoon. 

“Yeah, I think that the guys need to really mold into the opportunities that they are given,” the coach explained. “They always talk about how nice it is to run on the lake, but they never actually experience the lake. I think in recent years, the guys have gotten soft, so I have to try and be creative in ways that will toughen them up more.” 

These kinds of surprises have really come to typify the experience for the cross country team. 

On one occasion, sophomore Matt Malloy wanted to support the Caravan at a meet at Lewis University. He showed up and was cheering on his friends at the start line. However, when the gun sounded to start the race, he was not watching the runners anymore. 

“I was caught off guard when I saw a grown man running side by side with the runners,” Malloy said. “In fact, he was beating them. It was only until the second lap that I realized that man was Coach Burke. He kept first place the whole meet until he finished the three-mile race in ten minutes. When I asked him why he was running, he told me that he ‘wanted to motivate his team to run faster.’” 

Burke believes that when his runners see him leaving them in the dust, they will find inspiration and try to beat him. However, the coach also stated that he just felt like going for a run at that moment, and where else better to do it than on a course full of flat ground and deteriorating corn fields. 

The cause of Burke’s supernatural running abilities are still unclear. Yet one can speculate that this comes from his close connection with God and his faith. Burke uses running as an opportunity to connect with God’s creation, and feels that he shouldn’t waste the talents that he has been granted by God. This was shown when he gave a prayer at the fall sports and football Homecoming pep rally, with 600 students packed into the vintage Alumni Gymnasium. 

“Lord, watch over our team tonight,” he intoned, “but more importantly … show St. Ignatius your mercy … because they’re gonna need it!” 

The prayer was followed with an eruption from the students that shook the whole school, as Burke’s presence was evidently rubbing off on everyone. 

See Follow-Up Interview Below to Stay up to Date on Burke's Current Status