Columbia Running Entrepreneur Starts National Distance Running Project

COLUMBIA, SC – August 20, 2012 – Dr. Dave Hale started running on the cross country team in high school and later out of necessity, during his 22-plus-year Army career. In 2004, Dave was diagnosed with Stage IV esophageal cancer and given a 3-month life expectancy. After two brushes with death during treatments, and later surviving, he decided to wip himself into the best shape ever in order to ward off any future possibility of the cancer coming back. Returning to what he knew best, running, he soon emerged as a perenial age-group favorite in the races he entered.

During one of his brushes with death, and an outer-body near-death experience, Hale was given a message that he was not only going to survive, but would go on to use his painful experience and battling through all of the tough times, in order to help others. Dave is now one of the top-rated distance running coaches in the country and has recently opened Velocity Distance Project (VDP) in order to assist runners not only becoming better runners, but to also use running as a way of life.

I have seen several of the runner training centers spring up around the country, but they are typically focussed on the post-collegiate runner and not the upper-level high school cross country or track athletes, said Hale. At VDP we are gearing up to provide high school varsity-level runners with year-round coaching, conditioning and performance testing services that usually are reserved for elite Division I NCAA and professional runners.

This past summer, Hale worked with a group of Columbia-area high school cross country runners who collectively lowered their one-mile times by an average of one-minute. Hale mentioned, Because the average high school cross country coach lacks the proper all-round knowledge, experience and training to provide specific coaching to their runners, many of the faster kids have not even learned how to properly breath while running. By teaching the absolute basics to the young runners we work with, we have found that most are able to shave a considerable amount of time off their already fast racing times.

Hale, with his Velocity Distance Project, has set out to provide elite-level coaching, conditioning and performance testing services to the greater-Columbia, SC  running community, starting at the high school level. Hale’s Velocity Distance Project Jr. Olympic Developmental Running Program is sanctioned by the USA Track & Field Association (USATF), and will provide group and one-on-one coaching and conditioning services. VDP will also fine-tune an athlete’s running form, stride and heart rate through elite-level performance testing utilizing computer and video analysis methods.

Because we are the only facility of this kind in the South Carolina Midlands, I truly believe over the next few years, Columbia, SC, will see an emergence of higher calibre high school and adult runners reaching the national level through our programs, offered Hale.

If you are looking to raise your running performance to the next level, or that of your high school runner, then either the VDP USATF Jr. Olympic Developmental Running Program or Adult USATF Running Program is for you. Led by one of the top 50 running coaches in the country, Dave Hale, any of the programs offered by VDP are sure to shave valuable seconds and possibly minutes off your race times.

Hale is also looking for donors and companies interested in becoming a sponsor of the VDP USATF Jr. Olympic Developmental Running Program. All contribtions will be 100% used for equipment and training of the youth (ages 10-18) athletes and not towards administrative costs. The programs are aimed at raising the participation level of Columbia-area youth in sports as a means of bettering their quality of life and to decrease the level of childhood obesity.

You can contact Coach Dave Hale, PhD at  Velocity Distance Project, 300 Long Pointe Lane, Suite 125, Columbia, SC (Lake Carolina Community) or by calling 803-343-9369. You can also see what’s happening at VDP by visiting their website at www.velocitydistanceproject.com.

About Velocity Distance Project
Velocity Distance Project is the leading sports performance training center located in the Lake Carolina Community, Columbia, SC. VDP specializes in helping clients reach their maximum fitness and health potential specific to their individual physical needs and abilities through research-based assessment and exercise protocols.

About Dr. David Hale
Dave Hale, Ph.D. is one of the top running coaches and the most credentialed sports performance specialist in the greater-Columbia, SC area. Dr Hale is also an assistant professor at two universities where he teaches motivational and coaching psychology, and research methods at the PhD level.  He is the author of more than 200 books, industry manuals, papers and numerous peer-reviewed professional journal articles on several psychological topics.