After nearly a decade at Cornell as an assistant coach, Robert Johnson will be moving to a volunteer role for 2012-13.
All told, during the last nine-plus years, 16 of Johnson’s athletes have crossed the finish line first at Heps, 32 have qualified for the NCAA regionals, and they have established a new school record 25 times.
The Big Red has won the IC4A crown six times and led the nation indoors in the event three times (2005, 2006 and 2012). Two of his runners, Sage Canaday and Zach Hine – both of whom were NCAA cross-country individual national qualifiers – have gone on to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon. Canaday competed at the 2008 Trials as the only collegiate runner in the field.
In 2009, Johnson was honored as the Northeast Region’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year, as Big Red runners set school records in the 800, 1K and 3K and won the 800, mile, 5K and distance medley relay at Heps along with two runner-up finishes in the 1K and 3K. The team then broke its own all-time Ivy League indoor record in the distance medley relay a week later.
Outdoors in 2009, the Big Red set another school record in the 4xMile relay to place fourth at Penn Relays. Also in 2009, Cornell runners went 1-2 in the Heps 10,000 for the second year in a row, and 1,500-meter runner Jimmy Wyner and steeplechaser Adrien Dannemiller qualified for NCAA nationals.
More recently, Johnson coached Dannemiller and 10,000-meter runner Nate Edelman, just a 9:32 3,200-meter performer in high school, to NCAAs in 2011, with Edelman earning All-American honors.
Prior to coming to Cornell, Johnson coached a number of accomplished individuals, including a competitor at the USATF nationals and several high school state champions. A competitive runner himself, Johnson just missed qualifying for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon, when he posted a 2:23:11 personal best. Johnson came to Cornell from the high-altitude environment of Flagstaff, Ariz., where he served as the training partner for his identical twin brother Weldon, who was 4th in the US in the 10k in 2001 and 2003 and sports a 28:06.58 personal best.
In 2000, Johnson co-founded the running web site LetsRun.com with his twin brother and has seen it grow to become one of the world’s most popular running web sites. An accomplished writer, Johnson has covered the NCAA track and field championships for The Washington Post. Johnson understands the unique challenges needed to succeed in the Ivy League as he is a 1996 cum laude graduate of Princeton University, where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in economics. This knowledge, coupled with his enthusiasm and his progressive, periodized training philosophy that stresses aerobic development has taken the Cornell middle distance and distance program to new heights.
A native of Dallas, Johnson is engaged to be married and lives in Ithaca.
* Updated June 13, 2012.
