Jim McGrath

A native of Alexandria, VA, where I ran (1978-82) and later coached boys and girls (1987-95) at Bishop Ireton. Also competed on the Virginians AAU team in the summer of 1979 and made it to the USA/TFA national finals in Dayton, OH for the 800 in the 12-13 age group. Completed three Marine Corps marathons (1978,1979,1980), with the last in 3:45. In 1991, while coaching at Ireton, helped Buz Male, then coach at Langley HS, with the formation of the Northern Virginia Cross-Country and Track Coaches Association.

Ran cross-country, indoor and outdoor track for Wagner College (Div. I - Northeast Conference) in Staten Island, NY (1982-86), and was part of a school record 4 x 1500 relay. At Wagner, trained with assistant coach Bob Andrews, record holder at U. Penn, and father of current US distance standout Robby Andrews. Boys track coach at J.E.B. Stuart (2002,2003). Moved to Newport News in 2003 and worked for five years as boys CC and middle distance and distance coach at Denbigh H.S. Head indoor coach (2007-2008). Boys outdoor team placed 4th in AAA state meet (2007). Assistant track coach at Grafton H.S. (2008-2009). Girls cross-country and assistant track coach at Menchville HS (2012-2013). Cross-country coach Deep Creek HS (2018- ) to make 18th year of coaching. Overall, I coached 24 former and current Division I athletes representing schools such as Virginia, VA Tech, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, William and Mary, Mount St. Mary’s, VCU, VMI, Norfolk St., Longwood, and others. Also worked with at least a dozen runners who have competed at Divisions II and III.

Currently, I teach English 9-12 to alternative students with Fairfax County Public Schools. My involvement with cross-country and track has also been served by working as a high school and/or Town Square sports correspondent for Milestat.com and Milesplit.com (2008) WYDaily.com and Tide Radio (2009-2011) DAILY PRESS and Virginian-Pilot (2011-present), and Alexandria Times. Also worked as a senior writer for TrackSide magazine, which can be found at www.tracknation.com. This has been a blast as I have had the opportunity to interview many former and current Olympic medal winners, as well as American and world record holders. Examples include Justin Gatlin, Tommie Smith, Billy Mills, Dee Dee Trotter, Greg Foster, Roger Kingdom, Johnny Gray, and a host of others.

In short, I love track and running in general, and everything about it. My most memorable experience as a runner was lining behind my running idol, Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan, at the Met Championship 10K race in Van Cortlandt Park in the fall of 1982. I didn't even realize it until the meet director announced his presence. When I saw the guy in front of me wave to the crowd, I almost fell over. In a frozen moment of idol worship, I shook Coghlan’s hand, wished him luck, and proceeded to lose to him by five minutes. Oh well, at least I got to race a world record holder (indoor mile) for about 150 yards.

Other writing outlets include Virginia Preps and before that, UltimateRecruit.com (Recruit757, Recruit804, Recruit NoVA). In 2014, I collaborated with D’Shawn Wright, owner of Body by D Gym in Yorktown, VA, to write, “Life Treats You the Way You Treat It,” available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

More recently, I co-wrote an organ transplant story entitled "Tragedy to Triumph - The Story of Tom's Heart,." It was an Amazon #1 New Release Best Seller in four categories and has been identified as one of the 22 best transplant stories for 2022 and 2023. My recent book "The Boys of Ewald Park" is now available.

I have earned a B.A. in English from Wagner College, master’s degrees in education from the University of Virginia and College of William and Mary, and an educational specialist (Ed. S.) degree in special education from Liberty University. I am in the capstone phase of the Ed. D. and aim to be finished in the spring of 2023. My wife Elizabeth, a high social studies teacher, and fellow writer, and I reside in Newport News, VA.