COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – August 13, 2018 -- University of Colorado Colorado Springs Head Men's Cross Country and Assistant Men's Track & Field Coach Mark Misch returned from the European Championships in Berlin, Germany early Monday morning, after being selected as a coach for the Estonian Athletic Federation's National Team last month. The European Championships were held in the host cities of Glasgow, Scotland and Berlin, Germany between August 2^nd and August 12^th. Misch currently coaches Estonian athletes Tiidrek Nurme and Kaur Kivistik who qualified for the European Championships, and who were also coached by Misch in Berlin.

This adventure has proved to be a truly humbling experience for Misch. To put it all in perspective, Misch reflects back on the experience of coaching at the European Championships:

"Firstly, hat's off to Berlin for hosting an absolutely fantastic European Championships. In our sport you have four major international championships; the Olympics, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games. I've been fortunate to coach at or attend each of those and I can say that this championship was as good as any of them and maybe the best. The city, stadium, team hotels, transportation, team meals, processing, training tracks, parks, marathon course, volunteers and people were truly great. And the Estonian Federation staff was so thorough and professional and provided everything that the coaches and athletes on the team needed and it was an honor to be part of the national team delegation this past week in Berlin.

"And what a week it was, Estonian history was made, and it was humbling to be a part of it. Earlier in the week, Kaur Kivistik delivered in the semi-final of the 3000m steeplechase, running a four second personal best despite 90-degree temperatures, and in the process he broke the 47 year-old national record in 8:28.84. Kaur's performance landed him in the finals where he ran another great race to place ninth overall. He had entered the meet ranked 23rd overall by personal bests of the men who had qualified to be in the field. He certainly made the most of the opportunity to race at his best when it counted the most, and it brought a huge boost to the Estonian athletic community who were following the meet.

"I'm very proud of Kaur for many reasons. Firstly, his long-time coach passed away last winter. He then approached me about coaching him, having known me through coaching his countryman Tiidrek Nurme. I knew that Kaur had the physical, emotional and mental qualities to get to the next level Kaur. After discussions, I agreed to take on coaching him. More importantly, he's a very hard worker, tough competitor, and positive-minded person, which combined makes for a great athlete to work with. Kaur had a good season coming into the meet while setting personal bests at 800m and 5000m, winning a few 1500m's, and winning their 3000m steeplechase national title. He was healthy coming into the meet and knew that he was in position to shave a bit off his personal best, and it just happened that it was good enough to eclipse the national record in the process. We are excited about his season and looking forward to 2019 and 2020 on the road to the Tokyo, Olympics.

"And then of course the marathon on Sunday was another truly special experience, one of which a coach may wait a lifetime for. For Estonian veteran distance runners Tiidrek Nurme and Roman Fosti.

"It was their time to make history and they did so by finishing ninth and 17th to make it the first time that two Estonians finished in the top 20 at the European Championships marathon.

"To know Tiidrek Nurme's history, his career progression from a 1500m runner a decade ago, to a marathoner runner in recent seasons and how we arrived at this point, would take me a few pages to write. But, today he ran one of the greatest races in the history of Estonian Athletics. It was a race that he had qualified for back in February when he won the Birmingham Mercedes-Benz marathon on a rainy day in a course record time on a hilly course. From that point on, the focus was on the European Championships marathon today. How we trained, the races he ran, the way we prepared for the heat, the mental and physical approach to the course, conditions and field and what we believed was possible, all of that had been the focus. We scrutinized over the amounts of fluids to take in during training, the effort it would take for the time on the course under the conditions verses his actual optimal fitness, and how to apply it to have a chance at the best possible outcome. We left no stone un-turned, ice vests and ice bags in the hats every 5k or so, exact amounts of fluids in the bottles, etc. We had tested everything.

"You see, Tiidrek's lifetime best ranked him 59th of the 72 men starting the race, but I knew that was very mis-leading because of his last three marathons, which were all run under tough conditions in tactical races at the Olympics, the World Championships and then on the hilly course in Birmingham. Plus, his workouts and training in Colorado over the previous eight weeks had been outstanding. After much studying of the European Championships over the past 20 years, the field tendencies and the weather history, plus the way the 10k look course was set up, we knew that he had to be very patient the first half and ignore the field. Just stick to our race plan and limit for the pace the first half while focusing on getting his fluids, and let the race come to him the second half.

"So that's what he did. It was around 70 degrees at the start, and mid-upper 70's and sunny at the finish which is obviously tough for a marathon. He came through 8k in 49th, 17k in 42nd, half-marathon in 39th (split was 1:08:10) and controlled. Then he went to work and at 27k was in 27th place and rolling. By 31k he was in 23rd, by 35k he was 14th at 40k he was 11th and in the last two kilometers he passed two more men to finish 9th. He negative split the course on a hot day with a 1:08:10 first half and a 1:07:06 second half for a lifetime best of 2:15:16. Without a doubt, there is no other way he could've run any faster on this course under the conditions, and in the process place in the top 10 of a great field while beating out men with world-class lifetime bests of 2:07-2:10. It was an A race in execution, preparation, and most of all he had the confidence that it could be done. It required tremendous patience and discipline to do it, but the results speak for themselves. It would be impossible for me to quantify in numbers what his time would've been worth under optimal conditions like 45-50 degrees and cloudy with no sun, but I feel confident in saying around 2:12ish.

"More importantly Tiidrek's personal testimony in and of itself is something that a book will be written about someday. This was just another chapter and this race just led to more of an opportunity to impact people in Estonia through the platform that he has earned through his running.

"I have been so blessed to be a part this sport for 30 years now. So many great friends, colleagues, teammates, people I coached, people who coached me, my family, spiritual mentors and the list goes on and on from people from all over the world. Many miles run, places traveled, and experiences I cannot begin to quantify with words or money. Everything in my life has been 100% because of God, and I owe HIM all of the credit for ALL of it. I'm just a kid from Coffeyville, KS who liked to run and wanted to be a coach. Man, it's been a special journey. To God be the glory.

"And Mountain Lions XC, I'll see you on Monday morning at good 'ol Monument Valley Park back in Colorado Springs. The adventure continues…more miles to run."