Paul Roberts is all about family.
Oh, and he loves to run, too.
The Cowboy senior, who comes from Lyons, CO, a small town near Boulder, is Wyoming's sensational All-American distance runner. He won the Mountain West Cross Country Champion a year ago—one of two Cowboys ever to do that--and was the league's Cross Country Athlete of the Year. He finished 20th at the NCAA Championships last season helping the Cowboys burst onto the national scene with a 12th-place finish. His mark of 29:41.36 was the fastest by a Cowboy since Geir Kvernmo finished 11th back in 1979.
Just last week he became the first-ever Cowboy to be named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association's National Athlete of the Week.
That's very impressive, but does not top Robert's priority list. "I try to keep it in perspective," he says seriously. "Growing up in a Christian family, there's a lot more to life than just running. It is a passion, but not my greatest."
Roberts grew up in a family of 10 children, five boys and five girls, ranging in age from 9 to 29. His dad (Mark) is a math teacher and the track and cross country coach at Lyons High School. He says his mother (Kim) is a homemaker and by far has the toughest, and most important job in the family.
"We live on a small farm, and dad always considered running as part of our chores, so he is the one who got us all into running. We've all been running since we were very young."
A brother (Andrew) and sister (Melissa) both competed in track at Adams State.
The eldest Roberts himself was from a big family. He was one of seven children, two boys and five girls. His younger brother also has 10 children!
"I think we have something like 47 cousins. I think there are at least 17 great grandchildren in the family," Roberts says proudly, "and we are all super close. "Our annual summer reunion is really something, it's a blast!"
Roberts is literally living the dream. "It was my dream to be able to attend college on a scholarship, and run track and cross country. I'm proud that I was able to do that so my parents didn't have to pay for college."
An economics major who will graduate in May, Roberts runs between 90 and 95 miles a week. Since this is a week away from competition he hopes to run 100 miles. The Cowboys are preparing for a huge meet at Notre Dame the first week of October. "It's hard to get better if you don't run," he says.
His coach Scott Dahlberg, a decorated distance runner himself, is sold on his senior All-American. "When you talk about Paul, you start with his work ethic," says his coach, "and he's super tough. He has great aerobic capacity, and is able to go to places that most are not willing to go. He also has a great perspective on what's important, and he is an outstanding culture guy, a team player. He is driven to be good, but he wants his teammates to be as good. He's a special guy."
Roberts actually began his collegiate career at Colorado State-Pueblo, where he was a Division II All-American. "I liked it there, but the training wasn't what I thought it could be, so I decided to make the move. I knew about Coach Dahlberg and respected what he had done. He was coming to Wyoming as a coach, so I decided to come here." The fourth child in the progression of 10 (six are still at home), it was still close enough to home.
He describes last year's NCAA Championships as a 'super cool experience'. "I loved stepping on that line to begin the race, what a moment. We surprised ourselves, so it was something special, a cool and unique experience. But now our expectations have risen. We have set our goals higher. For me, and for the team, our goal is to finish in the top eight at nationals. I feel good that we can accomplish that.
"Coach Dahlberg always tells us to show up every day, ready to work hard," Roberts continues. "I think our expectations drive us even more. Everyone's been running well thus far. We are all excited to do better than we did last year, and surprise even more people than we did last year."
As a junior last year Roberts also had a good indoor track season. He posted the fourth-best indoor 3,000-meter time in school history, as well as Wyoming's second-best indoor 5,000-meter time. Unfortunately a calf injury sidelined him for a good part of the outdoor season, although he actually ran a race with the injury, and didn't tell anyone until after the event.
While he enjoys track, cross-country is his favorite. "I would say that up until a couple of years ago, I liked them both the same. But our experience last year was great, and I like that there are six guys counting on you. I also like the variety of courses that we run. I'd say it's my kind of race."
Cross country is a grueling sport and it would be hard for those of us who don't like to run to comprehend running 90 miles a week. But it is tough even for those who love to run.
"The continuous motion is difficult, and you really have to take care of your body," Roberts says. "Weight-lifting, hydration, the right foods, and proper rest are all extremely important. If you let one of those slide it's damaging. We eat a lot of pastas, and I love peanut butter for breakfast. I like to get eight or nine hours of sleep which isn't always possible. But I am a nap guy. Sometimes I'm able to take one before practice, and even though it's not very long it's still helpful."
An outstanding student (3.8 GPA), Roberts will earn his degree in economics in May. Yet he isn't necessarily looking for something in that field when his competitive running days are over.
"I'm seriously thinking about becoming a cop," he says. "My dad's brother was a cop, and my cousin (Seth) is a cop. I really look up to him and he and I have talked about that profession. I also do landscaping work in the summer and I love that. Owning my own landscaping business would be something I'd like to do. I've even thought about coaching if the opportunity came along. I'm pretty wide open at this point."
Will he continue to run? Sure, running is something I'll always do. I'll run to stay in shape, but probably, more importantly, to keep up with all of my nieces and nephews, and hopefully my own kids one day."
