Jim Ryun is speaking at the SCACA summer meetings, South Carolina Track and Cross Country Association president Eric Cummings told scrunners.com.
"I was speaking to some coaches about our guest speaker and I mentioned the name Jim Ryun," said Cummings. "(Northwestern) coach Calvin Hudgins said he might have a contact through his son. I took a chance and emailed Mr. Ryun and I received an email back, and then we spoke on the phone and everything fell into place."
Ryun is the first high school runner to break four minutes in the mile.
Well-known coach Joe Newton was a previous speaker during a past clinic.
Cummings said it took a lot of planning and assistance of several people and groups to make it possible for Ryun to speak at the meeting -- that will be held at the TD Convention Center in Greenville from July 22-25.
"I hope each coach will be able to take something from Mr. Ryun," said Cummings. "Each coach is different in how they coach and what they take from our meetings."
Cummings added, "Jim Ryun was the miler everyone wanted to be like. He was a stand-up guy who raced and competed with the best. When I was running at USC-Spartanburg, our assistant coach got us all his book and a photo autographed. When I was at Byrnes coaching, my teams contacted him about speaking at our banquet and I have the letter framed from him.
"His career did not impact my running until I hit college. In high school I ran because I was good at it and I enjoyed racing," said Cummings. "In college I started to dislike the running and needed something to keep me focused and motivated, and I started reading about running. This is where I really started to study the sport and the history of it. Jim Ryun's "In Quest of Gold" was one of those books that affected me."
Read more about Ryun at ryunrunning.com.