EUGENE, Ore. — Marathon legend Steve Jones inspires the Boulder runners he coaches with his reputation as a fierce competitor, but this year the former world-record holder did something else to move them: He quit drinking.
“I was binge drinking,” Jones said Friday night after one of his runners, Colorado graduate Jorge Torres, made the U.S. Olympic team with a third-place finish in the 10,000 meters. “I’d go away for a weekend and I wouldn’t remember what I did or where I was. I wasn’t getting into any trouble, but I was in danger of hurting myself.”
Since his New Year’s Eve decision, Jones has lost 25 pounds and feels healthier.
“The inspiration for that has come from these guys,” said Jones, 52. “I needed to be responsible around them. If I’m going to be their coach and represent them, I have to get my act together.”
When Jones went to Edinburgh, Scotland, with Torres and twin brother Ed for the world cross country championships in March, Ed worried a little about his mentor.
“At worlds in Edinburgh, he was so nervous that I could tell he needed something in him,” Torres said. “We gave him a rush with running to help him out. Since then he’s been on the wagon and he’s been doing great.”
Jones was inducted into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame in May.
