Track & Field Concepts for All Athletes with Kurt Michael Downes BA, B.Ed, MA, OCT, ChPc

Total Performance with Siobhan Milner

Excited to get this out into the world because Kurt Michael Downes is a coach you should know. Not only does he know his stuff, he’s incredibly generous in sharing that knowledge.

Kurt also has an impressive amount of industry experience (in addition to all those fancy letters next to his name), including coaching Canadian Olympian Brandon McBride to the 800m record of 1:43.20, and guiding Kelsey Balkwill to a top 6 placing in the 400H at the World Junior Championships and top 20 placing at the World Indoor Champions in the 400m. How lucky am I that such cool people are happy to chat with me?

I really enjoyed this discussion with Kurt, and I felt like I learned a lot. We spoke a lot about how track and field style training can be used for non track and field athletes, and we also talked about speed and agility in general, and mechanics of running in general.

Kurt gave a lot of practical examples and I found this a super, super valuable listen. I hope you enjoy. Find it everywhere you get your favourite podcasts.

Thoughts about this episode? Let me know over on IG!

About Kurt Michael Downes:

Kurt Michael Downes is an award winning teacher with the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board and President and Head Coach of the Border City Athletics Club.

Kurt has represented Canada as a staff coach at nine international events, including the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. He coached Canadian Olympian, Brandon McBride to the 800 meter record. He guided Kelsey Bale to a top six placing in the 400 hurdles at the World Junior Championships and a top 20 placing at the world Indoor champions in the 400 meter.

He is an advocate for community and sport access for youth, having facilitated, led and created discussions, forums and programs for youth and diversity.

He is a public speaker and builder, and he was also the recipient of the Canadian Running Magazine Golden Shoe Award as the Community Builder of the Year, the Under Armour Diversity Award,  Athletics Canada Dr. Doug Clement Coach of the Year, and the Contributions to Catholic Education Award. Kurt has also recently begun his PhD in kinesiology.

Featured on the show:

Where to find Kurt:

Twitter / X: KurtMichael_dee

LinkedIn: Kurt Michael Downes

Instagram: @kurtmichael_dee

Important Links:

• • Stay up to date on the Total Performance podcast where you can join Siobhan Milner and guests as we explore the many aspects that come together to build our total performance.

• • Find Siobhan Milner on Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook