Oct. 8, 2004
By Tyler Nicholes, USU Athletic Media Relations Student Assistant
At the age of 11 David Danley didn't know anything about running in a cross country race, but knowing how to run he entered a five-kilometer road race in Charlston, Utah. His older brother Jeff, a high school cross country runner, also entered the road race.
"I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my brother, so I asked him what I should do since I had never ran a race before," said Danley, a current senior on the Utah State cross country team. "I didn't know how fast to run or where to go. He told me there was a girl from the high school team who was going to be running and he showed me who she was and told me that if I stuck with her I would be okay. So I kept her in my view and ran with her the whole race, I even had to ask her a few times which roads to turn on. She was nice enough to help me, but at the end of the race I sprinted and beat her."
Danley finished first in his age group and fifth overall. The following year he ran the race again, this time beating his father.
Danley continued his long distance running success in high school. As a freshman at Wasatch High School he was one of the team's top runners. Danley said Wasatch had a decent running team, but they had a great coach in Keith Jolley
"I came in my freshman year and at the first meet I was determined to show that I was a good runner," Danley said. "I went out hard and took seventh place in the varsity race. I was the first guy in on my team. I felt I came in and ran an impressive race for my first high school meet.
"I remember at the first practice after the meet, Coach Jolley congratulated me and then he said to the rest of the team that he couldn't believe they let a freshman beat them all," Danley said. "He said that we had a lot of potential, but we had to decide right now if we wanted to train hard and try to win state or whether we wanted to go and get milkshakes and have a social running club."
Following their coaches', speech the team went for a run and decided to train hard and try to win state. The next race they all ran faster and the team did well. Danley said there was magic from that point on for the rest of his high school running career.
Danley's freshman year of high school he took fourth individually at state and the team placed second losing only by two or three points. His sophomore year Wasatch had all of its runners returning and won almost every meet. They dominated at state beating the second place team by 36 points.
Danley finished fourth at state in each of his first three years of high school. It wasn't until his senior year that he won the individual title. Danley also won several other honors his senior year. He was named Salt Lake Tribune Athlete of the Week, Athlete of the Year in Cross Country and was named Athlete of the Year for Wasatch High School.
"If there are a few people I have to credit for my running success it would be Coach Jolley for teaching me everything I know about running, my older brother Jeff for getting me started in running and my parents by supporting me through it all," Danley said.
Danley grew up in Heber, Utah with his parents Scott and Misty Danley, who now live in Roosevelt, Utah. Living in the Wasatch Mountains provided him and his brother plenty of time to explore wildlife.
"I really admired my older brother, so I did a lot with him," Danley said, "He liked to camp and hike and I was just trying to hang out with him. So I ended up running and hiking a lot with him in the mountains above our house. We liked to explore the mountains.
When Danley lived at home in Heber, he would constantly train in the mountains.
"If I had time I would drive up to the mountains every day and train there," Danley said.
He would often run up Coyote Canyon right behind his house, but he would also drive up to the Uintas north of Heber and run there. He also ran near Snake Creek and Lake Creek.
"I just love to run in the mountains," Danley said. "Trail running is first of all easier on the legs because the dirt is softer then the road. Secondly, it is more exciting because the scenery changes and you see animals, plus I am an outdoorsman.
His love for the mountains has stayed with him. At Utah State University he is majoring in wildlife science.
"I either want to work for a government agency as a wildlife biologist with the Forest Service, National Park Service, or the Division of Wildlife Resource and manage wildlife populations or I want to go into the outdoor recreation industry and maybe manage a lodge, that is what I kind of do now during the summer," Danley said.
For the past few summers Danley has worked as a fly fishing guide for a lodge north of Duchesne called The Falcons, Ledge. He says he works with experienced fly fisherman and shows them where to fish and he works with beginners teaching them how to fly fish.
"I really like working with people," Danley said. "It is fun to take people out and just have fun with them."
Danley likes to run longer distances and he likes the courses to have plenty of hills.
"I am a really long distance runner, a pure distance runner," Danley explained. "I like hills because I grew up in the mountains and ran in them a lot. I feel I have a competitive advantage on hills.
After graduation he also wants to start training for half-marathons and marathons.
"My ultimate goal is to make it to the Olympics in the marathon," Danley said, "I am pretty competitive at 10-kilometers, but not enough. I want to seriously start training after school, run a couple of marathons and see how competitive I am." He would like to run the Top of Utah Marathon in Cache Valley as his first marathon.
One of Danley's role model is an Ethiopian runner by the name of Haile Gebrselassie. Danley said Gebrselassie is arguably the best distance runner of all time and that he once held every record between 3,000 and 10,000 meters.
"The reason I like Haile so much is because he is humble," Danley said, "He believes he needs to give back to his country and help the economy."
Danley spends all his time training and going to school and says there is not much time for anything else. During the summer he runs 100-120 miles a week, which breaks down to about two hours a day. During the cross country season he pulls back a little and usually runs between 80-120 miles a week depending on if there is a meet coming up.
Danley ran for Brigham Young University his freshman year and was named Mountain West All-Conference Freshman of the Year in Cross Country. He then spent two years in Japan as a religious missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
After returning from Japan he decided to run for Utah State University. Danley has been USU's top finisher in each of its first three meets this year. On Oct. 16, USU will attend Pre-Nationals where Danley hopes to finish in the top 10. The Pre-Nationals will be held in Terre Haute, Ind. with most of the nation's top teams attending.
