After spending half a century coaching and inspiring scores of Olympic-level track and field athletes here in Long Beach, local runner-turned-mentor Ron Allice is finally attending the Games himself.
Thanks to a recent fundraiser created by Spaghettini Restaurant owner Cary Hardwick and his friend Bernie Selmanson, Allice is enjoying his first trip to England—a reward for a career that has spanned 13 Olympiads and has produced over 40 Olympic athletes.
“Long Beach has always been a hotbed of track and field talent,” Allice says by phone just after landing in London last week. And he should know. Allice was head coach at both Jordan and Poly high schools, Long Beach State and Long Beach City College before landing his current job as head coach at track and field powerhouse USC.
“Track and field is the purest form of athletic activity—you’re defying gravity,” he says. “Once you step up to the starting line, it’s all about you.”
In London, the veteran coach will be lending support to a contingent of USC athletes who hope to continue the Trojan streak of having a gold medal winner in every summer Olympics since 1904. Allice, who ran the quarter mile while a student at Poly, has lost none of his passion for the sport.
“The thing Coach Allice does best is to find the spark that ignites the hunger an athlete needs to be successful,” says Martha Watson, who was a member of the Long Beach Comets Track Club in 1962 when Allice became its coach. Watson, a long jumper and sprinter, went on to compete in 4 Olympic Games. She has fond memories of her time with Coach Allice. “Long Beach was a great place to grow up and Ron is one of the kindest people I know.”
Allice gives equal attention to all his athletes, from the gold medalists to the lesser-knowns. There is one athlete at the London Games, however, who has received special coaching from Allice: Bryshon Nellum.
Nellum was the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year at Poly in 2007. He was state champion in the 200 and 400 meters in his junior and senior years and had moved on to USC to train under Coach Allice and focus on becoming an Olympian.
The nightmarish Halloween of 2008 altered his plans drastically.
Nellum was leaving a restaurant near USC that night when a car pulled up next to him. The passenger leaped out and blasted Nellum in both legs with a shotgun. Nellum was hospitalized for months and was told by doctors he’d never have world-class speed again.
Four years, three surgeries and countless excruciating rehab sessions later, Nellum ran a personal best of 44.80 in the 400 meters at the Olympic Trials in June to capture 3rd place in the event and a spot on the US Olympic team. Coach Allice has supported Nellum during every step of his courageous comeback.
“We’ve literally had to walk and crawl to get back here,” says the coach. “[In order to be an Olympian], you have to have a tremendous work ethic and a burning desire to be the best you can be. You’ve got to be consistently on top of your game.”
The local track and field landscape has changed since Allice’s early days of coaching, when dual meets between USC and UCLA would routinely pack 90,000 people into the Coliseum.
“In southern California, there’s a lot of competition for entertainment,” Allice says. “Every 4 years, though, track and field comes back. The USA has very high standards, and the whole world’s watching.”
Felix Sanchez also trained with Allice at USC, won the 400 meter hurdles at Athens in 2004, and is now in London competing in his 4th Olympics for the Dominican Republic. At the Spaghettini fundraiser, he spoke for all of Coach Allice’s athletes when he said, “Coach makes you believe that you really belong in whatever incredible opportunity your hard work and effort has taken you to.”
Coach Allice’s hard work has taken him to the pinnacle of his profession, but the ever-humble mentor of Olympians remains true to the game. When asked about his sightseeing and entertainment plans for London, Allice paused and simply said, “I’ll be down at the track.”