Listen on Apple

On April 28th, 2022, Brian Diemer announced his retirement from coaching at Calvin College after 36 years. What does a D3 coach do before going off into the sunset? An interview on D3 Glory Days!

After 34 straight MIAA cross country titles, Coach Diemer has left his legacy not only Calvin College but across D3 as a whole. What started as a two year stint to help the current coach at the time write a book, turned into a prosperous 36 year career.

Before getting to Calvin, Diemer was coming off the best year of his own running career. Diemer won a Bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics in LA, had a Nike contract, and just ran a lifetime best of 8:16. His career has taken him across the world to compete at the highest stage and made two Olympic teams as the head coach at Calvin.

From this conversation, you would have never guessed Diemer’s team won four national titles and had four runner-up performances along with other podium finishes. We can list out all the accolades but the theme from Coach Diemer was how much he enjoyed working with his student-athletes, regardless of his finishes. He said the biggest thing he’ll miss most from coaching are the daily interactions he’ll have with his team.

Michigan Listeners! Sign up for Diemer’s Family of Races here.

Summer of Hayward

Don’t miss out on all the action leading up to the World Championships. Hayward Field will host so many great events that you don’t want to miss. Get your Summer of Hayward Tickets now!

D3 Glory Days Patreon

We launched a Patreon! As we said, we will never go behind a paywall - so any support is greatly appreciated.

This past season was a great undertaking in our labor of love. We enjoy bringing you this content and we realized we could do so much more with a little bit of backing. We want to ensure D3 gets the coverage it deserves and keeping this website paywall free! If you have enjoyed this podcast and the articles we have put, please consider becoming a Patreon of D3 Glory Days. In full disclosure, the money will go directly into the show: equipment, subscriptions we need, and most importantly, money to our writers. If you are able, we would appreciate your support.

How to Support D3 Glory Days

As always, we really appreciate your support of this podcast. If you’d like to help spread the word, share the podcast with a friend, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or leave a rating on Spotify!

We launched a live D3 Track Show. Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss it.

If you would like to help support the podcast or say thanks to our writers, please consider making a donation on the D3 Glory Days Venmo. This helps offset some costs, hosting services, and help out our new writers.

If you want to rep D3 Glory Days on your next run, head to our Merch Store. And finally, follow us on social media! We’re on Instagram, Twitter and Strava.

Quotes

On What He Enjoys about D3 Athletes

I started recognizing how good some of these division 3 kids were. They didn’t have the same kind of opportunities and they certainly didn’t get the athletic scholarships but they sure had the heart. And I loved working with that heart and passion.