News Photo by Alyssa Ochss Duncan Ross is shown in The Alpena News last week.

ALPENA — For Duncan Ross, running isn’t just about getting the best time, but also about living in the moment and making a difference in young athletes’ lives.

Duncan Ross, one of two assistant coaches of the Alpena Community College cross country team, started his cross country career in eighth grade when he was looking for something to do in his soccer offseason.

“I played soccer and I wanted to do something that complimented that and I ended up quitting soccer to run cross country because my mom wanted me to,” Ross said.

Ross — who graduated from Rogers City High School before running at ACC — said like most people, he started off hating running, but soon realized the difficulty was one of the parts he loved most about it.

“Because when you’re out on a 15-mile run there’s a lot of times you think there’s no way I’m going to do this, and it can be a 15-mile or a one-mile run, you’ll always have that thought I can’t do this I could just stop right now, but you always find it within yourself to overcome that,” Ross said. “That’s a hard feeling to describe. It gives you a lot of confidence in yourself.”

The difficulty of the sport helps him to look on the positive side of things. Ross thinks more people should look on the positive side of things instead of heading toward the negative straight off the bat.

“It’s so easy to get stuck in the mindset of ‘this sucks, I’m in pain, the world’s out to get me’, or you can look around and say, ‘wow what a beautiful day.’ I mean even today it’s snowing a lot of people would say it’s a bad day today, it’s a beautiful day you know?” Ross said in an interview last week. “Keep a positive mindset is what I would tell runners or anybody.”

This is Ross’ first year as an assistant coach and it offered him a new perspective he didn’t have before as an athlete. He said he would recommend others to try both running and assistant coaching.

“The coaching was something almost entirely different, because even though it was the same sport and I was at the same college I’ve been at doing the same kind of thing it was, I had more of a role helping the people around me which was one of the most wonderful fulfilling things,” Ross said. “I think everyone should do more to help other people. I mean it helps everyone, it helps you, it helps the people around you.”

Ross said ACC had no returning runners this season so part of his duties included introducing the athletes to the cross country culture and showing them what they were all about.

Since he had been running at the college level for three years previously, he was able to do that. Other duties include running practice when coach Mark Jacobs isn’t there, stocking up on water, and making sure each athlete has a watch.

One of the most memorable things to happen during the season, Ross said, was during regionals. The team stayed at Jacobs’ brother’s house and they participated in a team building exercise.

“We did this team building exercise where basically everyone goes around and says ‘I appreciate you because….’ and then a reason and we do it for every single person we hear from everyone,” Ross said.

It wasn’t about the running for Ross, but the people.

“If I remember one thing from the whole season, it will be that because 50 years from now you’re not going to look back and say ‘Oh that day I ran my first 30 minute 8K’, you’re going to think about the people that you’re with and that’s what stands out to me the most that’s what it’s all about,” Ross said.

On a similar note, Ross said young college runners should enjoy the time they have in cross country because it could be over quicker than they know it.

“Of course work hard, work as hard as you can, but don’t take the people around you for granted, don’t take the experience for granted because it will be over like that and then it will be over forever and I don’t mean that in a depressing way, but I would just say make the most of every moment, don’t live with any regret,” Ross said.

The biggest lesson Ross has taken away from his time in cross country is how to take accountability for himself. Since running is an objective sport, Ross said, a person can’t blame anyone for their time as in a team sport.

“In cross country there’s no excuses and you have to take accountability for yourself and running cross country, as well as knowing Mr. Jacobs, really helped me learn how to take accountability for what I do and be brave enough to change the things that I can change,” Ross said.

Coaching helps Ross make a difference in the runners’ lives and he likes seeing it.

“My favorite part about being a coach is knowing that I make a genuine difference in my runners’ life the same way that my coaches when I ran made a difference in my life,” Ross said.

His biggest piece of advice to anyone is to get more involved with helping people.

“I guess I would just tell people to get involved with more things especially after COVID you know I think a lot of people have a hard time getting back into the swing of things and you know trying to get back to like a normal life you know what I mean so go out and get involved,” Ross said. “Make a difference.”

Difference Makers is a weekly series that profiles Northeast Michigan residents who do extraordinary things to improve their communities and the lives of others in ways that include volunteering and their professional work.

If you know a local difference maker, please contact Alyssa Ochss at 989-358-5680 or aochss@thealpenanews.com.