Meet Coach Sean Glynn: The Energy Behind Kaechele’s Run Club

If you were to ask what Coach Sean Glynn brings to David A. Kaechele Elementary’s Run Club, it’s hype, heart, and a whole lot of motivation. As a PE teacher and Safety Chair, he’s all about creating an environment where kids of all ages and skill levels feel empowered to push themselves—whether they’re kindergarteners taking their first laps or fifth graders chasing personal records. His coaching philosophy? It’s not about being the fastest—it’s about being YOUR best.

Coach Glynn’s passion for working with kids started in college when he spent summers as a camp counselor. That experience led him into teaching, where he quickly realized that coaching running was the perfect blend of fitness, fun, and personal growth.

His training style is both structured and inclusive, with separate tracks for different age groups and a mix of timed runs and relay games to keep things engaging. And while his runners are focused on improving their lap counts, he’s there to celebrate every small win, whether it’s a new personal record or earning the title of “Fitness Star of the Day.”

Beyond the track, Coach Glynn is a former high school cross-country runner, a devoted local 5K racer, and a competitive spirit who believes that effort = results. When he’s not coaching, he’s got hockey on his mind (or possibly tacos), and if he could run anywhere in the world? Hawaii sounds pretty epic.

Read the rest of the interview below:

How do you approach training runners of different skill levels?

At Kaechele, our running club includes students from grades K-5. I like to have all ages participate because it allows the younger students a chance to learn from older ones and the older ones can gain a sense of responsibility and leadership. As far as training, I have separate “tracks” set up in my gymnasium for K-2 runners and 3-5 runners. This allows for increased safety because it splits the group up a bit and also it allows them to run a track of their own ability level. When it comes to playing games in running club, I usually will do some sort of relay race style game after we have done our timed run where they are trying to break their personal record for laps. At game time, I make sure to make the teams as even as possible from an age standpoint so that one team isn’t all older students versus a team of kindergarteners.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone new to running or joining the run club?

One thing that I say to my students often is, “All I care about is that you try YOUR best and focus on your own goals.” Too often they will get distracted or focused on their friend’s ability and possibly feel discouraged. I try to stress to them that in running, you’re always trying to beat your personal best, not your friend’s best.

How do you keep the energy up during challenging runs or when the weather is tough?

In the colder weather, we have been running inside our gym. I’m always playing music to keep energy up. Music is also a great tool for class management as they know that music can act as a start/stop signal.

How do you celebrate runners’ progress or achievements, both big and small?

When I am recording scores on the spreadsheet, I will usually let them know if they set a personal record or not. We will then clap it up at the end of the recording process for everyone’s efforts. I think there is an ability to improve this aspect of my coaching and I’m going to work on that. At the end of the session, I choose a “Fitness Star of the Day”, which is the student that I feel did the best overall job in terms of following directions, effort, sportsmanship, etc. That person receives the “Fitness Star of the Day” mini certificate to take home and gets to take one shot at the Impossible Shot. If they make the Impossible Shot, their name gets written on a coyote and taped up on the wall next to the backboard so that the whole school knows they are a Coyote Legend!

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from running?

You get out what you put in. The more disciplined you are with it, the better you will feel and perform. And I strongly believe that that sentiment applies to all types of physical training but also life in general. 

How do you stay motivated in your own fitness journey?

I want to remain as healthy as I can for myself and my family. I also know that physical activity is a great way to relieve stress. Thirdly, I want to be in good physical shape so that I can be a role model for my students. I feel an obligation and duty to be able to walk the walk if I’m going to talk the talk.

What are your top three go-to songs on your running playlist?

This is nearly impossible to choose my top three songs! I’ll give you my top three bands to listen to while running, they are Linkin Park, Skillet, and Breaking Benjamin.

If you weren’t coaching or running, what other sport or activity would you be doing?

My first year out of college, I coached a middle school ice hockey team with one of my good friends. We had a ton of fun and once again, it was very rewarding to see the kids improve over the course of the season. The beginning of that season had plenty of growing pains but we stuck with it, and we lost the league championship in overtime 3-2. We were very proud of them. So long story short, I’d like to coach hockey again!

If you could instantly become an expert in any skill or hobby, what would you choose?

Improve my hockey skills so I can play in the NHL!

Do you have a “hidden talent” that most people don’t know about?

I enjoy writing and used to write weekend summaries of our college hockey road trips and all of the antics, good breaks, and bad breaks that went on. I would send these articles to my parents, some teammate’s parents, other family members and friends and the list grew over the years. Everyone enjoyed reading them and my ability to make them informative and entertaining improved over the four years. I would very much enjoy working with an NHL team and being a reporter for them.

What’s your dream vacation destination, and what would you do there?

I would love to visit a bunch of different countries in Europe. I want to experience and see all that these countries have to offer in terms of history, culture, monuments, and cuisine. 

What’s the funniest or most memorable thing that’s ever happened to you on a run?

In high school cross country, we attended a meet on a cold, soggy, November day. It was raining all morning, and continued to rain as we arrived and got set up. We hung out in makeshift tents to try to stay dry. At race time, we lined up at one end of a baseball field. About 100 yards into the race, we had to cross through a newly formed pond on the field that was probably five inches deep, while it was still raining. I ran the entire race laughing at the ridiculousness of everyone being drenched and legs covered in mud spray. Good times.