Sweat dripped down his forehead, following the curvature of his eyes, dodging the brim of his nose and seeping directly through his lips.

The cold air dried out the back of his throat more and more with each taken breath.

For some people, that might sound like torture.

On the other hand, for Dean Lofgren, cross-country and track and field coach at El Camino College, it’s part of the everyday experience and a taste of victory.

At the end of the 2024 cross-country season, Lofgren will be calling it a career after almost 40 years of coaching at the college.

As a former student-athlete in 1976 at ECC, Lofgren has had a passion for running long before he started coaching, but that was not his first choice for a dream career.

Upon transferring to California State University Stanislaus in 1978 to pursue marine biology, he realized that he had another passion, one far from life under the sea.

“I initially transferred with a marine biology major in mind, that was an area I thought wanted to go into but when I realized I had to go to Moss Landing over on the Monterey Coast for a year and couldn’t compete in track or cross country, it kinda took the wind out of my sails for marine biology,” the 67-year-old Lofgren said.

Lofgren started working full-time working in exercise science while coaching part-time as an assistant coach.

In fall of 1989, he became a full-time cross-country coach at ECC and was an assistant coach for the track and field team. In 1992, Lofgren was hired for a full-time coaching position for track and field in the spring.

In addition to coaching cross-country and track and field, he also teaches contemporary health science, sports nutrition and resistance training.

In 2016, Lofgren received the first Running Mentor/Coaching award at the 23rd Annual Village Runner 4th of July 5K event, as well as coaching both ECC’s cross-country teams – the women in 1990 and men’s team in 1992 to state championships.

In addition to establishing a successful coaching career, he maintains a family life outside of coaching.

Lofgren is married to Donna Lofgren and has a son named Nick.

His son attempted walking in his fathers shoes, only to find he was meant for a different path, in which Lofgren is fully supportive despite how people might want him to react.

“People look at me and say, how did you let your son not compete, and you know it’s his choice, it’s not something he wanted to do but he found other good things,” Lofgren said.

Logren is no stranger to winning – it is what he is known for.

Stacks on stacks of gold, silver and bronze, Lofgren has seen it all.

Plaques, trophies and medals have become mere decorations on his walls, yet Lofgren only cares about one thing.

“The awards aren’t the important part – the team is,” Lofgren said. “I remember every single person I have coached throughout the years,”

With sounds of pounding feet and a group of students running, the sight of Lofgren is never far behind. One of his former student-athletes said Lofgren took the time to run with the runners he coached.

“He would actually run with the team,” Torah Noah, 20, said. “He was involved unlike other coaches I’ve seen and experienced.”

Additionally, he was also known for his supportive connections with each student individually on the team.

“Dean is one of the reasons why I kept running at the next level after transferring and he’s just been kinda like a father to me on the track,” Ami Jacobson, who was on the team from 2021 to 2024 said. “He’s always been there on good and bad days.”

Lofgren’s positive attitude has affected the people around him.

“He taught us a lot of things like staying positive and to keep pushing forward,” Jacobson said. “His energy is always very impactful.”

Lofgren seeks the potential out of anyone and would not stop until they saw it too, even if it means pushing them farther than any other coach would think to do.

Noah recalled a time when Lofgren gave her that extra push.

“He actually came to my house to wake me up and take me to a race when I didn’t have a ride to make sure I would get to run,” Noah said.

Yet when discussing retirement, Lofgren doesn’t deny how long he has been working. He adds it would be restful to step back.

“I still have great ideas for things to do at El Camino, but then start thinking about it and I go ‘wow, that’s really tiring’ because I know how much work is involved,” Lofgren said. “That’s when I think it’s time to take a step back and let those who have that drive and energy, that I still feel I have but I don’t know if I do, take over so to speak.”

Another former student and teammate of Jacobson, Sequoia Gonzales, said she feels lucky to have had Lofgren as a coach and supporter.

“He encouraged me to give running a try and I think the best thing I did was give it a chance and here I am still running today,” Gonzales said.

After the constant glow of the computer screen and grainy zoom calls during the COVID-19 pandemic, he realized he enjoyed the restful feeling of a break.

He finally gave in four years later, taking a step back for the younger staff to take over.

“We had an online cross-country class, but they were training on their own, so I wasn’t going back and forth going to work out, structuring workouts, going to class,” Lofgren said. “[It was the] first time in my professional life that I wasn’t obligated to be in season and it was restful.”

Even though Lofgren has chosen to retire, among the bleachers of people jumping and swinging their hands as they cheer, there will always be a Lofgren-sized spot waiting for him at each race.

This story was originally published on El Camino College Union on November 5, 2024.