What's up y'all!  Thanks for checking out my blog (if you have read the "My Story" page on my site, you will have a huge case of Deja Vu when reading this, but for those of you who have not visited my site, please read on).  My name is Darren Brown and I am a professional track and field athlete living and training here in the city of Austin.  I was born on March 27th, 1985 in Gainesville, Florida and have four sisters and a brother, of which I am the youngest.  During my life, I have spent time living, growing up, and gaining priceless life experiences everywhere from Florida to New York to California, before finally settling in Houston shortly before high school.  This is where my life took a decided turn down its current path.  My junior year of high school, I made, what now seems to have been an inevitable decision, to leave the sport of soccer in order to fully dedicate my time to the sport of track and field. 

I excelled quickly, setting large PR's in my first two years of training, which seemed only to catch me up to those who had begun much earlier in life than I.  I graduated from Klein High School in 2003 with personal bests of 1:53.19 (800), 4:13.2 (1600) , 9:23 (3200), and 15:11 (5K Cross Country).  I was not the best runner in the area, not even within my school, but had dedicated myself to a continual career of improvement at the top levels of competition.  Because of this commitment, these times earned me a scholarship to Providence College as a member of their well-respected track and field/cross country program.  I attended PC for two years, in which I was privileged enough to compete under coach Ray Tracy and lower my personal bests to 1:51.34 (800), 4:03.17 (Mile), 8:24 (3000), 9:07 (3K Steeple) and 24:48 (8K Cross Country).

After two years, I knew there was something missing.  My running and racing was progressing, but I felt alone in my endeavors and accomplishments.  I chose to leave Providence College and transfer to The University of Texas in hopes of finding a more team-oriented program.  This was the best decision of my life!  The "team-first" approach that the coaches and athletes at UT take was exactly what I was looking for, and because of it,  I got the opportunity to compete on multiple national contending teams.  I also lowered my personal bests while at The University of Texas to 3:41.17 (1500), 3:59.99 (Mile), 8:10 (3000), 8:51 (3K Steeplechase), and 24:32 (8K Cross Country).  My 3:59.99 performance in the Jerry Thompson Mile, at the 2008 Texas Relays, even earned me the honor of becoming half of the first American father/son duo to break 4 minutes for the mile, a stat that I had been in contention for with 3 other athletes for 3 years.  I graduated from The University of Texas in May of 2008 with a degree in economics and multiple Academic, All-American, All-Region, All-Conference and National honors, none of which would have been achieved if it were not for the support and company of my family, teammates, coaches, and academic staff.

Following graduation, I knew that there was only one path for my life to take.  While I was pleased with the progress my athletics had taken, I knew I had not yet reached my potential or come even close to achieving my ultimate goals.   I was still not the best.  Again, I wasn't even the top runner within my school, but had begun to compete at a higher level than, and beat on a consistent basis, a lot of those athletes who had gotten the best of me in earlier years.  I was also still on the committed path I had set out to run by having now competed at the highest levels of the NCAA. 

At this point, I took the advice of family, friends and an adviser, who had been a world class athlete himself, and went to Europe to race on the international track and field scene for the summer.  In my first race there, I had the unfortunate luck of being spiked with one lap to go in a 1500 and wound up in the hospital, where I received stitches in two 6 inch long gashes running from my calf to my heel and ankle.  The importance of this trip, however, came from the valuable lesson my ensuing actions taught me about myself.  Instead of giving up and returning to the states, as was the general opinion of those around me, I took a chance.  I woke up the following day and flew to Dublin, Ireland, where I was scheduled to participate in the Morton Memorial Mile.  Here, I tested my true character and strength.  36 hours after being injured and told my season had ended, I ran a personal best in the mile of 3:58.35 and became a contributor to a race that made history.  The 2008 Morton Memorial Mile saw more athletes (9 total) run under 4 minutes than any other night of athletics in the history of Ireland and is a night that Irish Athletics, and myself, won't soon forget.

Upon returning to the states, I found that my college coach had taken the head coaching job at the University of Virginia and would be leaving Austin to move to Charlottesville.  He gave me the distinct honor of asking me to accompany him as his athlete and as a volunteer assistant coach.  I accepted immediately, since being a collegiate coach is a future professional goal of mine.  This seemed to be such a great opportunity to learn more about the coaching arena through a man I shared a great friendship with and held in high respect.  After spending the fall working with my coach, I confirmed my desire to coach on a collegiate level, but also came to the realization that my training was not able to sustain the level it needed to be at if I wished to compete now at the highest levels of  the professional track and field scene.

I made the decision to move back to Austin in December of 2008.  This was a decision which had no second thoughts.  The pride I feel being a Texan (yes, I was born in Florida, and I love my birth state, but I am a Texan by choice) and the comfort I get being back in the city of Austin was something that never left me, even when I left the city.  At the time of my return, I also forfeited my small-time national sponsorship in lieu of what I saw to be a more beneficial option; an option that had the potential of accomplishing more widely reaching objectives.  I wanted to create a system that not only helped me to continue chasing my personal dreams, but also helped to spread the awareness of professional track and field, the scene and its athletes, throughout the country.  I know I am not the end-all and the savior, but by doing this, I hope to help create a new market for all of those "other" elite athletes out there in the same position as me.  These are athletes who still may not know what its like to be the best, but have, from time to time, shown they can toe the line, rub elbows, and even beat the best.  These athletes know that they are not done and refuse to let everything, the base, the strength, the fire that they have built up until this point go unfinished.

So this is where I find myself now.  I am putting together a team of local Austin area corporations with whom I will identify myself during future training, racing, and everyday general living.  Through this blog, you will be able to follow my continuous training and racing endeavors, as I look to live my personal, International, World and Olympic dreams.  Follow me in my pursuit to be one of the most competitive runners in the United States and World.

Before I end this Introduction, I must give a special thank you to my family, my best friends, and my greatest fans, who are one in the same.  I can't thank you enough for your love, dedication, and unwavering support of me and my pursuit.  I only hope that one day, I can be for you the rock that you have been for me.  I Love You All!