Kevin Raney lives in Memphis, TN. He is a Professional Engineer and the Principal of Raney Engineering, a conveyor design company. Kevin has been married to his wife Djana for 26 years, and they have two adult daughters, one son-in-law, and two dogs. His boxer-mix Pre (yes, named for Steve Prefontaine) is his running companion.
Kevin says he was the “fat kid” when he was young and saw an article in Reader’s Digest about jogging to lose weight. Jogging to the corner daily was his first training program. While in high school at Christian Brothers High School (CBHS), he joined the cross country team and was lucky enough to be coached by the legendary Frank Horton. Even though Kevin wasn’t the fastest runner, Coach Horton instilled in him a love for running. Kevin stopped running for several years after high school and returned to it about 15 years ago because “It’s cheaper than therapy for stress relief and I like to eat.”
Kevin coached middle school cross country at St. Louis Catholic School for 11 years. He says he loved coaching the 5th and 6th graders most because they couldn’t tell that he didn’t know what he was doing. The kids that were at the back of the pack were the ones that meant the most to him, because seeing their pride and self-esteem improve from the beginning to the end of the season was very gratifying.
Kevin is presently the Race Director for the Memphis Runners Track Club’s Winter Off Road Series, a series of four trail races. He is also training to complete his first 50k.