College track and field: Kile Dowd overcomes all obstacles to run for SCC

May 8—As Tara Dowd sits on the edge of her seat in the bleachers watching her son, Southeastern Community College freshman Kile Dowd, compete in a 10,000-meter run, she isn't sure whether to cry, cheer or bite her nails.

So she does all three.

For Kile Dowd, it's not about winning or losing a race. For the Danville High School graduate, it's about running the race. And dealing with autism.

Kile Dowd, the son of Tara and Kevin Dowd, developed severe autism by the time he was 3 1/2 years old. He suddenly became non-verbal, unable to speak or hear. The doctors gave the Dowds the news every parent dreads — their son likely would be institutionalized for the remainder of his life.

The Dowds refused to give up on their son.

Now, nearly 16 years later and through plenty of hard times and endless battles with the affliction, Kile Dowd is doing what he loves best — running.

Dowd culminated his first season of track and field for the Blackhawks by finishing fifth in the men's 10,000 in 39 minutes, 30.57 seconds at the Region XI meet in Council Bluffs.

"It has been so fun. I'm looking forward to the 10K. I like longer runs. I like it because you keep running until you are done," Kile Dowd said. "I got third place (at the William Penn Invitational). There were two men that were 200 meters ahead of me. They finished and they were like dying and puking. Then I told Mom that I wasn't tired."

Tara Dowd, who was a hurdler at Mediapolis High School for coach Ralph Kaufman, said of her son's competitive running: "It's been a wonderful experience. It's been something we never dreamed would happen. When he started running in seventh grade, he had to have an associate, or we had a personal trainer, run with him. It was difficult. His behavior was difficult. I know one of the trainers said he had to hold his hand when he ran. The pace wasn't super fast. Even during the meets he would stop and smile at us and wave. He was not focused on the race. That's junior high. When he got into high school he got to where he didn't have to have an associate with him. He could run on his own."

Nothing has come easy for Kile Dowd. It has been a day-to-day struggle since he was first diagnosed with autism. But his parents have been there for him every step of the way.

"We've used biomedical intervention to help him," Tara Dowd said. "When he was first diagnosed he was non-verbal. He couldn't hear or speak. He couldn't respond to us. The doctors in Iowa City told us he would be institutionalized probably in elementary school because he was so severe and that he would never get to go to school and he would never have friends. It was not a good prognosis. We've worked really, really hard for a long time to get there.

"Kile is very diligent with his diet. His diet is a huge role in what he does. He's very good about making sure he sticks with that. We do supplements with him. That's a very key role in that his brain stays balanced and it helps him stay focused."

As he slowly progressed, Kile Dowd found a passion for running. At first he tried the sprints, hurdles and long jump. But the farther he ran, the stronger he got. Even the 1,600 and 3,200 in high school were too short for him.

At SCC, head coach Lucas Kiefer has him running the 5,000 and 10,000. The longer the distance, the better Dowd is.

"One summer I filled in for (Danville coach Lucas) Gourley with summer running and I knew he did really well at practice with other runners," Tara Dowd said. "He went out on a five-mile run and it was a really hot day out and the other students were way behind him. He came in and I said, 'You ran five miles.' He said, 'That's it?' He went out and ran another three miles. The other students were tired when they came in. That's when I realized the long, long distance runs were going to be the fit for him. The one-mile and two-mile in track are a little too short for him. He wasn't competitive with his teammates because we were running with Danville and those runners are just amazing. It made it hard to compete at the track level because of that. In high school he ran hurdles and did long jump."

Dowd has found his place on the SCC team. He has made friends with his teammates, who love spending time with him. He serves as an inspiration for his teammates. When the going gets tough, Dowd just keeps on going. And going. And going.

"It's been great. It's been a humbling experience for sure. His energy and positivity at practice is something I look forward to. It's something I know his teammates look forward to," Kiefer said.

"It feels so great. So far I've met a lot of friends," Kile Dowd said. "It's been a wonderful experience."

While his teammates make laps around the track and Bill Nelson Field in West Burlington during practice, Dowd is off on his own training run. Tara follows along on an electric bike for safety purposes. Kile Dowd never seems to tire, no matter how far he runs.

"I run from West Burlington to Crapo Park and back," Kile Dowd said. "I think about my life in the future and movies."

Said his mother: "The one thing he has made clear to me is that he just wants to run. No matter what his choices are, he just wants to stay running. My husband and I will do what it takes to make sure he is running. I come with him to practice every day, I follow him on the bike for safety reasons. I couldn't keep up with him. I had to go get an electric bike. Every day we go out, whether it's snowing or raining. It doesn't matter if it's a day where it's raining and practice is cancelled. He never slacks off. He never skips. He will get his workout in. Whatever Coach says to run, he will go run it. He works out at the Y if it's bad weather. He never misses. Some kids might get a cancel day and take the day off, but he never will."

Oddly enough, Kiefer actually discovered Kile Dowd while watching the evening news. KWQC-TV did a piece on a virtual race that Kile Dowd participated in. Needing a distance runner, Kiefer reached out to Danville High School and hooked up with Kevin and Tara Dowd. Kiefer got more than just an outstanding distance runner. He got someone who leads by example and inspires his teammates.

"I saw him on TV, then I read an article online about a virtual race that he did. I got in touch with the family. He's a good runner and he's coming to SCC, so why would I not take him? It worked out great. He's run a two-minute PR in the 5K. He can accomplish anything," Kiefer said. "I probably work him the hardest of anybody. He runs the most miles. He loves it. That's a great thing for his teammates to see. I can send Kile on a 10-mile run and he'll come back in a great mood. He's probably the biggest motivational piece we have on this team."

"Mom and I were looking at colleges. I wanted to keep running, so we went to SCC. Coach Kiefer found me," Kile Dowd said. "It was for a big virtual running event where I had to run seven miles. I ran on the Flint River Trail from start to finish. It was awesome."

Not everything has gone smoothly for Kevin and Tara Dowd, whose other children, Collin and Allison, also ran for Danville. There have been more than a few anxious moments, plenty of times they have broken down and cried.

"It's very nerve-racking. I feel like I'm going to puke. It's tough. It's so hard because you just don't know. I'm afraid that something is not going to go right," Tara Dowd said. "It's nerve-racking because you know everyone is watching you. He did have that at our meet. We had an indoor meet and he had a meltdown when he was running. It's OK. He actually got his best time. I think he had an adrenaline rush while he was having a meltdown. It's hard because other people don't understand. When you are local, like Danville school or people in the community, they understand. People in West Burlington and New London, they understand. But when you're going to these places far away, they don't know. Most of the time it's fine, but sometimes it's not. I just hope his behavior is fine when he runs. And most of the time it is."

Kile Dowd has come a long way in 16 years. He is high-functioning and is particularly good at math. He is developing skills in many different areas.

"Now I come home and he'll have the dishes done for me. He'll help me get dinner ready. He's good at baking bread, baking cookies. He can do pretty much anything anybody else can do. We just have to do it different sometimes. He can run like anybody else," Tara Dowd said. "His uncle Matt gave him a car and he is working on restoring it with his dad. His mechanical skills over the last two or three years have significantly increased, so he can do things like working on cars and carpentry. We remodeled our house and he was a huge help with that. We discovered he enjoys stripping wallpaper, so we took advantage of that. I just recently moved into a new office and he helped me take the wallpaper down. He's excellent with that type of stuff. He's a huge help at our house. He's very high-functioning now."

Kile Dowd, who is taking his classes at SCC online, said: "This summer I am going to study micro-economics. I am majoring in agriculture. I'm going to do GIS (Geographic Information System), maybe at Upper Iowa University."

Already Kiefer is looking ahead to next season. He hopes to get Kile Dowd on the cross country team in the fall. Next spring, Kiefer hopes to get Kile Dowd running some half-marathons.

Kile Dowd has a passion for running. And the longer, the better.

"I'm excited for the half-marathon. I'm excited for the cross country season. I think the longer distances suit him better," Kiefer said.

"I got my running from Uncle Eric, who got it from Grandpa Steve," Kile Dowd said. "I look forward and I don't look back."

At the end of the day, winning or losing is irrelevant for Kile Dowd. All he wants to do is run. All he ever wanted was someone to give him a chance.

And in the end, no matter how he does, he always puts a smile on his parents' faces.

"This has been a wonderful opportunity. This is the first time he has done long distance running in track. He has really done well with it with the longer distances," Tara Dowd said. "If we didn't have Coach Kiefer, we would not be here. He works really well with him. Not everybody understands it. If we didn't have a coach who understood him, we wouldn't be here. I can't work with a coach who is not going to work with Kile. Coach Kiefer doesn't treat him any different than any of the other students. He treats him exactly the same. He understands that you can't always be exactly the same. That's been very huge. Instead of working against one another, we work together and that gets Kile to where he needs to be. That's very big."

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