Back in September I penned a piece called “Coffee with Walt”, and in it I reminisced about the past, present and future in our lives as they revolved around running. We had met up for coffee, both of our opportunities along the fence trackside having taken a backseat to what we call life. I wanted to make sure our relationship didn’t fade away just because our involvement with the NH running scene had changed. Over the ensuing months Walt and I have gotten together about once a month to shoot the breeze, talk track and simply engage centered around a topic we still are both very passionate about.
I got this latest opportunity because the D2/D3 Championships got postponed to Sunday and I had to pickup some shirts for work in Keene where Walt now resides. I sent him a text that I would be in town Saturday morning and was he around and did he want to meet up. With that the stage was set and an 8:30am meet up was now on the calendar.
We met at the Works, just across the street from Beeze Tees and Ted’s Shoe and Sport. Driving through about an hour of downpour that led to me getting drenched from car to breakfast, I was more OK with the fact the meet got moved. Not that I wasn’t taking advantage of the date change, but not all the athletes would be able to compete on a Sunday and I certainly felt bad for them.
Walt arrived right after me, I think he was in his car smartly trying to sit out the downburst from above. We grabbed our drinks and a table in the corner.
And we talked. Mostly about running, or things running related. We talked about old athletes that both he and I had a hand in their training, me at the high school level and him at the collegiate level. We talked about friends and coaches we know, where they are now and what they are up to. We talked about value in the types of training we both used, underscoring the exact workouts and activities and highlighting the process and what it takes to turn decent runners into even better people. We talked about how running back in the day has changed from what running is today. With Walt working at Exeter in the early stages of Nike shoe development, we talked about some of the classics like the Waffle Racer and my old favorite, the Eagle TC. I was entranced hearing about how much different Nike was then in relation to what Nike has become.
And with the anniversary of the passing of Steve Prefontaine only the day before, I asked Walt what that meant to him. Walt offered he was never close with Pre, he was close with people that were. He thought it unfortunate that most people these days, that know of Pre and his passing never really knew the person and persona he was. He was USA Track and Field at the time, a fiery, honest, and very outspoken practitioner of a sport that had never seen that kind of forward facing, take on the world attitude that Pre was. And while running certainly shaped Pre, Pre shaped what running could be about in the hearts and minds of those who witnessed his greatness, within running and beyond running.
And truth be told, the sport of running has shaped our lives. Our impact less of course, but it’s importance in who we are and what we’ve become a constant shadow that spans the majority of our lives. Neither of us ever captivated the sport the way Pre did, and I think we are both thankful of that as we did not seek the spotlight and preferred to work our craft behind the scenes. But it would be foolhardy to not recognize the impact we’ve each had on athletes over quite some time, which is also true of the many hidden high school and college coaches out there as well. The impact is spread far and wide. So those of you reading that are coaches and work with athletes do not underestimate the influence you have on the athletes you work with. While the job may not come with many accolades or high salaries, the work you do is important.
Just the other day I had a friend reach out to me in someone’s behalf, looking for a coach to work with an athletes who throws. The kid wants to take the next step and doesn’t have a coach available so they reached out. I called around and ended up giving them a contact such that they can pursue achievement in the off season. I’m no longer coaching but I still end up helping develop youth athletics, and that’s good.
There will be more coffees with Walt, but I don’t imagine I’ll be writing anymore about them. It’s one thing when old coaches get together, shoot the breeze, and reminisce about the past and something else to continuously write about it. So I won’t. And I think that will please Walt as well.
See you out there.
