I had a coach, a teacher, a mentor who inspired us to run hard and fast, to read and appreciate language, and to write clearly and concisely. He showed us how to fully be ourselves, as only each of us could, with his heartfelt and authentic way of being. He was there with us every step of the way, often literally, as he’d join us on many of our cross country training runs.

Words fail at expressing what you meant to me, just as my legs and lungs were never quite able to carry me as quickly as I hoped. That hurdle just past halfway around the track at sectionals pulled me down, but you showed me how to carry on and finish what I started despite disappointment.

Your death, too, pulls me down. Loss is hard, but we went through much together and I’m grateful for it all — those many miles, books, and countless laughs along the way!

I’ll carry on in your honor as well as I can. All we can do is keep running, reading, writing, and being there for the people in our lives as you were there for us.

Next time I go running, you’ll be there with me, Coach. So many grateful miles ahead still, let’s go! Maybe we’ll grab a beer milkshake together when we’re done.

“If a man ordered a beer milkshake, he thought, he’d better do it in a town where he wasn’t known. But then, a man with a beard, ordering a beer milkshake in a town where he wasn’t known—they might call the police.”

― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row