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Friday 4 March 2011

Speedendurance.com

Track and Field: It’s the Friends you Make Along the Way

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 01:00 AM PST

This blog post is about Toronto’s bid to host the 2015 Pan Am Games. Read on…

People think Track and Field is all about winning Gold medals.

It's not.

People think Track and Field is all about setting goals and personal bests.

Sort of.

People think Track and Field is all about building character and discipline.

Yes, it is. But it's more than that.

It's about the friends you make along the way.

When I think about my track meets at College over 25 years ago, I don't think about winning medals or championships pennants or school records. And I've been involved in Track and Field for almost 40 years now.

I think about the happy, funny, and sad moments at track practice and track meets.

Tales from the Crypt

For example,

The time our charter bus hit an ice patch on the 401 highway en route to Cornell and spun out off the road and went into the ditch, which we managed to push back to the road, of course. (Thank you Shot Putters)

Or the time **I** almost drove our school van with 14 other passengers into the Vermont River at Dartmouth College… in January in the heart of winter. Yeah, that would have sucked. How would I explain that to Dennis Barrett, our head coach?

Or the time where our non funded McGill track team qualified for Nationals and I had 6 guys stay at the Four Seasons Hotel… we had 7 guys, 1 room with 4 extra cots that we snuck in and out every day so housekeeping wouldn't find out. (Note to the guys who were there: Do you still have those super nice bath robes?)

Or the time one of our athletes just found out his father died right before practice through a phone call?

Toronto’s Bid to Host the 2015 Pan Am Games

I could probably namedrop forever with almost 40 years of Track and Field under my belt, and I'll save a few good stories for my April 1st article with real stories, This story has to do with Toronto’s bid to host the 2015 Pan Am Games, so it is track related (and the video is cool).

In Vancouver, I had the opportunity to be on the same team with Steve and Fraser Walters. Steve was my main training partner, and eventually went on to be the coach and training partner to 400 meter Paralympian Dustin Walsh. His brother Fraser is one of the four Canadian Tenors. Who says there isn't life after track?

The Canadian Tenors played at the 2010 Winter Olympics pre-Opening ceremonies in Vancouver. VANOC had snubbed them for the Opening ceremonies (not sure why?).

In any case, here is the video to their hit song on YouTube for Toronto’s Bid to Host the 2015 Pan Am Games.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.