A Tribute to Coach

For many athletes, the love and passion for a sport is something that grows through the years. It is fostered by a multitude of experiences and by the many wonderful people we meet and connect with along the way. This is largely true for me.

However, there is one person I can credit with instilling most of my passion and identity as a runner. That person is my college XC and Track coach, Coach Goldhammer, or, as we all call him, Coach.

I had six years of competitive running before college, but the 4 years with Coach are the ones I remember. It's hard for me to believe that it was only 4 years; it was a snippet of time with such an impact on my life. The passionate support of a huge number of alumni shows that I am absolutely not alone in feeling this way.

Recently, a group of alumni put together a tribute video for Coach. Although it may not be of interest to many who read this blog, I simply can't help sharing it. I want to share how awesome my Coach is and how many lives he's touched. To me this video is an inspiration itself because it shows me how much impact an adult can have in the lives of the young people with whom we work. It makes me want to be like Coach.






(Yes, I am in this video, but you won't see me until the second half.)

A Smattering of Multimedia

Podcast Interview:

Based on many of my links and comments in this blog, most of you probably realize that I am a big fan of Scott Dunlap's blog, A Trail Runner's Blog. In fact, most of you are probably fans yourself. Mark recently remarked that "we can't get enough of this guy," and although my response on Mark's blog was a bit cheeky, he is ultimately correct. Scott's blog is popular for a reason! Today Endurance Planet posted a podcast interview (here) with the ultra blogger, providing some good insight into how Scott became a runner and blogger.

T&F Video:


After some hints from Lisa about how to actually get the youtube video into my blog (I'm an idiot, I know!) I've posted this video about CMS Track 2007 just to practice my new skills. This probably won't be very interesting to you unless you are a current T&F athlete or an alumni of the Claremont Colleges. (I ran track for CMS from '92 to '95.) The video quality isn't amazing, but the editing is quite good, and I think the music works really well. My favorite part comes after the credits when you can merely glimpse some of the antics of Coach Goldhammer himself!





Finally, here's how I spent my spring break, which explains why I missed my long run that weekend. Oops. It was worth it though!




It's the view from the stage of a Hot Buttered Rum Show. That's me on the far left: red hair, brown shirt.