The Thrill of Coaching

Just Another Runner’s Perspective September 2021 Written By Gale Fischer

The Thrill of Coaching

“Coaching can take you to uncharted territories that you never thought you would go.”

----Betty Lam

Sweat trickled down the back of my neck as I sat in anticipation near the one and a half mile mark awaiting the lead pack of runners. It was our team’s third competition of the season on this early September afternoon. The heat and humidity of a week earlier that had created some of the most miserable running conditions in the last decade had eased up some, but the sun blazing in the sky still hinted that summer was still not ready to hand off the baton to autumn. I looked down at my stop watch and realized that the front pack would come into sight soon. The lead runner rounded the corner two tenths of a mile from my location harboring a sizable lead on our team’s first runner. Although a part of me yearned to see an athlete dressed in Harper Creek blue round the corner first, a wave of excitement still rolled through my body as six of the next nine runners represented Harper Creek. Seeing a sea of blue and white dominate the lead pack in this five team invitational stirred my pride as a coach. Battling it out for fifth and sixth spots on our team were Dominic and Hunter. Hunter, now a senior, had earned his spot as one of our top runners over the previous three seasons. Dominic, a short gangly freshman had all but cemented a place on our varsity squad with his performance for our first two races. With only a few races run in this, our third week of the season, it was becoming apparent that this unseasoned freshman and decorated senior were creating a friendly teammate battle. Each was pushing the other to up their game and become the best that they could be. 

As an elementary teacher at Wattles Park Elementary for nearly fourteen years I had never considered coaching high school cross country for the school district in which I worked. When I first started teaching I was just a few years into my running journey. In 2001, my first year at WPE, I was running about thirty miles a week with no aspirations of competing at a high level. I would adjust my goals however, a few years later as my speed improved and my attitude about my sport began a transformation. Success soon followed which also translated into increased effort with training and higher mileage each week at a faster pace. I was immersed in my own world as a runner and had no time to devote to coaching. I was also a bit intimidated by high school aged kids and could not imagine teaching or coaching teenagers. Still I felt a calling to promote my beloved sport to children. I continued with my training regiment beginning and ending many of my daily runs after the work day ended from the elementary school I taught at. I began to notice many WPE students playing in their yards in the neighborhoods I ran through after school. Periodically some of these youngsters would inform me at school that they had seen me running by their house.

I tried to foster this curiosity for running that some of the students began developing. First and foremost I wanted to promote running to these young students as a way of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. As a sophomore in high school, I had lost my father, without any warning, to a massive heart attack. Running had become a way for me to maintain a robust heart and a part of me wanted to lead by example, modeling a healthy, active lifestyle. I was also hoping that some of these children would try running and eventually find a love for the sport. Lastly, I had hoped that if enough of the students at my school saw me running through their neighborhoods day after day, that some would choose cross country as their sport in high school. Maybe some of them would also become all state runners for Harper Creek Schools.

Running continued to define who I was as an individual and I continued to grow through the sport through the next decade. My physical routine boosted my confidence. It allowed me to excel as an athlete, something I longed for in high school but was unable to accomplish. It took me to some of the marathon’s greatest stages including the Chicago Marathon and the storied Boston Marathon. It introduced me to and created relationships with many individuals whom I consider to be best friends for life. Eventually it seemed to me that I had been blessed with every positive experience that running could offer. I would soon realize that I had only scratched the surface of the running experience.

My daughter joined her high school’s cross country team in 2014. Her coach invited me to join him as his assistant coach. I still felt a bit intimidated with the thought of working with adolescent kids so I put him off but he would not give up and continued asking me to help with the team. Reluctantly I finally agreed. Soon I realized that coaching high school aged athletes was not as frightening as I had imagined. In fact, it quickly became the highlight of my day. Sharing a common passion with my daughter and her teammates through running provided a great source of satisfaction, something that I had not expected. Running with my athletes a few times a week during practice reminded me that I was aging while also giving me a sense of being young at the same time. I soon realized that through coaching, I could experience so much more as a runner than what I had ever imagined.

Spending three seasons as one of my daughter’s cross country coaches was an opportunity that I will always cherish. It helped to enhance an already strong father/daughter bond. Beyond the extra time it allowed me to spend with my daughter it also gave me opportunities to share my experience and wisdom as a runner and as an adult with her and her teammates. As a runner, the miles I had spent on the roads and trails and the hours of reflection time provided life lessons for me personally. Playing a part in passing these learning opportunities on to my athletes proved to go beyond rewarding. I was teaching them but it seemed that I was a student as well, learning from them. My situation was unique in that I was a teacher at Harper Creek Schools but I spent my after school hours coaching for a rival school. I would have several opportunities to follow students whom I watched grow from Kindergarten through fourth grade at Wattles Park Elementary, now as teenagers, competing against my athletes. Although my primary focus remained coaching and cheering on my athletes, a part of me felt a wave of satisfaction in the success of these runners who were former WPE students. I found that I had enough pride to go around for runners from both school districts.

I continued to coach a few years after my daughter graduated but eventually it was time to move on. Although I suspected that I would miss after school practices and cross country competitions I also looked forward to a slower pace in life with the extra free time. A year after placing my whistle and clipboard on the shelf, an opportunity to help coach the Harper Creek cross country team came my way. The season away from the sport was refreshing but I dearly missed mentoring young runners. The thought of coaching again was intriguing. Sharing my joy of running with students whom I had watched develop in elementary school seemed like a no brainer.

After a full season and a few races into my second season as a member of the coaching staff for Harper Creek’s cross country team, I am grateful every day to be back in the game as a coach. Our season last year was a huge success with both our boy’s and girl’s teams qualifying to run in the state meet. This season looks to be as promising as last year. As thrilling as it is as a coach for our athletes to compete at a high level individually and as a team the payoff comes with the growth and development for our athletes as human beings that come from high school athletics. Lessons learned as runners and teammates are always applicable to real life situations. I feel blessed to be a part of the running and life journeys of all of our runners. Having the opportunity to be a part of the running journeys of Hunter, Dominic and other WPE alum as they foster a love for running as teenagers is a great source of satisfaction. Seeing runners develop as athletes and as human beings is one of the many thrills of coaching.

Until next time, this has been just another runner’s perspective.