One of my most memorable moments of coaching was the day one of my runners, Haley broke the school record for the 1600 meter run. I started coaching Haley when she was in fifth grade when she didn’t think she could run more than a ½ mile without wanting to walk. Then as a 7th grader she decided she was a runner. At the beginning of the season she was running the 800 meter well. So after a couple of track meets, I suggested for her to run the 1600 meter. I thought if she did she had a great shot at the school record. When I asked her to run the 1600 meter, she responded, “I want purple tulips at my funeral.” I assured her that she could complete the 1600 meter. I then started telling her about the possibility of the breaking the school record. Haley was a very competitive girl: I knew this would drive her to run it. She agreed to run it so I gave her some strategy tips.
On the day of the meet, the girls and boys were scheduled to run in the same event which was the perfect opportunity for Haley. I knew beating the boys would drive her to the record so I told her which boys to tuck in behind so she could run a sub 6 minute 1600 meter. Haley was nervous, but without saying I think she was excited for the chance at the record. Haley came from a line of successful runners in her family. She was a very coachable runner: as I stood along the side line she would listen and respond to my cues. The first two laps had her in perfect position as she came around headed into lap 4 I told her it was time to go: If you go right now you can go sub 6. Haley has more guts than most runners I have ever met. At that moment , she dug deep and took the last lap at full force. She finished with a sub 6 minute mile, breaking the school record passing boys that had been trying to break 6 minutes all season.
As Haley crossed the finish line giving it her all, I ran over and presented her with purple tulips and congratulated her. She went on to set the 3200 meter record, 3200 meter relay record and missed the 200 hurdle record by .2 seconds. The day she decided to run hurdles, was not a decision I was prepared to make, but she asked if she could run hurdles. I told her I didn’t want to risk her getting injured: she had never tried hurdles before. Her dad was at the meet that day so I told her if her dad said she could I would let her. I didn’t think he would say yes so I thought I was safe. When her dad walked over, we asked if she could try hurdles. He responded by telling her to set up some hurdles on the infield and try it. She easily cleared the hurdles so her dad told her to try it. Haley was so excited to run the hurdles that day and to my surprise she narrowly missed another school record.
Haley continued her success as a high school athlete in track, cross country and soccer. We competed on different occasions at races and CrossFit workouts. Her competitive nature and guts drove her to some great athletic performances. One year at the Q-Town 5k/10k a race I directed she begged me to run the 10k so she could win the 5k. That year we shared the podium as the overall female runners, Haley for the 5k and me for the 10k.
At her graduation open house, Haley had her purple tulips proudly displayed.