Lonely at the front of the bus

It sure was lonely up at the front of the bus.

This was Friday morning. We were heading down to Ocean Breeze for the NYC Gotham Cup. Other than the Winter of Our Discontent (2021) when our indoor season was canceled, getting on a cold bus and going to an endless indoor track meet is something we’ve been doing for decades. When I say “we,” I mean our remarkably stable coaching staff. I’ve mentioned this before, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a coaching staff more stable than Marist College Track and Cross Country.

--At the head of the pack is the forgetful idiot sipping coffee at the front of the bus, 32 years and still going. If you count my time as a runner at Marist, the affiliation goes back more than 40 years (I arrived as a scared and skinny freshman way back in August 1982).

--Then, there is Coach Chuck Williams, who has been part of the program for almost as long. Starting in 1995, when he arrived as a freshman, Chuck has been here – first as an athlete, then as a volunteer coach, then as an integral assistant coach, and since 2008 as the leader of our women’s program (with a still strong impact on our men’s team as well!).

--And lastly, there is Terry Horton. While his affiliation with Marist Track (circa 2008) is much shorter than the coffee-swilling fool writing this post and the multi-faceted Coach Chuck, his affiliation with the SPORT is older than Coach Chuck and almost as old as me.

Terry is 74 years old but looks much younger than that. In fact, it has been noted – accurately – but some that Terry looks younger than I do (for those keeping score at home, I’m currently 58 and getting older by the second). After a stellar athletic career (football and track) at both Arlington High School and SUNY Cortland, Terry immediately got into coaching (and teaching) at Arlington. Between Arlington, where he coached until his retirement from teaching, then a brief stint at Dutchess Community College and now at Marist, Terry has been coaching pretty much non-stop for 53 years!

That’s literally thousands of track meets, and a similar number of bus rides to track meets. Which gets me back to Friday’s lonely bus ride.

For the first time in all these decades, Terry missed a meet. Don’t worry! Terry is fine. He might be the healthiest 74-year-old in Dutchess County. But alas, not everyone is Terry’s busy household is currently as healthy as the old horse who has been coaching forever. And so, Terry had to stay home on Friday to take care of things there. This is understandable, even laudable, as we have always preached a “family first’’ mantra.

Terry is as reliable and stable as they come. Not having him on the bus, and at the meet, was jarring. We know he’ll be back, and we won’t take that for granted.