March 7, 1967. March 7, 2023. That’s 56 years separating one date from another. The 1967 date? That’s when the seeds of what is now the Marist track team were planted, after an epic 100-hour relay in the gloriously morbid early March weather in Poughkeepsie, NY. The relay went from March 3-7, 1967. The awesome plaque in the new McCann Center upstairs lobby says so. So much has changed since then. So much. The track team is large and thriving now – women and men, a few of whom you see hastily gathered in front of the plaque before yet another off-campus practice. The old coach in charge? He was probably still in diapers during that snowy relay of long ago (for those keeping score, I was 2.5 years old!). Now, the old man in charge is far closer to retirement than to the beginning of his career, after 32 years of guiding the Running Red Foxes. Hmm.
But what HASN’T changed? The weather, in Poughkeepsie, in early March. Snowy. Windy. Cold. Hints of spring but mostly winter, wanting us to scurry into a heated van as quickly as possible. What else? Those forward-thinking men that started the track team all those years ago, they probably envisioned an actual track to stage the team, here on campus. Hmmm. About that … that relay was not held on a track in 1967, and here in 2023, it would STILL not be on a track … unless we trekked the 10 minutes over to Vassar College’s beautiful track facility, which we do almost every day. No track? No problem. Our athletes, improbably, continue to succeed, to set records, to represent the school with pride and athleticism. It’s pretty neat to watch, wearing my fading flannel shirts and in need of reading glasses now to see my stopwatch. That plaque is a reminder to be grateful to our Founding Fathers of Marist track – 56 years, it’s a long time. We’re still bundling up over here. And yes, we’re still running.
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