FALL 2015
Dear All...Dear VCXCTF,
It is early morning here in New Paltz and I just went out (6:02 am) and took care of some personal business. The bright stars and cool air certainly makes one appreciative, even in the pre-dawn, for the wondrousness and the incomprehensible complexity of life. What an intro huh?
Speaking of wonderous, or even the spell checked improved and probably more accurate, wondrous, and of appreciation...I am writing this, having woke up today thinking about the so many of you who were and are wondrous and appreciated by me for your efforts during my tenure as coach.
How to start this first effort off the top of my head? Well, first to thank James and Justin for not only taking the reins of VCXCTF and developing track to great heights, but recognizing the contributions of you all. I know some of you used to enjoy my summer letters when you were students, and also liked my occasional Alumni mailings too. The Quarterly is a big step up!
J&J are fully dedicated and highly skilled coaches who are doing for our student athletes what I regret I could not do for you all! What a difference to have full timers on campus! Suffice to say, again, we now have 2 people on campus dedicated to VCXCTF and we are very lucky to have their self motivation, depth of running knowledge and spirited approach!
Ok, in some sum, I am still here at VC.
I just had a stupid knee operation.
I just closed my pool yesterday (we now have an in ground pool).
I have 2 years of wood stacked.
And I'm 66 yrs old!
34 or more years at Vassar has given me great pleasure and James even got the VCI named after me - now the VCRSI. Our runners are wonderful, in greater numbers, and fun, like you guys all were. We have our tears, injuries, laughs, bus trips, hotels, sandwiches, hot peppers stories, lake loops, etc. All of which adds one more layers to my personal memories. The memories I have of you all invade me daily and the stories I tell, ad nauseum, about many of you, are a source, I think, of fun and a kind of VCXCTF connectivity that our current kids also enjoy. I just told two of our kids dealing with injuries yesterday, as I was driving them back to Walker, "if you heard this one tell me please..."! I do repeat stories but I do have a lot of them because of all of you.
I mean the list is enormous!
To remember each of you in my head and see you crossing that line,hugging your teammates, either ecstatic in your accomplishment or upset with your not have met your expectations all meld into my gray matter with all the bus and van trips, and the practices,"punch buggy" etc.
The 80's were tough. The men and women had to start their warm ups to be ready when I got to practice at 4:45pm (hey wait a minute...same with the 90's right James!?!!)! I was there Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays...meets were Saturday although when I first got here we had midweek and Saturdays! Also long runs in New Paltz on Sundays.
Our first course in 1982 was running to the tennis courts from Kenyon across main gate and back in lots of traffic...thus I hacked out the course we had till a few years ago that started on Ballantine [ed- 2008 was the first year of VCI at the Farm]. I worked my ass off and so did B&G hacking that course out and measuring and measuring...The women's course was 2.999999999999999! What started out for me in 1982 was 2-4pm for both mens and womens teams...had no office but used my green honda wagon. We went on to win our fair share of invites, was 11-0,12-2 etc back when dual and triangular meets were in. All of my 80's kids stepped up and we became competitive and then some! We were no longer doormats or easy to race against! We wore red and white. I also got those beer mug sweatshirts in red&white that everyone loves! A consistent problem were numbers, but not drive and desire for most!
The 90's showed more progress and increasing numbers and national qualifiers. I am rushing through this as my original was in need of a re-write. I will try to have a stories from the 80's and 90's in the next edition for your amusement and memory banks. I certainly would love to hear some stories that you remember too!
As to me remembering, I have to tell you all that I, lately, I forget a lot so, if I see you at an alumni gathering just identify yourself right away...I will remember you!
So, off the top of my head...Roni Teich and Justin Rupert are stopping by this weekend to run in the mountains...Laura Coogan came by a few times and actually won a 50 mile Rock the Ridge New Paltz run...Tracy Nichols( anyone want to hear that story again?!?!)...came by with her daughters and jumped in the pool...Jon Erickson drove by my house...newly engaged Doctor Anthony Lucero in a rented muscle car...I hear from a lot of you on Facebook and unfortunately I don't post properly so apologies to all! What a pleasure to see that All American Colin Sanders married, Brian Deer married...Carl Johnson teaching in Vermont living the good life, Alex Perfido, with 2 kids...Jeff Popper a big business man using his VC and Duke degrees...Steve Eskilson renown in Art History...Troy Hull flying planes...Lucy Cohen in the forests & mountains,,,Nilly Buchsbaum teaching...Pat Healy is like Dora the Explore...Tim Leshan the "Genome Project" running Masters and at NEU...Susan O'Brien running fantastic and swinging from ropes and stuff, Mo Brown loves Philly & Bocce, Meg Wyatt has 2 babies...Pat Murray married and still has our Steeple record...Lisle Sheaffer making beer with 400m and 800m record holder Sam Wagner? Tiffany Marchell, Emily Sufrin and Kelly Holmes stopped by this summer...Tawney Paul in Scotland forever...Ges Adams finished Fordham Law...Tera Hatfield & Marty finally knotted..Rachel Beck in hometown Sisters Ore;...Zoe Carpenter playing geetar and writing great articles for "The Nation"...Pennsylvanians Johanna Spangler in NYC and Emily Loose high in Colorado (meaning the mountains!)...Nina Huang searching for olives (story never gets old!)...Hannah Ziobrowski and Taylor Swift...Matt Hunter at Yale...Heather Ingraham training at Princeton!...Andrew Costigan babysitting for Ronan Dunphys kids in Austin....Rich Walker at alumni open house(RFW!!)!
Anyway the list goes on...life goes on... Please remember us when approached by VC Fundraising or anyone from Vassar...remember VCXCTF! Yes, I know, like one Alum told me...Econ helped him in his career so he donated to Econ and the General Fund...but I kinda think that your experience running for Vassar also added to you somewhat, as a person that you are today! James, Justin and I still have a long way to go to get genuine equity and support for our four programs. Anything you can do to help, from buying VC running gear to donating directly to VCXCTF or even just voicing your support when it is appropriate is helpful. You are all part of our extended family and you all have varying thicknesses of connectivity but no matter how varied the filament it is not able to be broken!
You all will always be a part of our history and I am very proud of what we accomplished and have built here at Vassar.
Go VC!
Much love...hugs...Ron
