I’m sure most people have had some great experiences with coaches in whatever sport they might have done. I ran cross country for ten years, from third grade to my senior year, and went through several coaches. My first coach was Angie Williams. She was the entire reason I got into cross-country running. Sadly, before I could really thank Angie for all the hard work she had done and the impact she had on my life, she passed away. The following is my letter to a coach that changed my life by introducing me to running.

There is so much that I want to say to you. It is too late for me to truly tell you, but I feel like it should still be said, just so people will know the full impact you had on my life. You started my running career. I started one of my favorite things in the world because you convinced me to. I don’t think I ever actually thanked you for that. I did thank you for staying with the team, coaching us, until I graduated in 8th grade, but I am not sure I understood exactly how amazing it was.

You had promised those of us who had been around since third grade that you would stay until we graduated. You didn’t have to follow through on that promise, you had several reasons to move to Arizona before we graduated, but you kept on going with us. It was because we were your kids, you had been our principal in elementary school, and then our coach. You also didn’t have to convince that high energy child running around campus after school to start running cross country.

You did though because you had faith in me from the very beginning. Even when I was the slowest runner on the team you would cheer for me. You were an amazing coach, easily one of the best coaches I had. Even after I went to high school and you moved away, you still cheered for me. You heard about all the good races, the bad races, the PRs, and the injuries and cheered for me just the same.

I can remember one of my first races in high school. It was in Rocklin, I ran horribly, but you had come all the way from Arizona to cheer on the kids you had coached. Though it was probably one of my worst races in high school, it was one of my favorite meets because you came to support us like you used to. The surprise got even better when I learned that you had been there for a few hours, but made sure to hide from us so you could surprise us during the race. I remember the moment you appeared very clearly. I was about to give up on what was the worst race I had ever done when I heard your voice.

I thought I was hearing things at first, but then I saw you cheering like you always did. I picked up the pace and ran harder because of that. That was one of the last times I got to talk to you also, so I wish I had told you some of these things. The main thing I want to tell you though is thank you.

Thank you for giving me the gift of running. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for being a principal, a friend, and an amazing coach.