by Mark Cullen
for Andrew and Tessa
Copyright 2019. Mark Cullen/Trackerati.com. All Rights Reserved.
for Andrew and Tessa
Copyright 2019. Mark Cullen/Trackerati.com. All Rights Reserved.
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| Olympiastadion, Berlin, August 13, 2018, 12:30am photo by Yujia Dou |
In year of blessings beyond
fair hope
It’s not a momentous decision
to retire
It’s not kind farewells
It’s not an epic 5-week track
and field trip in Europe
It’s not “Why Germany?”
It’s not Olaf and Thomas and
Dave and Yujia and Michelle and Phil and Matt
It’s not French sportswriters
to my left in Berlin
It’s not standing on a dais
in Coos Bay with Billy and Linda
It’s not old pictures with a
new friend
It’s not IAAF the night before
USATF
Not Mondo Mania
It's not even “Carma”
Or Carla
Not the Weltklasse and the
Van Damme at long, long last
It’s not LeBron and Robert
Not Shalane, Tshepang, or
Blake
It’s not even the night of
uncommon kindness at Safeco Field
It’s who was there with me
My new friends, my new
neighbors
In a year of blessings beyond
fair hope
These are the greatest
blessings of all.
Beyond Fair Hope
Annotations
In year of blessings beyond fair hope
I could never have asked more
of a year. As the good rolled in, I held my breath - time after time - and waited for the crash to come.
It didn’t.
In any single year, any one
of the people and events referenced here would have been the signature highlight of a memorable year.
It’s not a momentous decision to retire
It was just another Sunday
evening in March. I was at my dining room table correcting a stack of essays –
something I always enjoyed. In my 41st year in education (in various
incarnations: teacher, coach, athletic director), I had gone to a ¾ time
contract, which meant two things: I had more flexibility for appointments, and I
baked Christmas cookies for the first time in decades.
I had been working with the
school on a half-time contract for the next year, and thought I might well
teach for several more.
Halfway through the
assignments I looked up and said, “You know what you need to do.”
To make sure, I gave myself
this task: “Write down what you’re going to.”
That was easy. My future
couldn’t have been clearer.
“It’s time.”
We had an inservice day the
following Friday; I had decided that’s when I’d tell our Head of School. But Tuesday at lunch he sat down across from me. The Middle School principal was at
the end of the table, and the Academic Dean – the one who’d been so helpful
with the contract discussions – showed up moments later.
The administrative harmonic
convergence was at hand.
Deep breath and I changed my
life.
It’s not kind farewells
The school couldn’t have been
more gracious on my way out, and at two separate events, longtime friends and colleagues Karen
James and Deb Playter gave the kinds of speeches that left little doubt as to
what likely would be said at my funeral. I can’t imagine two people better
qualified to put the ‘fun’ back into funeral.
It’s not an epic 5-week track and field
trip in Europe
This is the future I
imagined.
However, the launch (first, a plumbing emergency in my house five hours before my plane was to leave – without me, as it turned out; and, as I arrived two days later, the Frankfurt airport closed and in chaos due to a security breach) wasn’t quite the joyful beginning I had in mind.
Nonetheless, after a 23-hour
travel ordeal, I was in Olympiastadion in Berlin for the European
Championships. Never more tired or, surprisingly, more focused, two of my
articles that week soared into my top six most-widely read out of over 200. Apparently, I should write
while exhausted more often.
My grand tour took me to
Zurich for the Weltklasse and Brussels the next day for the Van Damme Memorial.
Thank you, scheduling gods, for putting a few days between these events in
2019.
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| Letzigrund Stadium Home of the Weltklasse Zurich, Switzerland |
Then, back to Berlin for the
ISTAF meet and 2012 Olympic discus champion Robert Harting’s farewell. Who knew
I’d encounter not only Harting but a certain US basketball player, too?
I was never more in the writing zone. In my five weeks on the road, readership for my website more than tripled, and six of my top ten articles bear the copyright date of 2018.
I was never more in the writing zone. In my five weeks on the road, readership for my website more than tripled, and six of my top ten articles bear the copyright date of 2018.
The last stop on my tour was
the Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where I met with IAAF Heritage
Director, Chris Turner, at the site of IAAF Hertitage's first public exhibition. We discussed how my running shoe and memorabilia
collections could be helpful in telling Eugene’s track and field history at the
2021 World Championships.
As we concluded, he said, “And I’ll be in touch regarding Doha.” There a more extensive display will be mounted in conjunction with the 2019 World Championships.
As we concluded, he said, “And I’ll be in touch regarding Doha.” There a more extensive display will be mounted in conjunction with the 2019 World Championships.
Sometimes the trip is about
more than the writing.
It’s not “Why Germany?”
For a dyed-in-the-wool distance devotee from the University of Oregon, who knew that I’d take such an
interest in the throws?
I have an ongoing
conversation with two of Germany’s javelin greats, 2016 Olympic Champion Thomas
Rohler and 2018 World #1 Andreas Hofmann, about why Germany is the dominant throwing country
in the world right now.
“Why Germany?” became a theme of our summertime interviews.
“Why Germany?” became a theme of our summertime interviews.
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| Colin Jackson interviewing Andreas Hofmann and Thomas Rohler Letzigrund Stadium, Zurich August 29, 2018 |
It’s not Olaf and Thomas and Dave and
Yujia and Michelle and Phil and Matt
The most wonderful part of
this new life is, of course, the people, and these writers – and many more - enrich my life more than they know.
It’s not French sportswriters to my left
in Berlin
I didn’t get to know the
French sportswriters very well, but there they were - all five of them - to my
left on press row at the European Championships every night. Even though we didn’t speak
much, we always acknowledged and welcomed each other as we occupied the same air
space.
It was on the last night I realized they – all easily half my age – were looking out for me. As they got ready to leave after midnight, they asked if I'd be OK. Gracious farewells, but they didn’t leave until they knew I had a stadium exit plan. I was writing “Mondo Mania” and wouldn’t leave until 2:30am, well after the trains stopped running.
It was on the last night I realized they – all easily half my age – were looking out for me. As they got ready to leave after midnight, they asked if I'd be OK. Gracious farewells, but they didn’t leave until they knew I had a stadium exit plan. I was writing “Mondo Mania” and wouldn’t leave until 2:30am, well after the trains stopped running.
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| With Yujia Dou Olympiastadion, Berlin August 13, 2018 Photo was taken by one of the French sportswriters referenced above. As Yujia Dou is from China, three continents were represented in the creation of this image. |
It’s not standing on a dais in Coos Bay
with Billy and Linda
Linda Prefontaine brought
Billy Mills to Coos Bay, Oregon, in October, and the 1964 Olympic 10,000m gold
medalist thrilled every audience he engaged with. I let drop that I had
introduced Mills at an event in Everett, WA, in 2005, and Linda gave me the
distinct honor of introducing Billy Mills in Steve Prefontaine’s hometown.
This was not the only memorable moment brought my way by Prefontaine this year. She also invited me to accompany her to the inauguration of her brother into the National High School Track and Field Hall of Fame in New York in February.
Livin' the dream.
This was not the only memorable moment brought my way by Prefontaine this year. She also invited me to accompany her to the inauguration of her brother into the National High School Track and Field Hall of Fame in New York in February.
Livin' the dream.
http://www.trackerati.com/2018/10/choreographing-our-future.html
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| Billy Mills and Linda Prefontaine Steve Prefontaine Murals Coos Bay, OR |
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| Linda Prefontaine introducing Billy Mills Marshfield High School Coos Bay, OR |
It's not old pictures with a new friend.
The single-most
time-intensive project of the year was bringing to light Joe Head's photographic treasures of a 1968 meet at the Echo Summit (CA) High Altitude
Training Camp. A classic example of how the internet can not only give
this historical record new life, but of how it can link two people together who
otherwise would likely never have connected.
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| Jim Ryun wins the 1500m Echo Summit, CA August 31, 1968 Joe Head photograph |
It’s not IAAF the night before USATF
Earlier in the year I had
submitted a profile of US 800m runner Drew Windle – silver medalist at the 2018
World Indoors – to IAAF. I knew they would publish it at some point, but had no
idea when. After the USATF press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, the day before
outdoor nationals began in June, I drove to Ames to visit my brother, Matthew,
and his family. It was only after everyone had turned in for the evening that I
checked my social media - and it had exploded. IAAF had published the story as
their lead-in article for US nationals.
Not Mondo Mania
My friends at IAAF’s Spikes
Magazine got ahold of this article and sent it out to the athletics world. Over
400 people responded to it directly, and it reached almost 600,000 people on
Twitter. It was boosted by the retweet of a certain Olympic pole vault
gold medalist; when Renaud Lavillenie retweets a link to your article, over
300,000 followers receive it in an instant. http://www.trackerati.com/2018/08/mondo-mania.html
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| Mondo Duplantis scaling the pole vault heights in winning the European Championships in the = #2 outdoor vault ever. 6.05m/19' 10 1/4" Note how high Duplantis is over the bar. Photographer Jeff Cohen captured the magic moment in my choice for track and field photo of the year. |
It’s not even “Carma”
I took some lumps on this one
as the humor in my post was misunderstood by some. I wasn’t making fun of the safety
issue involved when the screening around the USATF hammer throw venue in Des
Moines was inadequate – not even close. I was, however, interested in how the
universe responds when you park illegally near that venue and a hammer gets
loose (the hammer bounced and added a chapter to an
already well-storied vehicle). My short photo essay of this event enjoyed a
vigorous 24-hour life online.
Or Carla
The support staff of these
meets make all the difference in how we experience them, and when it seemed all
was lost when it came to finding a media souvenir backpack at the Van Damme, Carla worked some wonders and one magically appeared. I still
fear that she gave up hers for me; nonetheless, there is Seattle smoked salmon
in her future this summer.
Not the Weltklasse and the Van Damme at
long, long last
If ever I felt I paid an
unnecessary price (in track terms) for working so many years, it came with the Weltklasse (Zurich) and Van Damme Memorial (Brussels) meets. These iconic single-day events always fell during the first two weeks of school. It was painful to know these were taking place as I was 10,000 km away in what were similar school meetings for the 37th – 38th – 39th times. Though I
had been to nine World Championships and two Olympics, I hadn't been to these. It was high time to close the gap.
Few people on the planet have ever arrived at these meets as joyfully as I - and the waits were worth every exhilarating moment these two meets had to offer. This year, they were held within 28 hours of each other. Never was there a more fun train trip than the 6:00am from Zurich to Brussels after we all were writing until 1:00am earlier that morning.
Few people on the planet have ever arrived at these meets as joyfully as I - and the waits were worth every exhilarating moment these two meets had to offer. This year, they were held within 28 hours of each other. Never was there a more fun train trip than the 6:00am from Zurich to Brussels after we all were writing until 1:00am earlier that morning.
Perhaps it should be no
surprise, then, that my stats-based report on the historic Brussels men’s 5000m soared
to be my #1 most widely read piece. My joy and excitement in being there, and my wonder at the performances, was reflected in an article I hadn't anticipated writing. The magic of the unexpected - 18 year-old Selemon Barega's 12:43.02 5,000m is #4 all-time - was thrilling to watch.
http://www.trackerati.com/2018/08/epic-mens-5000m.html
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| Selemon Barega after winning 2017 U20 3000m title. Photo credit: Getty Images for 2017 IAAF |
It’s not LeBron and Robert
Only I could inadvertently photobomb LeBron
James and 2012 Olympic discus champion, Robert Harting, at the ISTAF Meet in Berlin.
Matt Lynch, my new writing mate from
Australia, recorded this for posterity.
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| Duo with Dufus Matt Lynch photo |
Not Shalane, Tshepang, or Blake
I came to appreciate - in a way
I hadn’t before - the relationships I’ve built with athletes over time, including
athletes I met well before I began my website five-and-a-half years ago.
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| Shalane Flanagan winning the 2017 New York City Marathon photo credit: New York Road Runners |
One of those who came back this year was Blake Preece, who I had featured in my 2017 story about Linda
Prefontaine’s Tour de Pre. I met Blake – now all of 20 – in the Hayward Field
stands just before the start of the Prefontaine Classic.
“It feels like you’re jumping off the pages of my website,” I said.
“It feels like you’re jumping off the pages of my website,” I said.
Before I left he asked me to
stay for an extra moment.
“I want to show you
something.”
He turned on his phone and my
article popped up – as it does every time he turns on his phone.
You never know where it lands.
You never know where it lands.
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| http://www.trackerati.com/2017/07/linda-prefontaines-tour-de-pre.html Mark Cullen and Blake Preece Prefontaine Classic May 26, 2018 |
It’s not even the night of uncommon
kindness at Safeco Field
It’s who was there with me
My new friends, my new neighbors
In a year of blessings beyond fair hope
These are the greatest blessings of all.
A tumultuous day was over –
my retirement day from school. Andrew Schneider, new to our school, and I were in the group
office. I was decompressing and looking forward to a quiet evening at home. My
style is the quiet and the internal, and I looked forward to catching my
breath.
It was a Friday in June,
however, and it was hard not to notice that the Red Sox were in town.
“I’m thinking of going,” I
said.
“I could do that…”
It was the first time I met
Andrew’s wife, Tessa - they’re both over half my age younger - and in four hours they pulled off quite a
surprise. Andrew had said they would ‘get the tickets’ – did they ever.
First base side.
First row.
Their memorably generous treat.
Andrew was
colleague and co-teacher, and by the time I decided to retire, a good friend - one who lived only three blocks away. Already I had lived in the same house
for 41 years; now with friends in the next generation in the neighborhood, I
felt more anchored than ever.
Andrew and I shared teaching
duties for 6th grade geography; little did I know this would turn
into a double-edged sword. I came to realize early in our work together that his talent would make
it easier for me to retire, as the 6th grade geography curriculum I care so
deeply about would be in such imaginative and creative hands.
Ironic that just at the time I worried considerably that my extended family would contract as I went from seeing so many people every day to far fewer, it expanded.
My work on the Echo Summit
story caught Andrew’s eye one day.
“Tessa and I met at a camp
nearby,” he said of the Stanford Sierra Camp.
When Thanksgiving hosts asked
what it’s like to be around two Stanford graduates, I said that I hung
in there and tried to hold my own, but they were right to perceive a problem.
“Their dog’s a genius, too,”
I said.
“Now that’s rough!” they
replied.
Epilogue
I wrote the front page in
November, and since then, there have been some wonderful life changes. By far the most joyous is that Andrew and Tessa are expecting
their first child. Already they’ve moved to a house that
will accommodate their new future far better than their beautiful, hip, urban
apartment would. It’s the second time in a
year we’ll have to be intentional about this unlikely friendship of ours; while they have
moved, our friendship has not.
In my experience, we don’t
get many years like the one I just had. It’s time for me to hand off the baton
to Andrew, Tessa and their child, and share the wealth.
It’s their turn for a year
beyond fair hope.
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| Billy Mills (left) walking down the hallway of Marshfield High School Coos Bay, OR October 30, 2018 |
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