 |
| I took this picture of Pat at the 84 Olympics. |
Pat Porter was the poster child for "local boy makes good." A 4:29 miler in high school, he was passed over by most of the big schools and landed at Adams State after a short stint at Metro College. Through hard work and focus, he just kept getting better and better culminating in 8 straight National Cross Country Championships and berths on two Olympic teams. There will probably never be another runner who will dominate the US cross country scene the way Pat did.
I have four very fond memories of Pat Porter.
1) I was sitting in Coach Joe I. Vigil's office at Adams State College the day I first met Pat. I had made a ritual of stopping in to chat with Coach Vigil whenever I had the opportunity to make the drive from Monte Vista to Alamosa. We were having our usual discussion of training and such when Pat walked in. He introduced himself, sat down, chatted with us, reported his morning workout with his Coach and was on his way. I thought the fact that he participated in our conversation was pretty cool.
The thing I remember the most from our first meeting was that he clearly called me, Coach Sands that day. And the way he said it had this sound of respect to it, like someone who relished the coach/athlete relationship and valued the support of coaches anywhere. And why wouldn't he? During his heyday, he and Coach Vigil were an incredibly successful team. In the dozen or so times I ran into Pat after that day, I was always "Coach Sands." I thought that was pretty cool too.
3) A struggling teacher and a nurse didn't have a ton of money in 1984, but we had enough to pack up the boys (Matt was 3 and Ryan was about 6 months old) and drive to Los Angeles to see the Olympics. We could pick ONE session to attend in the Coliseum, we chose the evening of Pat's 10,000 meter prelim. We yelled and cheered like crazy and figured we were primarily responsible for him qualifying for the final. We thought it was pretty exciting.
What topped the race, though, was Pat coming over to the stands afterward and thanking us for cheering and supporting so much. We chatted for just a minute, mostly us oozing about how well he'd done, he did a little patting of the boys on the head, and he was off with the words, "Thanks again, Coach Sands."
4) Of the two major movies about Steve Prefontaine, I believe the best is Without Limits. My reasoning is very simply, among other things, it has the best and most authentic running scenes. And those running scenes would not have been nearly as great as they were without Pat Porter in the role of Lasse Viren. I do not know who cast that role, but they couldn't have done it better. Scruffy Finnish beard and all, Pat didn't just give us a guy trying to act like Viren. He gave us Viren.
Just last Friday, Pat Porter was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. I listened to his speech this morning on youtube and the thing that struck me the most was here was this great runner, being given this great honor and all he did was talk about all of the people that had been there for him and guided him during his career. Typical Pat Porter.
I've never met Pat's wife, Trisha. And I cannot even come close to understanding her grief to lose both a husband and a son in such a tragic accident. But my prayers are with her and their daughter, Shannon in their time of sadness and despair.
The running world has lost one of the greatest of all time: the cross country king, the Panther, the great Pat Porter. Rest in Peace, Pat.
I knew Pat Porter, he was my teammate under Dr. Grace for one year @ Metro State College before transferring to Adam State, and me joining the United States Navy for a two year stint. Later, I was accepted @ University of Northern Colorado on a Full-Ride scholarship and competed against Pat for another two years. We would always split our win and loss ratios. The same years he made NAIA All-America, I made NCAA All-American. We got along just fine. I have fond memories of him and Dr. Joe Vigil who invited me down to the "Valley" in the winter and spring of 1984 to train for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters. I even gifted one of my Navy P.T. coats to Pat Porter during that six month stretch. In closing, I was informed of his untimely Death by a close personal college friend, who was a private pilot out of Phoenix, AZ about the crash and fatalities. I was majorly bummed out and numb for weeks. The coordination of Dr. Vigil and Pat Porter with that invitation made me a better World Class Runner competing and finishing second to Olympian Tony Sandoval in New Mexico, beating Frank Shorter in the Governors Cup, finishing 7th place out of 4,344 runners. Simon Kigen of Kenya broke the World record @ 10,000 meters for the roads in 28:03.50 at altitude (5,200++ feet) and won. Carlos Lopez finished second, the Silver and Gold Olympic Medalists in the 10,000 meters and Gold in the Marathon for Portugal. Herb Lindsay was third. That year, proudly I averaged a top four placing , in the Strohs Liberty Run-3rd behind John Sinclair, Governors Cup,7th place, The Zoo Run 4th place behind Olympian John Tuttle out of 7,011 competitors in 29:56.50, and finally the Colorado Symphony Run run finishing 2nd behind two time C.U. All-American Troy Billings. All in 1984 post Dr.Vigil and Pat Porter. Later, I competed in the Boston Marathon and finished in 66th place in the World @ 2:18:16 for my first race. I competed for the New Balance Nat'l Racing Team, and did NOT have coach, teammates to train with, and no rigid diet! I have had an exciting life of fond and enjoyable memories of these two astounding men and I shall never, ever forget them.
ReplyDelete