In Memory

January 1 2017, Happy New Year, but little did I know my life was about to change forever. I had been coaching cross country since 2008 and teaching since 2007 at a local high school. I still teach there, but one incident would rock my world and change me as a person forever.

There are always a few days after the New Year's ball drops where we still have a break from school. Winter sports, however, continue. I wasn't a winter coach, but kept tabs on my runners during their track seasons. Tragedy was about to take place.

I was driving on a windy road with two of my closest friends to bring them to another friend's house when I got the call.

"Hello," I said when I picked up the call from work.

"This is an automated message… blah blah blah… to inform you of a recent tragedy to our school community. Dominick Cecere was struck by a car and lost his life today." click

Silence filled the air. I was driving and could barely focus on what I was doing or the road in front of me. Suddenly I felt full of confusion. 'What the hell did I just hear?'

I pulled over the first chance I got, stunned at the news I received. 'It couldn't be…' 'That can't be right…' 'I must have misheard…'

I can't remember if I said these words out loud to my friends or to myself. All I could think of was, there must be some mistake.

I immediately texted my assistant cross country coach and asked her if she got this message too. She called me and we talked about it for a few moments. I really can't remember what was said. I was stunned.

Then I was angry! How impersonal was it to receive this news from a robot!

Denial. Rage. I was progressing quickly through my feelings of loss.

Dominick was one of my students his Freshman year in Algebra 1. He was shy and quiet, kind of kept to himself. He was very intelligent and I recall thinking, this kid could be a runner. He was exactly the type of kid I went up to and recruited for my team.

When recruitment time came along in late Spring, I gave him one of my recruitment letters and said, "You should join the team. I think you would be a good runner."

He joined the team and started training with us in the summer. I was right, he was a phenomenal runner. He ended up being consistently in the top 3 fastest on the team and made Varsity all three years he ran for me.

Fast forward. Dominick was a senior in high school when he lost his life. A scholar athlete, top 10% of his class, kind, polite, and always went one more mile in life and in practice. (Side note: at the end of a long practice I would challenge the kids to join me in one more mile on the track. He always was one of the few who did it with me). He was one of those kids that had a really bright future ahead of him. One night towards the end of winter break, he was walking home from his bus after track practice and got hit by a car while crossing the street.

I will never forget the last time I saw him alive. I was standing outside my classroom door and he was on his way to his bus. "Have a nice break!" I said with a smile.

He returned the smile, with his usual shy-blush replying, "You too."

Returning to school that Monday, we had a meeting about how the school was going to handle this tragedy. It was the first of many tragedies we would be going through in the years to follow, but it was all new waters for all of us. During the meeting our boss said if anyone needs to talk to anyone, the Student Center staff would be available and coverage would be provided. All heads turned towards me as I stood there accepting the reality in silence. It was the first time I broke down. Now it was real. Now it was confirmed and not an error. Now I was completely in shock. There was no way I was going to be able to function properly at work that day.

A few weeks prior to Dom's death, I learned that a former student of mine, Chris, had died in a motorcycle accident. He took up running and his parents said I inspired him. Now Dominick right after the new year started. I was not in my right mind for quite some time after that. Two weeks at least I was in a fog and went through the motions. The feeling of loss never truly goes away.

At Dom's viewing I will never forget seeing him in the box and not believing it was him. I looked around to make sure I was in the right place, even though I knew I was. That is when I saw his parents. His father walked up to me and broke down in tears, hugging me, thanking me for all that I had done for their son. It was amazing to me, but they gave me a lot of credit for all of Dom's successes, which all sprung from that day I handed him a letter asking him to join my team. Asking him to make friends, become a stronger person, become part of something bigger than himself and not just come to school to learn academics and his shop classes. To learn to be a part of a team is to learn to be a part of life.

January 29, 2017: I decided that I must do something about all that had happened. At this point I was quite overweight. I wanted to workout in 2016. I tried often, but was always too exhausted or sick to do so (which is another whole story). In 2016, I had gained about 40 pounds or so, after I had just lost it all in 2015. So I made a stand. I was going to run, because Dominick could not anymore, run because Chris could not anymore, run for all of those who could not. I could, and I would. I pushed myself to run in the winter, even though I have always hated the cold. I worked out in the gym at least 4 times per week. I was getting fit, again.

Sometime in February, I committed to do a Spartan Race for the first time. At the time I had not yet retired from coaching, but I knew it was coming. It was time. My assistant coach was one of my first runners and she was now a colleague of mine. It wasn't that I was too old, but the team was in the family, it was in good hands. I did retire in May 2017.

The 2017 season I was going all out. I was dedicating every run I took, to Dom, to Chris, to all the unable. I ran one more mile, one more mile, one more mile.

By the end of the 2017 season I had lost 40 pounds and made a lot of firsts. Sure I ran a few 5Ks, that was normal for me, but I expanded my resume to OCR, trail racing, and even a half-marathon.

My firsts included a whole Spartan Trifecta, my Rocky Run half-marathon, a 10 mile trail run called WildCat Ridge Romp, and various other obstacle course races like Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, Viking, and Rugged Maniac. I was hooked on OCR and it only made my road running better. I started winning 5Ks because of my intense training for OCRs.

I needed to push myself beyond the limits I had put upon myself, because they couldn't anymore.

Present Day:

September 7 2021: Today was the first day of school. I am on my way to a comeback, again. Not to make excuses, but even numbered years seem to suck for me and 2020, well depression took over for many reasons. I gained a bunch of weight and 2021 when racing returned, I hit the ground running. I have completed even more firsts this year, focused mostly on Spartan Race. I have completed a total of 14 of them so far, 1 Bonefrog Race, and a 5K.

My firsts this year:

Most of my venues

A trifecta weekend (two actually)

Three times Trifecta (and counting: up to 7 this year if all goes well)

I am now in the end game with two Beasts coming up this weekend at the hardest venue Spartan offers, one more trifecta weekend in the beginning of October, my first Marathon which will take place on October 17, 2021 in Atlantic City, NJ, and then finally my Spartan Ultra Beast 30K.

I am currently raising money for a local scholarship fund that was started by my assistant coach (now the head coach) in the memory of Dominick Cecere. Every year the fund gives out scholarships to students of our school that have similar qualities as Dominick to help them with college. If you like my story and want to donate, all you have to do is tip me here in Vocal on this story. 100% of all money collected will be donated to the fund.

If you prefer, you can contact me on Instagram @Theodore_The_Spartan and pledge money for my Marathon. I will be taking pledges starting at a dollar per mile for my Marathon. So if you pledge $1 per mile, WHEN I complete my Marathon the total pledge will be $26.20. Message me for more details.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I have been writing for a lot of years. I have several stories in the works, and lots of poems. I found Vocal Media in March 2021 and since then have been revising, editing, and creating more poems and stories. I absolutely love writing anything from poems and short stories to history. If you want to reach out to me and learn more you can find me @theodore_the_spartan on Instagram.

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Thank You For Reading!

~Theodore