Waterproof Paper

This is another in the “Sunday Story” series. There’s no deep political meaning here, just a story about – surprise – track meets!!

Track Meets

Citius, Altius, Fortius  is the Olympic Motto:  Faster, Higher, Stronger. It’s the ultimate goal of every athlete.  And the competition is twofold.  Sure there’s the others in the race or event; trying to win-out over all.  But just as importantly, there’s the “race” against yourself.  To go Faster, Higher, Stronger than you’ve ever been before. That’s just as important in athletics, and in life.

When I picture track and field meets, I start with a scene from a 1981 movie about the ‘24 Paris Olympic Games, Chariots of Fire (need a Chariots of Fire song fix – click here).  Young men, training on the beach, smiling joyfully as they run along the shore, the townspeople looking on curiously. (Beach running, while romanticized in the movie, is actually really hard work).  

Or it’s a “summer” track meet:  the bright sunshine in a blue sky as athletes compete on a red track, giving their-all to succeed.  The “senior” officials in their summer uniforms, solemnly intoning the order of competition, and impartially calling “misses” and “makes”. Kids laughing in the stands in tank tops and “short-shorts”; parents worrying about hydration and sunburn.  Coaches holding schedules, already two hours off, trying to get athletes prepared to compete.

Ohio Track

I’ve been involved with track and field for fifty-five years, since I first read about Jesse Owens, and dug holes for my starting “blocks” in our back yard in Kettering, Ohio.  I ran track for ten years, then coached it for another forty.  Now I’m a “senior”; officiating track meets, occasionally firing the gun as the starter, but more often calling the “misses and makes” as a field event official.  I’ve worked fifteen track meets so far this season, just about halfway through my spring schedule of competitions.  And so far, there’s been two meets that fit the “summer” track meet mold.

Track and field in Ohio is wholly different than the image of the summer meets.  We start track in March, and if we wait for that perfect day to run, we wouldn’t have many competitions.  So far, I’ve officiated in sleet, snow, ice, rain, rain, rain, wind, and the two meets where I got a good sunburn.  But that’s all right; it’s the nature of Ohio track and field.  Sure there’s “citius, altius, fortius”, but the nature of our state throws in a whole other set of challenges:  “patientia, perseverantia, salvos”;  endurance, perseverance, survival.  

Old Coaches

Last night is a good example.  I got the opportunity to officiate at the Larkin/Crosten Invitational, held at Upper Arlington High School in Columbus.  First, it was an honor to be asked to officiate there. While I didn’t know Mr. Larkin, I certainly knew Marv Crosten, the co-honoree of the meet.  Marv was that dominant, tough, crusty old coach at Upper Arlington when I was a young coach at Watkins right about when the movie Chariots of Fire came out.  As hard as an “exterior” as Marv had though, he was a man dedicated to the kids of track and field, both at Upper Arlington, and throughout Ohio.

I had the chance to work with him in the District Coaches Association.  I was President of the group in 1985-86, but I soon found that while I might be President, Marv Crosten was “in charge”.  He taught me about the “politics” of track and field, and was a mentor as well as an example.  He was one of the “legendary” coaches of the day – like Ed Rarey at Gahanna, and Les Eisenhart at Thomas Worthington.  They were scary guys to this young coach, but they were always willing to give advice and help, even to a “competitor”.  Officiating at a meet with his name on it is a big deal for me.    

Rain Meet

It was pouring down rain when I arrived at the track, and I was checking my phone to see if there was a message cancelling the meet.  The weather wasn’t going to be much better through the evening, though thunderstorms weren’t an issue.  Thunder and lightning stops a track meet; rain (and snow and sleet) are “inconvenient”.  Back in the “Crosten and Rarey” days we’d never think of cancelling a meet for rain, but in the modern era of track and field it happens.  I’m not sure if the kids or coaches are “softer”, or maybe just “smarter”. 

But the folks at Upper Arlington were channeling Marv last night, so on we went.  I was charged with officiating the high jump, which can be an iffy event in the rain.  As long as the athletes don’t slip on takeoff, it’s safe, and on the brand new track surface there wasn’t a problem.  But there is the issue of landing in a foam pad mat, which is just a giant sponge.  When the kids cleared the bar and hit the foam, the water literally sprayed over their whole body.  The air temperature was in the low sixties, but it was still quite a shock on landing.

Dissolving Results

And the other technical issue for me was how to keep the “statistics” of the event.  Writing on paper with pencil in the pouring rain is a difficult exercise:  you’ve got to keep the paper dry.  Otherwise, it dissolves as you write or turn the page, and you lose all record of the event.  I have a “nifty” clipboard with a clear plastic cover that helps, but with enough rain it’s almost impossible to keep the forms dry.  And once they’re soaked, you’re in trouble.

In my coaching years I also was the meet manager of a lot of track meets, and ran into the “rain soaked results” problem quite often.  After a particularly miserable experience one Saturday, we went out for dinner and a few beers.  The conversation turned to how to best preserve the results so we could score the meet.  Someone mentioned that what we really needed was “waterproof paper”.  

Now that just sounded silly, like “dehydrated water”.  But I decided to look it up on the internet.  And there it was:  waterproof paper, one brand called “Rite in the Rain”.  You could purchase a variety of products; no need to deal with the “toilet paper” effect of rain on high jump or discus results anymore.   In our meets at Watkins, we just printed all of our meet documents on that paper.  It cost more than common paper, but in Ohio, why take the chance?  And, I later realized, we never told our officials about it. We just put it out there.  They never realized that the paper was different; they just never had the problem of “dissolving” results anymore.

Perseverantia

But other folks don’t know about waterproof paper – so as an official I bring my own.  And in this modern age of online meet entries and results, I can usually print off my own field event sheets before I even arrive at the meet.  It saved me last night at Upper Arlington, and we managed to get through both the boys and girls competition.  

The jumping wasn’t as “altius” as it would have been on the perfect day.  But what the athletes did learn was “perseverantia”, perseverance.  They learned how to focus beyond the elements, and onto what they came to do.  The lesson of last night’s high jump, was to perform even when it’s hard, even when everything isn’t exactly “right”.  

I think Marv would have approved.

The Sunday Story Series

Author: Marty Dahlman

I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.