From the Sports Pages to the Sideline

By his estimation, Sunday's ING New York City Marathon will mark the first time in more than 30 years Dick Patrick will not be reporting on the prestigious long-distance race. But he won't be far away from the action.

The current director of athletic operations and coach at , Patrick will be recognized Nov. 5 by the marathon's organizers with the inaugural George Hirsch Journalism Award for his contribution to distance running as a longtime reporter covering the sport.

The George Hirsch Journalism Award is named after the famed publisher, two of whose magazines, The Runner and Runner's World, promoted the growth of long-distance running. Hirsch is presently chairman of the board of the New York Road Runners, which organizes the New York City Marathon and will present the award.

The award recognizes excellence in journalism covering the marathon and long-distance running. In Patrick's case, his long career as a sportswriter includes more than 23 years at USA Today and contributing to numerous running magazines.

"[L]ook, there should be an award named after George Hirsch for all that he's done for long-distance running and promoting it with his magazines that he's been involved with," Patrick said. "But it's humbling to win the first one because I can think of a lot of people who would deserve it before I did."

Patrick added he's looking forward to seeing Hirsch and other friends this weekend, but also the race itself.

"You know, it's always a great event. There's all kinds of drama there. The athletes never fail to deliver, and it's always suspenseful and interesting," said Patrick, adding the crowd's enthusiasm contributes to race's allure.

'What do I really like?'

Patrick has always had a love for athletics, which is what led him to journalism after he was fired from an ad agency.

"I would walk to work in New York City to the ad agency every day going, 'What the hell is going on in my life?' I just, I didn't really particularly like the work and I knew I had to find something I was enthusiastic about. And I thought, 'What do I really like?' And that's sports," Patrick said.

After searching for months, Patrick finally landed a job as a sports writer in Geneva, N.Y.

"I just love being around sports. To me, it's not work," Patrick said. "I really began to enjoy the whole newspaper business, trying to craft a good story, figuring out how to cover things."

Following stops in Rochester and Binghamton, N.Y., Patrick moved to USA Today in 1986. While there, he covered five Olympics and numerous track championships and marathons, but lost his job in 2009 when the newspaper downsized.

Soon thereafter, Patrick helped Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and 2009 New York City Marathon champion, pen his autobiography. The book tells the story of Keflezighi's "running exploits, the ups and downs that he's had there, as well as an epic story about the family, about how they got out of Africa and wound up in San Diego in, golly, I think it was 1987, when Meb was 12 years old, with nothing but the clothes on their backs and no knowledge of English."

Patrick is looking forward to seeing Keflezighi this weekend as he continues to return from a quadriceps injury he suffered in 2009.

"I'm really anxious to see how Meb is going to race. I've got my fingers crossed that maybe he could win the race again and we'll have to put an epilogue in the book," Patrick said.

'I finally have the keys to the gym, but I'm too old to play'

But Patrick won't be reporting on how his friend races and, asked whether he misses working as a reporter, Patrick was emphatic: "Yeah, I do. I do. I do."

Patrick was quick to add his transition to a new role at Flint Hill has helped ease the transition.

"Look, I haven't really had time to miss it here because every day is completely different, every day is a completely new experience for me, so there hasn't been a lot of time to lament that I'm not covering the New York City Marathon officially this year," Patrick said.

Patrick was hired recently as the director of athletic operations at Flint Hill when the school faced a one-year vacancy in the position. Current Westfield High School football coach Tom Verbanic will assume the position in July 2011 and will also join Flint Hill as its baseball coach.

In the interim, Flint Hill Athletic Director Steve Henry reached out to Patrick just around the time Patrick finished the book with Keflezighi and was trying to figure out what to do next.

The job duties include facilities and equipment management, and Henry praised Patrick for how he's handled his new tasks.

"It's certainly a need we had and he's jumped in and done a great job with it," Henry said.

Patrick relishes his new role, which carries a hectic schedule but keeps him close to the athletics environment he loves. He noted, though, that "the irony is I finally have the keys to the gym, but I'm too old to play."

The new role also keeps him close to his family. Patrick's wife, Jody, is the girls basketball coach at Flint Hill. His son, Eammon, graduated from Flint Hill last year and attends Cornell, and his daughter, Shea, is now in her junior year at the Oakton school.

"Well last year, you know, when I wasn't working for the newspaper anymore, I caught all their games, which was a first. And that was fun because my daughter was playing," Patrick said.

That won't be the case this year, but only because the move to Flint Hill enabled Patrick to take a more active role on the sidelines.

"[F] or me, the highlight of every day is from about 2:15 to 3:30 when I coach," said Patrick, who served as the middle school football offensive coordinator this fall and will join the staffs of the boys basketball and baseball teams.

With time ticking away on his current position, Patrick is trying to figure out what to do next and said, "I'd love to be able to somehow maybe keep a foot in each world" of journalism and coaching.

Patrick loves the atmosphere and people at Flint Hill and would love to continue to be affiliated with the school in some way, but he's still itching to cover major sporting events again.

"I don't think, under the current climate, I'll ever work full time for a newspaper again, but it would be great to become affiliated with a website, you know, such as ESPN or NBC Universal, Comcast, that would cover major events and I'd love to, you know, start to cover world track and field championships and Olympics again."