I’ve interviewed over one hundred people for this book and would have spoken with more if I could have located them, the twenty-year-olds of 1970 now seventy-five, memories of the club lost to time. Yet I have accumulated stories of Ted and the UCTC just as surely as a distance runner accumulates miles – one at a time. I spoke with men like 93-year-old Hal Higdon, World Record holder Jim Ryun, and 1974 Sullivan Award winner Rich Wohlhuter, but learned just as much from Lowell Paul, Tom Sullivan, Bob O’Connor, and Zues Preckwinkle, their recall of events so long ago amazing.
Despite this, it was Ted’s “kids” – Joan Haydon Caulton and Jim Haydon – who were my greatest sources of information for this book, always pointing me in the right direction when I got lost. To be honest, I was amazed by what I learned from them (occasionally they
learned from me) and the breadth of Ted’s involvement in world of track and field. He seemed to have had a “Forest Gump” type of presence, a man in the background but involved in some of the biggest headlines.
I am forever indebted to Al Carius for his encouragement, suggesting I should write this informal biography, a coach who took the baton from Ted Haydon, using his philosophy of “Run for Fun” and turning it into phenomenal success at North Central College. Al exemplifies “pay it forward,” Ted’s style still evident in the hundreds of his former athletes who are themselves coaching today.
The biography is available as an e-book at BookBaby or a paperback on my website. If you want an autographed copy be sure to let me know on the order. Enjoy!