The Voice of Enthusiasm: Remembering Coach Mike Brady

​​The Coaches Who Shaped Us: This is the second in a series of three blogs that discuss how my running coaches influenced me, shaped how I coach runners, and explains why I create events like the ones delivered by Challenge Northwest. Mike Brady taught me unabashed enthusiasm for the sport and humble support for the athletes that you coach. 

The author with Coach Mike Brady holding an infamous broken trophy in front of the outdoor track at Princeton University. June 1998.

Coach Brady along side his runners that had just qualified for the NCAA Cross County Championships in 1997.

Thanksgiving Day carries a bittersweet weight for me now. While it's a time to reflect on life's blessings, it also marks the day in 2017 when I lost a great mentor and friend, Mike Brady, to his battle with cancer. As I gather with family each year, I can't help but think about Coach Brady's impact on my life – as a coach, as a friend, and as a model for how to live with enthusiasm and grace. His passing left a void in the running community, but his legacy lives on through the countless lives he touched, including mine. In sharing this tribute, I hope to honor his memory and express my eternal gratitude for the time I had with him.
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You could hear Coach Brady's voice from anywhere on the cross-country course. That booming voice, which seemed too big for his frame, became a symbol of everything he represented – boundless enthusiasm, unwavering support, and a passion for running that was utterly contagious. When I first encountered that voice during my college recruitment in 1993, I had no idea how much it would come to mean to me, or how its absence would one day leave such silence.

My journey with Coach Brady began unusually. I'd actually told him I wasn't interested in Princeton, but something about our conversations stood out during a confusing recruitment process. While other coaches applied pressure and spoke in unclear terms, Brady offered honest, patient guidance – even after I'd declined interest in his program. As a teenager dealing with my parents' divorce and the uncertainty of college decisions, his straightforward approach meant everything. That authenticity eventually changed my mind about Princeton, though I'm sure he had hoped it might when he spent those hours counseling me on the phone.

Before I could even start my freshman year, life threw me a devastating curve. After a serious accident with warehouse machinery landed me in the hospital for a month, Coach Brady was there, calling to check on me, helping ease my transition to campus when I arrived so weak I could barely sit up. Once I was strong enough to attempt jogging, he met me before his workday began for slow runs together. Those morning conversations formed a bond that would last far beyond my college years.

Mike and his wife Anita never had children of their own, but they poured their parental love into Brady's runners. Sometimes his enthusiasm was almost too much – I admit to hiding from him before races when I needed quiet focus rather than his signature pump-up speeches. But that enthusiasm was what made him special. You never doubted that he genuinely cared about your success, that coaching wasn't just a job but a calling.

Our relationship continued long after graduation. When he and Anita moved to western Massachusetts, their home became a welcome stop for camping trips to the Berkshires, afternoons swimming in their pool, or rounds of golf. When I landed my dream job as New Balance's track and field footwear product manager, I packed a bag full of shoe samples and drove out to get his expert opinion, knowing he'd share his wisdom with the same enthusiasm he brought to coaching.

That enthusiasm never wavered, even in his final battle with cancer. Call him during his treatment, and he'd excitedly tell you about the latest procedures, maintaining his characteristic optimism in the face of mortality. It was this unrelenting spirit that made his loss on Thanksgiving 2017 feel all the more profound – even in his darkest days, he showed us how to face life's challenges with courage and optimism.
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Today, when I coach my own athletes, I often find myself channeling Coach Brady's enthusiasm. I want my athletes to know, as he showed us, that coaching isn't about collecting a paycheck – it's about genuine love for the sport and the people who pursue it. Sometimes I catch myself getting overly excited at meets, my voice carrying across the course, and I smile, knowing that's Coach Brady's influence living on through me.
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What made Mike Brady special wasn't just his coaching expertise or his success with athletes – it was his ability to make every person he coached feel valued, supported, and worthy of his famous enthusiasm. He showed us that coaching is about more than splits and times; it's about being there for your athletes in their moments of triumph and challenge, about maintaining optimism even in the darkest times, and about letting your passion for the sport shine through in everything you do. Each Thanksgiving, as I reflect on his impact, I'm grateful for the resonating echo of that booming voice, still teaching us how to live, coach, and care with boundless enthusiasm.

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