Ray Crothers you will be missed

Ray graduated from Fitch High in Groton, CT, a few years before me in the early 1960s, and was teacher/coach John J. Kelley's first elite runner, and the first runner of my generation I looked up to and tried to emulate. Next to his great Central Connecticut State teammate and smooth stylist Jim Keefe, briefly an American record holder for 6 miles (I think) and top ranked American at 5000 meters in 1963, Ray was an ugly runner--hunched over, arms flailing, crimson face. But he could get the job done, he could really get the job done. He particularly excelled in cross-country and on the New England roads. He didn't just win the Manchester open division, he also won many years later in the masters division. I spend a lifetime trying to match that achievement; never could.

Away from competition, Ray was the friendliest, most sincere guy you could hope to meet. We all looked forward to the next time we would bump into him. He was serious, precise, and a stickler for rules, yet never crossed over the line into mean-spirited or short-sighted. Always affable. I remember that Ray and a onetime roommate, Tom Durie, also a great runner, both hated grocery shopping. So they turned into it in a competitive event. Every two weeks, they'd make a long list, line up outside the store, start a stop watch, and aim to be back outside again in under 15 minutes with carts loaded down with only the absolute necessities.

Ray and John Vitale have owned The Run In just south of Hartford for more years than I can remember. They started the business long before it was a good way to make a buck. They just provided a simple, friendly service, and runners traveled far and wide to come to the store, visit with them, and buy their running gear.

I last saw Ray at the Manchester Road Race last November. He told me he didn't feel very good, and was going to walk the course. First he had a running suit he wanted to give me. I was impatient--always am--and simply wanted to take the first one on the top of the pile in his van. But he wouldn't let me. He made me try on 3 or 4. He wanted to be sure I had something that fit right and moved right. Typical Ray--helpful, gently persuasive, insistent on doing things the right way.

About a month later I learned that he had melanoma. There were stories about both he and his doctor missing it, even though he's red haired, freckle-faced, etc. I made a mental note to call him and/or his wife Robin. Then I ran into my own medical miseries, since resolved, and I never made the call. I'll regret that for a long, long time.

Ray was a runner, friend, and gentle human being. We will indeed all miss him greatly.

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