RIP: Coach Joe Vigil - Another One of the Greats Is Gone

Approaching twenty years ago, my copy of Coach Vigil's training guide was loaned away and not returned by the borrower to its spot on the shelf. To ensure a replacement, I contacted Coach, and we made arrangements for me to mail a $27 check for the book and shipping charges, which I rounded up to $30. Inside the copy he sent me was a handwritten note on a sheet of yellow paper stating I had overpaid. Also included were three one-dollar bills. That note and the money will remain tucked inside the front cover. Thanks, Coach, for the knowledge you have shared over the years.

Vigil, Joe I. Road to the Top, Creative Designs, 1995.

Melgares, Pat. Chasing Excellence: The Remarkable Life and Inspiring Vigilosophy of Coach Joe I. Vigil. Soulstice Publishing, 2020.

Joe Vigil was one of the greats. A gentile spirit to those who engaged him.

Another of the larger than life coaches gone.

What a great man and amazing coach! So glad I finally corresponded with him the last couple of years. He wrote me a hand written letter when I purchased his book. I'd been a big fan since I started running in 2003.

I listened to Joe Vigil and am reading about his coaching of Deena Kastor. Someone should have written about about Joe. There were many unanwered questions, such as why did he walk with bowed legs. Was he a football player? (Yes, he was a football coach, first.)

While at the World XC Champs in Brussels after the races I went to a random restaurant to grab dinner and when I walked in there was only 1 other customer and the waitress sat me at a table next to them. right away I recognized it was Coach Vigil. When he heard my American accent he quickly struck up a conversation and asked me to join him for dinner. An evening of hearing some amazing stories followed but he wanted to know more about me and my story treating me almost like we were long lost friends. An enjoyable evening and a lasting memory. The world lost not only a great coach but a great man.

Very sad. His influence on the sport is immeasurable.

How is this not on the main page anywhere?

Honored to have met and spoke with him nearly 20 years ago. It was instantly clear why and how those Adams State squads performed so well. It wasn't just about altitude.

One of his former athletes did write about him...

soulsticepublishing.com

“Chasing Excellence” Coach Vigil’s story

j.hammonds

In this long-overdue biography about America’s preeminent distance-running coach, award-winning author and Vigilante Pat Melgares shares Coach Vigil’s tale not just through the consummate storyteller’s own words but also thro...

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the cover of this book was bad ass, 7 ASU runners in a pack at the national meet without a competitor in sight. There are years ASU MIGHT have been the best team in the country no cap.

I met Dr Joe when I was working in Tucson during Covid. He lived down the street from me. What a nice man. We met for a McDonald’s lunch a few times. Other times we’d sit in his home office and he recollected tales of his many coached runners. Never a braggart but definitely strongly opinionated. Godspeed Dr Joe.

One of the all time greats. He was one of the founders of USATF. He coached over 20 Olympians and 17 American record holders. A true legend.

95 years. What a life for a kid from the Valley. Alamosa and the SLV is a somewhat forgotten place. It breeds tough people. He was a great coach and inspired a lot of others to become coaches as well. It is fitting that Brenda Martinez got named to the assistant coaching position at USC the same week as his passing. RIP.

That's funny about McDonald's. I met him at a coaches clinic in the 90's. He railed against athletes eating junk food and used travel per diems to buy food for road trips rather than taking athletes to fast food after competition.

RIP.

People don't realize how big Deena's medal in the marathon was. Meb got one a week later but until this point it had been nothing for the US for my life!. Their group changed American distance running.

And the fact he's write personal messages on the books, go to McDonald's with people he just met are things I like.

I'm a HS XC coach in rural Colorado and I understand the challenges of coaching at a small rural High School. His first season coaching Track, he had one athlete; a shot putter. By his second season, students saw what he did for that lone athlete and his program quickly grew into a dynasty. He's my role model. RIP Coach.