RIP: Vic Holchak

Yep, less than two years.

Remember his service well- back page ad on T&F news mag -think Gill Athletic Equipment usually had that page back then.
I remember the gf asking me who I was repeatly calling and not speaking to. She thought I was prank calling.

I remember making the calls to hear results.
I think I heard commentary on some of Geb's records that way.

I remember calling too. It was very exciting to listen. He provided a service that was really needed, almost instantaneous results of European T&F.

Didn't he end it by saying something like "...the cavalcade of sports" or something like that.

RIP Vic.

Thank you.

I used his service quite often. In those days his radio calls were state of the art.
He will be sorely missed.

He actually died in September. I thought there might have been something on him then but don't see anything.

Here are some past threads praising Vic:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4070922

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2198912

1-800-94-TRACK

Dialing six numbers after 1-800 won't do much.

I just read his obituary. It is pretty amazing. He was a credentialed Olympic journalist in 1956 at the age of 16. Then a tv star who never lost his passion for track.

WIth the passing of him and Jim Dunaway last month, the sport has lost two of it's great journalists. I think I was in China or getting ready to go when Dunaway passed. It certainly didn't get nearly enough attention on letsrun.

Here is a great article on Dunaway:

http://www.statesman.com/news/sports/esteemed-track-and-field-journalist-dunaway-dies-a/nkbdX/

and a thread here:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6382583

i used to call Holchak's line regularly when he was filing the quickest reports from major championships. He did a great job.

RIP

I was always excited to call and get the updates. Great recaps.

I used to call that line all the time, R.I.P. ~VIc, Thanks !

I really enjoyed calling his track line. Would be great if someone could post old recordings we could listen to again.

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trackr wrote:

I really enjoyed calling his track line. Would be great if someone could post old recordings we could listen to again.

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I, too, hope his hotline recordings are archived somewhere. Would love to not only hear them again myself, but let the younger generation experience them as well.

And what an obituary! One of the most interesting ones I've ever read.

Now I just gotta go dig up some of his acting footage.

Rest in peace, Vic. You absolutely brought athletics to life for me! Thank you for all that you did for the sport.

I knew Vic quite well from the circuit from the mid-80s. As I remember it, he was providing that service for quite a few years and may he have been doing it at the Seoul Olympics. He was certainly one of us in the mixed zone with our mics from the mid-80s or before. This is from a British perspective!

In August of 1994, I spent time up in Northern Michigan at a running camp. We had one pay phone outside the lodge, and I would dial up 1-800-94-TRACK regularly (was it daily?) for updates. I got ribbed by my coach who thought I was calling my girlfriend. What a great service Vic provided to the greater running community! Hard to imagine the impact at the time, with today's technology.

Vic Holchak died in September of 2014, nearly 8 months ago. It was talked about last fall, and the track and field world on the west coast mourned his loss. I don't quite understand how you missed that one. But I am happy that you are paying tribute to Vic on Letsrun. Vic was a good man.

The guy could act.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0390068/

One fantastic podunk.

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wejo wrote:

Got a 6 month old pony express letter from Pat Butcher saying Vic Holchak, RIP.

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