I am posting this without my father's knowledge or permission so let's hope it stays up.
If you missed it, my father, Paul Everett, is stepping down from the Missouri Milesplit webmaster role after this track season (Read his post here). Six years ago my dad asked the question -- why not us? As sophomores who lived and breathed track and field we were constantly on Missouri Milesplit. When the position was open, my dad inquired with the understanding that Daniel and I would help. I remember him saying, "How hard can it be?" Well the answer -- very hard. A little bit of background here -- my dad knew little to nothing about the whole sport of running prior to when Daniel and I began running in 8th grade. By sophomore year, he knew the basics, but by no means was he an expert. However, over the course of the past six years he has become one through hard work. It still tickles me that my father hosts a pre-state meet show with Ben Rosario who is a Missouri running legend and co-founder of Big River Running Co.
My dad with Ben Rosario hosting the 2010 Big River State XC Preview Show.
The time spent with my father working on Milesplit I will cherish for my lifetime. You have to understand -- we are a hockey family. We spent most of our childhood in Minnesota where my two brothers and I were on skates from the start. My father is a proud New York Rangers season ticket holder (WE WANT THE CUP! -- sorry Blues fans). All this being said, it was so easy for us to connect to my dad through the medium of hockey, a sport he loves. I was the first to quit hockey of the three, but with it I lost that connection through the sport to my father. When Daniel and I picked up running, something different for him, it was very difficult for him to connect to us like he did to my oldest brother who still played hockey. It's not that he didn't try; it's just difficult to connect to someone through something you do not have a shared passion for. This all changed in September of 2009, the first season we controlled the site.
From not knowing how to do a thing, we learned together to post results, put them in the database, and to post articles, photo albums, and videos. Every Friday or Saturday night we would come back from competing at a track or cross country meet and enter "The Cave" - a converted bedroom where we hunkered down to work on Milesplit. I would post and process results, Daniel would post videos that my mom had taken of races, and my father would edit and post pictures as well as put articles onto the site. We had a title for my mother as well -- "Support Staff," as she would run to Chipotle to get food so we didn't have to take a break from working. We were a team, and we had connected like never before.
My father with Ryan Banta in "The Cave". You can't see it in this picture but there are desks behind where the picture was taken and to both sides.
A lot of times, my father wouldn't let me leave to go hang out with friends until all the work had been done. He taught me the importance of working hard, of serving the people who come to the site well. I fell in love with the data aspect of the site and in the time I waited for coaches from Missouri to put up results, I would go post results in other states. When I left for college, the door my father opened for me turned in to one thing which turned into another which has led me to accepting a full time job with FloSports, the company that owns Milesplit, upon my graduation in a month.
Post State XC our Senior year my father got a place in Jefferson City so we didn't have to waste the two hours not working on the drive back to St. Louis.
My father will joke he is six years into a two year gig. We knew this had an expiration date, but we thought it was much earlier than this. Daniel and I went off to college, leaving him behind to work on the site by himself. He had an opportunity to move back the New York City, the place he was raised, his home, so he took it. However, he couldn't give up his hobby. Instead, he leaned on people like Greg Hall, Craig Martin, Toni Hammes, and shockingly, my oldest brother, Andrew who always hated running. These people, and many others, as well, have helped make MoMileSplit the outstanding resource for high school running that it is. Andrew has not only discovered that he enjoys photography, but also that the running community is a wonderful one.
It's been a remarkable run with so many positive memories coming from my father being the webmaster of Missouri Milesplit. I can't thank him enough for the work he has done promoting the sport I love so much. I will always be grateful for the memories made for the site. I hope that whoever takes the responsibility next will not only fill the large shoes of my father, furthering the coverage of the sport, but also have the unforgettable memories that have come with it.