Charlie Francis has died

[Pioneer]

@AngelaCoon

It has brought be great joy preserving www.charliefrancis.com.

No words can match the feelings I have when receiving praise across the world for Charlie’s passion and work as a former sprinter turned coach.

When I met Charlie he was one of the most accomplished coaches in his sport.

It wasn’t long after meeting him that he was banned for life as a coach.

“It’s not what happens in your life but it’s how you handle what happens that matters”. I believe it was this advice from Charlie that has enabled my family to create and maintain this site for more than 2 decades. I have been especially interested in keeping the site available for free of charge and keeping the site free of advertising.

I am grateful for the kind, intelligent and courageous man he was and for how together we navigated past the events of 1988.

In the coming weeks I am making a complete update of the forums. The interruptions that have occurred over the past while has signaled the need for migrating the vast content to preserve it for the next decades to come.

Charlie would be thrilled that his work and experience continues to be used, admired and discussed as it has become more relevant in the face of so much confusion about how to train effectively.

Ange, I appreciate you keeping this site up and I often look back at many old threads-still very informative.

[AngelaCoon]

Thanks Pioneer.

[AngelaCoon]

"Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

MARY ELIZABETH FRYE

[AngelaCoon]

[AngelaCoon]

I got a call the other day from a former team mate of Charlie’s from Stanford.

" I was a teammate of Charlie’s at Stanford and have been aware of his time after graduation at the Pan-Am trails qualified him for the list of Stanford top 10, 100m runners in history. Well, after lobbying occasionally for some years, I was able to get him on the list as the number two 100m runner in the school history. His 10.1 time was handed, and they have converted it to 10.34"

This is a vanity site, why am I dragging around the past and etc.,

Sharing is not a bad thing.

Caring is certainly a good thing.

Making the most of what you have and being on the right side of things.

Old fashion values like hard work and doing onto others as you might like them to do onto you, excite me.

We are not here for a long time. We don’t know that.

Charlie did not care or expect me to keep this site. Who cares what he wanted or thought. I care and have cared and he…

Charlie did not have to over share with the planet what he did and how he accomplished creating one of the best group of track stars in Canada and the world to date and he did it with love, with grit and financed the adverture with monies he had from selling something he also loved and cared about his fancy Aston Martin sports car.

Dreams are exciting to have. I hope you have found this free forum interesting and useful as a coach, athlete, parent, athlete.

Celebrate yourself right now by honoring your passion. If that passion happens to be sport of any kind, I strongly encourage you to learn from one of the best.

Go make stuff happen for you.

Cheers,

Coach Angé Coon