Pounding For Home

“Don’t look back. Something might be chasing you”--Satchel Paige

“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way”--Henry David Thoreau


One of my older brothers has been a long distance runner for 50 years. Today, at 74, he contents himself with 5k’s, 10k’s and the occasional half marathon which I make it a point to be sure to attend. He is a remarkable physical specimen and an inspiration to us young guys. I remember his first full marathon back in 1967--the Boston Marathon! It was a bitter April day and was snowing in Hopkinton, Ma. as the race began. He did very well for his first big race and finished 150th. As my Dad and I picked him up, I asked him what he was thinking as he arrived at Heartbreak Hill (this is a famous location between mile 20 and 21 of the race right near Boston College where both he and I did our graduate work).

My brother’s answer was “six more miles to go, pounding for home downtown.” In the car back to Rhode Island after we dropped Dick Jr. off at his apartment, I asked my father, a former coach and world class athlete, what he thought of my brother’s answer. “Shouldn’t he have felt great about making it up Heartbreak Hill.” My father smiled and shook his head. “You big brother has got it right, Don. The previous 20 miles did not mean much. Always look ahead. That is the mindset of a champion.”

In previous MR posts, I have mentioned how tedious it is for me to meet with old cronies who continue to talk about the good old days of buying three stations in a TV DMA and not having to worry about cable, consumer avoidance, Netflix and dozens of digital platforms. It has been my observation that creators of businesses of all kinds keep building toward a long term goal. They do not dwell on where they are and rarely focus on where they have been. Their eyes are always “on the prize”--their long term goal.

A now famous story about looking ahead was an exchange that took place between the late Andy Grove, President of Intel and Gordon Moore, Intel’s Chairman (credited with Moore’s Law which stated that processing speed for computers approximately doubled every two years). Sometime in the mid-1980’s Grove asked Moore, “If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what would that man do.” Moore’s immediate response was, “A new CEO would get us out of the memory chip business.” Grove’s fired back with “Why shouldn’t you and I walk out the door, come back, and do it ourselves?” That, of course, is precisely what happened.

Moore and Grove were creators but they were not mired in nostalgia. Nothing was going to get in the way of progress. Their energy was focused on the future; there was no time for regret or resting on their laurels. Business and life is a road full of potholes. You will hit some and dodge others. The winners will not let age, distractions or negative people get in their way. They will be too busy pounding for home.

If you would like to contact Don Cole directly, you may reach him at doncolemedia@gmail.com