on October of 2015
SUNY Geneseo cross-country coach Dan
Moore competed in the Ironman world’s
championship in Hawaii for those that
don’t know an Ironman consists of a 2.4
miles swim 112 mile bike ride and 26.2
mile run after a strong 2.4 mile swim
coach Moore transitioned into the bike
ride as he was cruising down a hill at
about 20 miles an hour he hit a bump
went flying through the air and landed
right on his hip the wound was red it
was swollen and to hurt just to move a
coach more he got up finished the bike
ride and through a combination of
jogging and hobbling got through 26.2
miles of running 26.2 miles when I first
heard this story I was baffled how could
coach more how could anybody have done
such a fee well coach Moore he would go
on to later tell us that his sister had
recently passed away and he had decided
to dedicate everything in that race to
her every step that he ran every cycle
that he pedaled in every stroke that he
swam it would be for her coach Moore had
found his why that reason outside of
just doing it that reason that allowed
him to overcome the pain those defining
moments where he wanted to give up the
most where the pain was the worst who is
that why that guy did coach Moore
through that race my name is Allen and
I’m a runner as I progress through the
years I’ve always searched for ways to
make my races faster but it seemed like
whenever I got to the middle of that
race whatever race when I got to those
defining moments were
the most something in me would give my
reason for being out there to just run
would fall apart in the face of that
pain in the face of that defining moment
when my coach she would ask me Ellen how
bad do you want it I wouldn’t have an
answer in other words I was facing
something that a lot of runners today
face I call it the runners dilemma what
is our reason for putting ourselves out
there for making us stance such pain
over miles of distance well after
hearing coach Moore story I was inspired
to find my own why but it was hard for
me to relate to such an extraordinary
reason for running so I sought to find
examples closer to me in my own
community I found it in my coach coach
roles coach roles is a fantastic coach
she spends hours creating individualized
training plans for the 40 plus guys on
the cross-country and track team she
sacrifices time for herself and for her
family for us just to help us get faster
but a lot of the times coach roles she
doesn’t get what she puts out back a lot
of the times guys on the team they’re
not there to get faster they’re there
they just have fun goof around and all
of coach roles as work goes to waste I
would often ask coach roles how do you
stand it how do you stand coming back
after an entire team of guys that you
dedicated hours to doesn’t care well
coach roles she would tell me that it’s
the feeling of helping just one person
whether it’s in cross-country track or
even just gym class it’s that feeling of
helping just one person that keeps coach
roles going that allows her to overcome
her own defining moments it allows her
to overcome those moments where one of
her athletes has a horrible race he
walks up to her after the race
so right in the eyes and blames her for
his terrible performance its that why
that keeps coach roles coming back year
after year after year so after hearing
about an understanding
coach roles is why I started searching
for my own this past indoor track season
I was plateauing my race times just
weren’t getting any faster it seemed
like I was training harder than I had
ever been before but my time stayed
stagnant they were not getting faster
and I started losing faith in myself I
lost faith in my training in my coach
and I told my coach this I told her
maybe it’s just me maybe it’s my genetic
predisposition you know I’m a I’m a
short asian kid you know maybe this is
the peak of running the hell I forget to
but my coach she looks me in the eyes
and she said Alan you might not ever get
faster but if you stop believing you
never will and that that is my why it’s
to never stop believing it’s to never
stop believing in my coach my teammates
my training and myself
it’s that why that allows me to when I’m
in the middle of those races when I’m
facing those defining moments and my
coach he asked me Alan how bad do you
want it I can tell her more than the
pain I carry that why with me both in
and out of running now having a why also
known as deep intrinsic motivation has
been found to actually correlate with
success in life Yale professor Amy
versus new ski conducted a study on
11,000 320 West Point cadets she
assessed their motivations over a
14-year period she found that the cadets
that were in trend
motivated that had that why we’re more
likely to graduate more likely to
receive promotions and more likely to
become commissioned officers and it
makes sense everyone not just runners
needs that why because everyone faces
those defining moments I witnessed a
great example of this outside of running
on a recent trip to Memphis Tennessee
dr. Martin Luther King jr. was
assassinated at the Lorraine Motel
nowadays it has become a tourist hotspot
where people from all across the nation
come to honor the legacy of a great man
but as you pull in to the Lorraine Motel
at a nearby street corner you’ll see a
woman she’s there with several tables
there she’s sitting there protesting
protesting the gentrification of the
Memphis area and how instead of
providing affordable housing to the
low-income predominantly
african-american residents in the area
it represents this gentrification she’s
been there for over 30 years 30 years
and she’s not there for herself she’s
there for her people a reason bigger
than just herself that is her why that
why that allows her to get outside and
sit at those tables even when it’s
pouring rain and thundering outside
that’s her why another great example of
this can be found in the 26th President
of the United States Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt lived something he called the
strenuous life he has written that I
don’t know that I don’t know how people
do feel I only know how they ought to
feel now this reflects the strong moral
backgrounds that guided everything
Theodore Roosevelt did in life that was
his why those morals teachings that his
father gave him we see this reflected in
his actions as a president his foreign
policy we
see this and the Roosevelt Corollary in
the 1905 negotiation of a peace treaty
in the russo-japanese war which earned
him the Nobel Peace Prize so how do you
find your own why well looking at these
modern-day and historical examples one
thing is clear other people matter when
you’re searching for that why it can’t
be about yourself it’s got to be about a
bigger group of people it makes that why
stronger when it’s not just centered
around the individual in today’s society
especially in regards to motivation when
we’re asking ourselves why do I do
things it’s easy to just look at
yourself
but broadening that scope looking at the
people around you keeping in mind that
other people matter creates that strong
lasting why Randy Pausch was a professor
at Carnegie Mellon University and he
gave a lecture where he described his
own version of defining moments he
called them brick walls Randy Pausch
said that everyone faces these brick
walls no matter if you’re an athlete if
you’re a student if you’re a musician or
even just a regular office worker but
Randy Pausch says that these brick walls
are good because they keep the people
who don’t want it bad enough out so go
out find your why so the next time
you’re faced with a defining moment a
brick wall and you’re asked how bad you
want it you can say more than the pain
thank you
[Applause] [Music]
SUNY Geneseo cross-country coach Dan
Moore competed in the Ironman world’s
championship in Hawaii for those that
don’t know an Ironman consists of a 2.4
miles swim 112 mile bike ride and 26.2
mile run after a strong 2.4 mile swim
coach Moore transitioned into the bike
ride as he was cruising down a hill at
about 20 miles an hour he hit a bump
went flying through the air and landed
right on his hip the wound was red it
was swollen and to hurt just to move a
coach more he got up finished the bike
ride and through a combination of
jogging and hobbling got through 26.2
miles of running 26.2 miles when I first
heard this story I was baffled how could
coach more how could anybody have done
such a fee well coach Moore he would go
on to later tell us that his sister had
recently passed away and he had decided
to dedicate everything in that race to
her every step that he ran every cycle
that he pedaled in every stroke that he
swam it would be for her coach Moore had
found his why that reason outside of
just doing it that reason that allowed
him to overcome the pain those defining
moments where he wanted to give up the
most where the pain was the worst who is
that why that guy did coach Moore
through that race my name is Allen and
I’m a runner as I progress through the
years I’ve always searched for ways to
make my races faster but it seemed like
whenever I got to the middle of that
race whatever race when I got to those
defining moments were
the most something in me would give my
reason for being out there to just run
would fall apart in the face of that
pain in the face of that defining moment
when my coach she would ask me Ellen how
bad do you want it I wouldn’t have an
answer in other words I was facing
something that a lot of runners today
face I call it the runners dilemma what
is our reason for putting ourselves out
there for making us stance such pain
over miles of distance well after
hearing coach Moore story I was inspired
to find my own why but it was hard for
me to relate to such an extraordinary
reason for running so I sought to find
examples closer to me in my own
community I found it in my coach coach
roles coach roles is a fantastic coach
she spends hours creating individualized
training plans for the 40 plus guys on
the cross-country and track team she
sacrifices time for herself and for her
family for us just to help us get faster
but a lot of the times coach roles she
doesn’t get what she puts out back a lot
of the times guys on the team they’re
not there to get faster they’re there
they just have fun goof around and all
of coach roles as work goes to waste I
would often ask coach roles how do you
stand it how do you stand coming back
after an entire team of guys that you
dedicated hours to doesn’t care well
coach roles she would tell me that it’s
the feeling of helping just one person
whether it’s in cross-country track or
even just gym class it’s that feeling of
helping just one person that keeps coach
roles going that allows her to overcome
her own defining moments it allows her
to overcome those moments where one of
her athletes has a horrible race he
walks up to her after the race
so right in the eyes and blames her for
his terrible performance its that why
that keeps coach roles coming back year
after year after year so after hearing
about an understanding
coach roles is why I started searching
for my own this past indoor track season
I was plateauing my race times just
weren’t getting any faster it seemed
like I was training harder than I had
ever been before but my time stayed
stagnant they were not getting faster
and I started losing faith in myself I
lost faith in my training in my coach
and I told my coach this I told her
maybe it’s just me maybe it’s my genetic
predisposition you know I’m a I’m a
short asian kid you know maybe this is
the peak of running the hell I forget to
but my coach she looks me in the eyes
and she said Alan you might not ever get
faster but if you stop believing you
never will and that that is my why it’s
to never stop believing it’s to never
stop believing in my coach my teammates
my training and myself
it’s that why that allows me to when I’m
in the middle of those races when I’m
facing those defining moments and my
coach he asked me Alan how bad do you
want it I can tell her more than the
pain I carry that why with me both in
and out of running now having a why also
known as deep intrinsic motivation has
been found to actually correlate with
success in life Yale professor Amy
versus new ski conducted a study on
11,000 320 West Point cadets she
assessed their motivations over a
14-year period she found that the cadets
that were in trend
motivated that had that why we’re more
likely to graduate more likely to
receive promotions and more likely to
become commissioned officers and it
makes sense everyone not just runners
needs that why because everyone faces
those defining moments I witnessed a
great example of this outside of running
on a recent trip to Memphis Tennessee
dr. Martin Luther King jr. was
assassinated at the Lorraine Motel
nowadays it has become a tourist hotspot
where people from all across the nation
come to honor the legacy of a great man
but as you pull in to the Lorraine Motel
at a nearby street corner you’ll see a
woman she’s there with several tables
there she’s sitting there protesting
protesting the gentrification of the
Memphis area and how instead of
providing affordable housing to the
low-income predominantly
african-american residents in the area
it represents this gentrification she’s
been there for over 30 years 30 years
and she’s not there for herself she’s
there for her people a reason bigger
than just herself that is her why that
why that allows her to get outside and
sit at those tables even when it’s
pouring rain and thundering outside
that’s her why another great example of
this can be found in the 26th President
of the United States Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt lived something he called the
strenuous life he has written that I
don’t know that I don’t know how people
do feel I only know how they ought to
feel now this reflects the strong moral
backgrounds that guided everything
Theodore Roosevelt did in life that was
his why those morals teachings that his
father gave him we see this reflected in
his actions as a president his foreign
policy we
see this and the Roosevelt Corollary in
the 1905 negotiation of a peace treaty
in the russo-japanese war which earned
him the Nobel Peace Prize so how do you
find your own why well looking at these
modern-day and historical examples one
thing is clear other people matter when
you’re searching for that why it can’t
be about yourself it’s got to be about a
bigger group of people it makes that why
stronger when it’s not just centered
around the individual in today’s society
especially in regards to motivation when
we’re asking ourselves why do I do
things it’s easy to just look at
yourself
but broadening that scope looking at the
people around you keeping in mind that
other people matter creates that strong
lasting why Randy Pausch was a professor
at Carnegie Mellon University and he
gave a lecture where he described his
own version of defining moments he
called them brick walls Randy Pausch
said that everyone faces these brick
walls no matter if you’re an athlete if
you’re a student if you’re a musician or
even just a regular office worker but
Randy Pausch says that these brick walls
are good because they keep the people
who don’t want it bad enough out so go
out find your why so the next time
you’re faced with a defining moment a
brick wall and you’re asked how bad you
want it you can say more than the pain
thank you
[Applause] [Music]
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