Something about an advertisement in a 2018 edition of My Sun Day News caught Todd Kane’s interest.
“I saw an ad in My Sun Day News that the track and field and cross country programs at Huntley High School were looking for volunteers from Sun City,” Kane said. “So I contacted the head boys coach, Chris Maxedon and with two others, became a volunteer coach.”
Kane was a new resident to Sun City at the time, but had a background in track and field while growing up in New York State and competing at Loyola College in Baltimore, MD.
Todd Kane brings just as much fun, and color, as knowledge to HHS track runners. (Photo by Steve Peterson/My Huntley News)
“My background is in distance running, so I talked with their distance coach, Matt Kaplan,” Kane said. “He said, ‘you can come and run with the team.’ But I run about three minutes slower than the boys on their slow day, so I decided to work with the sprints and hurdles events. I get to help out with small groups and at meets.”
Kane said he does many things to contribute to the Red Raiders’ track and field squad, from helping record times to setting up equipment. The Red Raiders had a great season, led by senior Tommy Nitz, who won the Class 3A State Championship in the 1,600-meter run.
Maxedon praised Kane’s contributions to the team this past season.
“Kane is a great addition to our coaching staff,” Maxedon said. “He fits in well with our coaching staff and is willing to step up and work with any group of kids that we need him to. He relates well to the kids, and he has a wealth of running knowledge from his background as a collegiate athlete that he is able to share with our athletes and help them to be their best. We welcome any former track athletes or coaches to be a part of our program. They can volunteer as much or as little as they would like. Our connection to the Del Webb community can be an important tool for the continued success of the team.”
Kane said helping out has been an enjoyable experience.
“I have really enjoyed it, being able to see the kids come in as freshman when they are awkward and don’t know the routines,” Kane said. “Then they start to develop and you see some real progress from every single athlete. I like getting to know the young coaches, too.”
Kane has had several successful endeavors as a marathon runner and volunteer and his family is very involved in the sport. Outside of running, Kane, 74, has continued his interest in surf boarding and volunteers for a local senior services agency.
“I try to stay in shape. It doesn’t come without effort,” Kane said one Tuesday. “I have run in 16 full marathons, 47 half-marathons and hundreds of 5K and 10 Ks. My wife, Karen, and son, Dylan, and daughter, Meredith Campbell-Kane, have also run marathons, so I guess you could say we’re a running family.”
Kane said his first marathon run was at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., in 1984.
“I’ve run the Chicago Marathon three times, with my best time three hours, 31 minutes. I have also volunteered there many times. I have run in the Boston Marathon which is in a class by itself because of the tradition. I have also run marathons along the coast of Maine with its residents of small towns cheering us, and at a flat course at the ocean of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and the Philadelphia ‘Love Run.’ I get slower every year, but it’s still fun.”
Kane enjoys keeping track of his running accomplishments,
“I’m a stickler for writing down my running experience in my journal. This is my 43rd year of running and I’ve run 45,650 miles, after college, about three miles a day,” Kane said.
Running isn’t Kane’s only sports interest. He also takes on the Atlantic Ocean’s currents as he rides his surfboard.
“We have an extra car, so we, by an agreement with my wife, keep it and the surfboard in public storage and I go and ride it,” Kane commented.
Then there was one last connection that the Sun City resident has to the folks back East. His career was in the food industry, purchasing products for many famous product lines, including Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream which was started in Vermont.
Kane said that he loves living in Sun City. He can be seen running his three miles a day at all of the neighborhoods, another accomplishment he can put on his resume.
