Competitive fire drove Dan Gordon to all kinds of success
BY David Wolcott
Old Colony Memorial
PLYMOUTH – Just one acknowledgement of an up until then hidden talent helped send this week's 50-for-50 profile Dan Gordon down the road to a hall of fame track and field career.
"I tried different sports as a kid but there was no real connection with any of them. But I remember running the mile in elementary school and the phys. ed teacher (Paul Coffin) told me afterwards that I had a pretty good time," remembered Dan. "That seemed to stick with me and my love of distance running took off from there. It started a fire inside of me."
Turns out Coffin knew whereof he spoke. A 2018 inductee into the Plymouth Athletic Hall of Fame, coincidentally the same year Coffin was inducted, Gordon is one of the top distance runners in Plymouth North history and the Class of 2011 graduate still holds several individual and relay school records.
"People know about Dan's talent as a runner, but the thing everyone might not have seen was the incredible competitive fire that was inside of him. He was an intense competitor and that fire fueled him in every race he ran," Blue Eagles Head Coach John Laverty said. "Dan is a fine gentlemen and a great person who I consider to be a close friend, but he absolutely hates to lose at anything.
"He'd get a look in his eye on race day that said there was no way you were going to beat him to the finish line. Dan had that real eye of the tiger inside of him."
In his 12 seasons with Plymouth North's cross country and track and field programs, there weren't many times where Gordon wasn't the first runner to come across the finish line. He was a three-time state champion, twice in the spring and once in the winter.
"Distance running is not easy, but it was something that I grew to love to do. I loved putting in the work you had to do to get better," Dan said. "John Laverty is still an amazing mentor for me who was able to show me so many little things to improve my running. I also had great teammates like Justin Bowman and Jack Lapsley that helped push me along the way as I strove to become a better runner.
"People think of running as an individual sport, but I always loved the team aspect of being a part of a track and field program. I never wanted to let my teammates down and I think that pushed me to train a little harder and run a little bit faster," Gordon said. "It was so much more enjoyable for me to run as part of a team that when you do it as an individual. Running on your own is like having a Christmas tree with no decorations on it."
Success followed Gordon from Plymouth North to Stonehill College, where he graduated in 2015 with a degree in English and a minor in Journalism. A team captain as a junior and a senior, Gordon continued to be a team leader both on and off of the race course.
"Stonehill was the prefect fit for me," Gordon explained. "I wanted to get a great education and still compete at a high level and I was able to get both of those things."
He still helps out the Skyhawks program as an assistant coach, a spot he's held for the last two years.
″(Stonehill Cross Country Head Coach) Karen Boen is a nationally recognized coach and an incredible leader. I still learn new things from her each week," Gordon said. "I'm still developing what kind of a coach I want to be and I'm there to help out wherever they need me."
Gordon, now 27, teaches English at Milford High School and you can still find him out running the roads for multiple miles each week.
"I've been getting in competitive running shape recently," said Dan, who was going to run in the Boston Marathon earlier this month before the race was postponed until September. "I've qualified for the Chicago Marathon so I might end up running that race."
