"Rome wasn't built in a day,'' Byrne
said. "I'm aware of that, so let's just
slow down, take a deep breath and
we'll navigate our way through the
whole process. I'm looking forward
to those challenges.''
name in recruiting circles. He's going to help Jim
and myself. Instead of two, we'll have three distance
coaches and that will take some of the load off.
"At some stage here, Gavin and I and Jim are going
to have to sit down and divide out the events, particularly the events from the mile up. For me, just
jumping into it now, it's going to take a little time
to sort it all out. (Byrne must still hire someone to
coach the sprinters.)
"Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm aware of that, so
Though Byrne's responsibilites
will grow, coaching athletes
like Reed Connor will still be
his favorite part of the job
44
//
VARSITY August 15, 2013
let's just slow down, take a deep breath and we'll
navigate our way through the whole process. I'm
looking forward to those challenges."
The last five years have been challenging from a
family perspective since Byrne was separated from
his wife, Mary Jo, a physician's assistant in cardiology, and youngest son, Cian, a high school senior. Both
stayed in New York. The plan is for Mary Jo to join
Mick in Madison and for Cian to attend school at UW.
"When I write my book," Byrne said, "everybody is
going to want to read it because they're going to say,
'How did this work?' How did we survive?"'
So how has the long-distance marriage survived?
"We date," Byrne said. "We go on dates now (when
they're together). It's amazing. I was just talking to
two guys at the airport and we started shooting the
breeze and they're doing the same thing.
"You have to want it to work and you have to make
it work."
Just like coaching. His title has changed, but he's
still having fun chasing the dream.
