Terry Hagenbuch will swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, and run a full marathon – 26.2 miles – on July 26 at the Lake Placid Ironman Triathlon. Hagenbuch, who teaches physical education at Norwich High School, is competing in an effort to raise money for the Blazeman Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that funds ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) research.
He trains several hours every day, and has done so since the first of this year to prepare for what is widely considered the ultimate physical challenge. It’s a study of focus, perseverence, and dedication that has few equals in a competitive setting. And Hagenbuch’s motivation is a simple one: He wants to honor the man who gave him his start at his alma mater, Jack Jones.
During his professional career, Jones served as a longtime director of athletics in Section IV, his last decade-plus stint at Norwich High School. Less than five years ago, Jones was diagnosed with ALS, a disease that usually ends in the person’s death three to five years after the initial diagnosis. Jones is able to speak and think as well as ever, and Norwich High School’s athletic office still leans on Jones’ expertise whenever there is a question that needs an answer. Yet, the disease has ravaged his body and taken away the use of his arms and legs.
“What I am doing is easy,” Hagenbuch said. “Everything is easy compared to what Jack is going through.”
The idea for Hagenbuch to run in a triathlon first surfaced four years ago when he attended a physical education conference. Hagenbuch spoke to another man at the conference who had finished a triathlon, and Hagenbuch said (completing a triathlon) sounded like another challenge. “If I was going to do it, I was going to be for a good reason,” Hagenbuch said. “It was going to be for Jack. He was the one who gave me my start here, and he allowed me to come back and work at my alma mater.”
Hagenbuch attended two Lake Placid triathlons as a fan over the past four years, and last year he volunteered the entire day. While he was there, a man noticed that Hagenbuch was wearing a red wristband, a band similar to the “Livestrong” wristband created by the Lance Armstrong Foundation that supports cancer research.
Hagenbuch was wearing the red wristband in honor of Jack Jones, but the man told him the band was actually created for John Blais, a triathlete who died of ALS. Blais’ family created the “Blazeman Foundation” in which donations and funds are collected with the express purpose of donating toward ALS research.
Athletes across the country regularly compete in triathlons for the Blazeman Foundation, and subsequently, Hagenbuch found an avenue to raise funds and donate those proceeds for the development of an ALS cure.
“When I decided to do this, I wanted to do it for the foundation, so I called the number on the website,” Hagenbuch said. “I didn’t realize who I was calling. I spoke right to John Blais’ father ... I told him the story of Jack and what I was doing, and he said that’s fantastic, and they would do whatever they could to help. He told me a lot about what is happening with Jack and what is going to happen.”
The admiration and respect Jones garnered during his tenure at Norwich is universal throughout the faculty and staff. Dr. Robert Cleveland, acting principal at Norwich High School, is no exception. Cleveland, as superintendent of Norwich schools, was part of the hiring of Jones in the late 1980s. To this day, he regularly picks up the phone to elicit Jones’ knowledge whenever an athletics issue arises.
“To me, the thing I find most amazing about (Jack) – and think it reflects his personality – is that if you spoke with him on the phone, you would not have any notion that this is a man looking at certain death,” Cleveland said. “And very prematurely. What is also amazing to me is his outlook. One of the things I always appreciated working with him was that he was to the point – no window dressing. What you saw is what you got. And at once, he was one of the most pleasant and easiest to work with people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with.”
Shelly Alger transferred to the Norwich athletics office in 2000 after working in the Social Studies department. At the time, Jones had already retired, but he returned on two separate occasions as interim director of athletics while the school searched for a full-time replacement.
