supporting and empowering student athletes to give nothing less than their best.
Established July 2021
Our mission is to memorialize our friend and coach, Mark McGarity, and the values he shared with us. Mark’s selflessness, enthusiasm, encouragement, and support, made a lasting impact on those of us who knew him.
Mark McGarity was the kind of man people wanted to be around. When we heard he was retiring from coaching, hundreds showed up to celebrate him, run with him, and talk about the impact he made on our lives. He was the kind of person who would open his home to a student in need. He would drop everything just to talk.
He helped us discover meaning within discomfort. Without pushing, he pushed us to be our best.
As an athlete, he reached elite levels of performance, but his highest achievements are those that can only be measured in the hearts of those who loved him.
In response to his departing the physical world, The Mark McGarity Foundation intends to sustain the spirit of Coach Mark McGarity through scholarships, events, races, and support services, which we hope will positively impact the lives of other students, athletes, and people.
MARK MCGARITY IS PROOF THAT ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
I AM STRONG.
I AM FIT.
I CAN RUN.
I CAN SPRINT.
Who is Mark McGarity?
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Coach
It would be hard to overstate the impact Coach McGarity made on his athletes. As a cross country coach, he challenged his runners to reach new levels of performance, build confidence, and surprise ourselves.
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Teacher
Never focused only on athletics, Mr. McGarity inspired his Marine Biology students, helping them open doors to college and careers. His thunderous laughter warmed the halls of Lely High School and made even the loneliest students feel at home.
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Mark McGarity
Mark McGarity was magnetic, listening intently and making everyone feel that they were important and loved. In all corners of the country, friends would recognize his handlebar mustache and long hair from a distance, and shout “Hey! MARK!!”
“TO GIVE ANYTHING LESS THAN YOUR BEST IS TO SACRIFICE THE GIFT.”
- Steve Prefontaine
Desiderata
By Max Ehrmann © 1927
GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.