Caroline McCaffrey, ‘78 - Extraordinary Young Woman and a Moment Across Generations

Bison,

What follows is a story about an extraordinary moment, across generations, in the history of Bucknell Cross Country and Track & Field, a poignant and powerful story of a young woman's strength and perseverance, intelligence and maturity, wisdom far beyond her years, ultimately heroism and triumph in the face of a very real threat to her life. And it's a story of an impressive celebration of her accomplishment by a Bucknell teammate, a Bucknell coach, and a Bucknell alumnus, reflecting Bucknell Cross Country and Track & Field through the more than half century of its modern history, standing with her.

I'm sure you recall, from my having reposted it to our Alumni Group on November 18, the November 17 Bucknell Athletics profile of Caroline McCaffrey '28, a Bucknell distance runner who suffered, and recovered from, a brain aneurysm in June. The profile noted that Caroline had a goal to compete in the Philadelphia Marathon 8K on November 22, her first race since her aneurysm only five months earlier. She indeed competed in the race, finishing in 46:52. She ran on behalf of WeRunWithYou, raising $12,000 for the nonprofit organization. Its mission is "to improve the lives of people suffering from brain injury and disease by funding research to improve patient outcomes, raising awareness, and providing support for stroke survivors and their families." The next day, WeRunWithYou hosted a reception at The Barnes Museum in Philadelphia, where Caroline spoke. BUXCTF Coach Rob Guissanie was there, as was Katie Moncavage '28, Caroline's teammate, roommate, and another distance runner, traveling from Bucknell to support and celebrate Caroline's accomplishment.

In a fortuitous series of last minute developments, so was Dan Brannen '75, representing our Alumni Group, after wrapping up his responsibilities as Course Director of the Philadelphia Marathon with only minutes to spare to get to the reception before it ended at 4 pm. Dan learned of Caroline's accomplishment, of her intent to compete in the 8K for which he was Course Director, and of the reception, only days earlier, when he read the profile and asked me if it'd been sent to Philadelphia Marathon management for further media coverage. I didn't know, and I asked Kevin Donner and Adam Evanko, author of the profile as Bucknell's Assistant Director of Athletics Communications. Adam then sent it to Philadelphia Marathon management, Kevin told me about the reception, and I passed along the information to Dan, who said he was going to try to make it to the reception, despite his responsibilities as Course Director. The race would end at about the same time as the reception would end.

Dan indeed made it to the reception, leaving the race without even having time to change out of his Course Director clothes. He not only got there, but when Kathy Nguyen, the co-founder and president of WeRunWithYou, saw him arrive, she asked him to come up and say a few words to the attendees about how he came to know of Caroline, of her accomplishment, and of the reception, and about why, despite his Philadelphia Marathon responsibilities, he felt it was essential to attend, as a fellow Bucknell distance runner from half a century ago, to celebrate her accomplishment. Caroline and Dan rose to the moment. Caroline gave a deeply moving speech, filled with grace, poise, humor, and as said, wisdom beyond her years. "Disease does not discriminate," she said, noting she'd previously thought top-flight athletes like her weren't prone to illness. "It is not a reflection of who you are or what you do, but often is just a result of an unlucky draw." Dan spoke of how he'd only just learned of Caroline's accomplishment through the flurry of recent communication, and once he'd learned of it, he knew he'd make every effort to be at the reception for the occasion. "Teammates, only fifty-three years apart," he said.