It was the fall of 1988, and as had become a tradition, it was time to register for the Josh. I was the team captain and I reached out to our group from the year before and confirmed that they were eager to compete again. This would be my 8th year and I was looking forward to returning to the Stockbridge Bowl and Tanglewood for another year.
My first race of the Josh took place in 1981. My father was a competitive cyclist and we put together a team that included my older brother, who would run, and a friend of mine from school. We paddled a big aluminum canoe that we flipped in our first and only practice session!
After year-one we evolved into a full family team with the addition of my younger brother in the canoe with me. We were competitive in this category and that fueled our on-going improvement over the next few years. We upgraded our canoe, started practicing, occasionally, and we did some other local canoe races and triathlons.
Our love for these sports eventually led my younger brother, father and me to open Terbo Tri Sports, a triathlon shop in the Springfield area. Over time we transitioned away from entering the Josh as a family team and I started to get more involved in canoe racing. We began to enter the Josh under the Terbo Tri Sports team name and we added a local runner, cyclist and a canoe partner for me. Over the next few years, we added to our collection of mugs from the Josh.
As we approached the race in 1988, I was a bit anxious about the upcoming birth of our second child. My teammates were aware of my wife’s pregnancy and the due date; three days after the Josh. We decided to roll the dice and being an optimist, I believed that the chances of the birth occurring on race day were slim.
My wife woke me up from a restful sleep in the early morning hours of race day to inform me that she was in labor! There was no time or way for me to contact my teammates prior to the race; this was well before everybody had cell phones. We arrived at the hospital at about 6:00 a.m.
This was our second child, so I had a past experience to reflect on as I thought about the labor and delivery process. At first, my hopes for the race were dashed completely, but, then things started to move along quickly. I began to have some slight hope that I might make it to the race prior to the canoe leg. Apparently, the doctor noticed my fidgeting, as I checked my watch repeatedly, he asked me, “are we keeping you from something?”. I explained the situation and he just looked at me and shook his head in disbelief.
I was really torn, I prioritized being with my wife for the delivery and at the same time I felt really bad about leaving my teammates in the lurch. I was sure that they would eventually figure out what happened, but I hated to let them down.
Daniel was born on Sept. 18, 1988 at 8:55 a.m. I arrived at Tanglewood well after the race ended with cigars and apologies for my teammates. My canoe partner had waited endlessly for me at the boat launch, and recognizing the situation, he asked a friend of his, unprepared, to jump in the canoe with him so we could finish the race.
Today, Sept. 18th, is Daniel’s 28th birthday and the Terbo Tri Sports Reunion team has entered the Josh after a long absence and we’ll be celebrating Dan’s birthday and reminiscing about old times. Three of the four team members are back for the reunion.
Bill Terbush, 8/22/16
