Sports Reporter
On Saturday, Sierra Gold is hosting an event to honor Nevada Union’s retired track and cross country coach Clyde Lehman. The inaugural Sierra Gold Clyde Lehman Mile will be a single-track event.
“It’s rather awkward for me,” Clyde Lehman said. “I don’t like to be celebrated. But it’s very kind of my teammates to do this for me.”
Lehman, 76, is the founder and former head coach of the Sierra Gold Masters Track Team.
“I became the head coach of the Sierra Gold Master Track Team about ten years ago; I started it,” Lehman said. “I had older people come to me because I had coached at Jesuit High School and Nevada Union for 36 years.
“I had a 70-year-old man who came to me and asked if I would consider coaching him and a couple of his friends,” Lehman added. “We got more and more people that wanted a second chance to sprint, jump, throw, and run distances, again, competitively. So that’s how I got started.”
He was instrumental in the track team traveling to France, Spain, and Finland for the World Masters Championship competitions. Sierra Gold has brought home over thirty medals while representing the USA.
“We went to the World Championships twice, once in France and then to Spain,” Lehman said. “Then after that, we started going to national championships nationwide. So more people would see us see in our uniforms and want to be part of that. In our heyday, we had 48 people.”
The Sierra Gold Master Team competed in the National Championships in Washington.
“We went to the National Championships about four years ago in Washington,” Lehman added. “There were 113 teams there, and we finished second.”
Lehman retired from coaching the team this year.
“I have too many other responsibilities to take care of,” Lehman said. “I can’t use my age because I have an 88-year-old distance runner. I’m 76, and I’ll be 77 in August; I have so many other responsibilities that I couldn’t do it any longer.”
Nowadays, Lehman spends his time fixing up his new house.
“We bought a place in North San Juan, believe it or not? It’s a one-of-a-kind house. So I’ve been working around doing that stuff and trying to stay busy that way.”
The Lehman Mile occurs at the Nevada Union High School Track on Saturday around 4:00 p.m. (it follows the Kays/Ostrom High School Invitational Track Meet). The oldest runners will compete first. The open division will be last.
Each participant has a $25 entry fee, regardless of age. Funds will benefit the non-profit Sierra Gold team, and some of the proceeds will be donated to the N.U. Miners Track program. The URL to enter is https://www.athletic.net/events/us/california/2023-4-15.
For further information, contact Drue Mathies at (530)470-0816 or email at druemathies@gmail.com.
The Sierra Gold Clyde Lehman Mile will be at Nevada Union High School, 11761 Ridge Rd, Grass Valley, CA, 95945.