Memorial held for Westling

Published 1:29 pm Monday, August 31, 2009

About 18 miles into running a marathon, Carl Westling got a craving.

The former football player and college shot-putter didn’t yearn for water or an energy drink. He wanted a vanilla milkshake.

So one of Westling’s friends went to a nearby burger joint, bought a shake and delivered it to Westling. Still on the race course, Westling quickly sucked down the shake and finished the 26.2-mile run in Oregon.

“He chugged that thing and he claimed to his dying day that it made him feel better,” Curt Gordon said.

Gordon was one of several hundred friends, family members and former athletes who showed up at South Whidbey High School on Aug. 16 to remember Westling, who died July 30. He was 65.

Westling founded the boys and girls cross country programs at South Whidbey High, previously known as Langley High. He was a member of the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Westling guided the Langley High girls to a team state championship in 1979 and was named coach of the year in 1992. His girls teams placed second at state five times.

Never a distance runner in his youth, Westling was a self-taught running coach who learned about different strategies and training methods, and then passed them on to his teams.

“He was a voracious reader. The guy consumed all kinds of information,” said Gordon, who in the early 1970s was the first athlete Westling recruited to run cross country.

A longtime science teacher, Westling suffered a stroke in 1997 and retired a year later. But he continued to be a volunteer coach for South Whidbey’s cross country and track teams until this past spring. Complications from his stroke and diabetes contributed to his death, said current South Whidbey cross country and track coach Doug Fulton.

“His body basically wore out,” Fulton said.

While he was alive, the bulky Westling got plenty of use out of his body. He weighed about 230 pounds at the time of his infamous milkshake marathon, Gordon said.

“He was a real fun-loving guy and it was infectious. I think that was his secret (to success),” said Gordon. “He was friendly and fun-loving and a light-hearted prankster — this great big guy jumping around with all this energy.”

Westling graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma. He competed in the shot put at Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University), where he met his wife, Pat.

Carl Westling’s name and coaching legacy will live on. Every spring the South Whidbey High track team plays host to the Westling Invitational, named in honor of Westling after he retired.

On Sept. 19, the first annual Carl Westling Memorial five-kilometer run will take place in Langley. Proceeds from the event go toward college scholarships for seniors who run at South Whidbey High School.

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.