Faces of the Valley: Coach takes pause from retirement to help inspire latest crop of Highlands cross-country runners

Rich Bogaty wasn’t thinking about getting back into coaching when a little boredom started nipping at his heels a couple of years after retiring as a biology teacher.

So when the Plum native was recruited to fill a vacancy as Highland’s head cross country coach in 2019, he had to take a pause.

“I was happily retired, just working around the house,” said Bogaty, 67, who still lives in Plum. “But I was getting a little bored, so I decided to start substitute teaching at Valley High School a couple of days a week.”

Being back in a school environment opened the door for Bogaty to return to coaching.

While Bogaty was subbing at Valley, Assistant Principal Jeff Thimons suggested he apply for the open cross country coaching post at Highlands, where Thimons’ son was on the squad.

“I didn’t even know he had coached until we started talking about our families, and I mentioned that my son was into running and was doing cross country at Highlands,” Thimons said. “He’s an excellent coach. He’s really made it fun for the kids. They love to go to practice and will do anything he asks of them because of the approach he uses with them.”

Bogaty said the prospects of returning to the field as a coach piqued his interest, but he couldn’t make the decision on his own.

“I told Jeff that I would think about it and run the idea past my wife, Judy, because she was enjoying having me around the house,” he said. “I took the job after she gave me the green light and told me I could do whatever I want.”

Bogaty retired in 2012 after more than three decades teaching biology in Pittsburgh Public Schools. He also was the longtime cross country coach at the former Peabody High School in East Liberty, where he helped numerous athletes develop into successful competitive runners. The school is now Obama Academy.

Before he got into coaching, Bogaty was a standout runner at Plum High School and Edinboro University, where he was part of a national championship team.

Bogaty said he didn’t even consider doing cross country before joining the squad as a sophomore at Plum.

“I was small and skinny as a kid,” he said. “I was a good athlete — fast, could run all day and had great hands, so I could play baseball.

“But as I got older, everybody else got bigger than me. I realized that some sports weren’t for me. It wasn’t even fun playing sandlot football when you’re getting hit by these big guys.”

Bogaty said his friend, Kevin Deasy, suggested he join him on the cross country team.

“I’d never even heard of cross country until then,” he said. “But I gave it a shot and realized that I was pretty good.”

Bogaty qualified for the 1980 and 1988 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and is a member of the Pittsburgh Marathon Hall of Fame.

He hired Deasy to serve as his assistant coach at Highlands after his friend said coaching was something he always wanted to do.

A new chapter

Even after decades of coaching high school athletes, Bogaty said Highlands has been a different experience for him.

“It was refreshing to finally have some space for us to practice,” he said. “At Peabody, we didn’t have a track, so we had to go to Highland Park.

“At Highlands, we have plenty of ground around the high school to do things or we can go up to Harrison Hills Park and run, so in that respect it’s been nice.”

But there has been a downside when he compares interest in the sport between the schools.

“I was used to having 20 or 25 kids come out for cross country and a track team with 60 or 70 kids,” he said. “But at Highlands, we just don’t get a lot of kids coming out for cross country in the fall or track, for that matter, in the spring, which has been the most disappointing thing for me.”

Bogaty said the boys and girls cross country teams have had only about six or seven participants coming out for the sport.

He said part of the problem with getting athletes to consider cross country is the change in attitude about youth athletics.

“Back in the old days when I was coaching, the basketball and wrestling coaches would encourage their players to come out for cross country and track because of the great training they would get,” he said. “And many of the kids who tried it turned out to be really good runners, which they would never have known if they didn’t give it a try.”

Bogaty said today’s youth sports “have become a little selfish.”

“A lot of the coaches only want the kids to practice that sport, so it’s almost become a year-round thing with all the clinics and other programs players are expected to participate in,” he said. “Being a multisport athlete is not as popular as it once was.”

But Bogaty said students with some athletic ability, and those who play on other teams, could benefit greatly by participating in cross country.

“It’s such a great opportunity to build up your self-confidence and self-esteem,” he said. “We don’t emphasize being the best runner. The goal is for you to improve on a personal level.

“It’s not an easy sport, and you will have to be patient to see improvements,” he said. “Even if you are a natural athlete, you’re not going to just step out and be real successful running a 5K.”

Bogaty said students who make the commitment will see results, but he concedes that getting them to even consider participating “is such a tough sell.”

“Being committed means that when you’re at practice you’re all in,” he said.

“You have to forget about everything else and immerse yourself in this so you can make yourself the best you can be. That’s what we strive for here.”