Ray Coleman drove a vintage Volkswagen Bus, the kind you see in movies from the 1970s, and he used it to great effect as Keansburg High School’s boys cross country coach. When he couldn’t arrange for a school bus so the Titans could practice at Holmdel Park, where the state meets were held, he drove the team there himself.
“He would pick up all of his runners, so if their parents couldn't drive them or didn’t have a car, they could still go,” son-in-law Mike Schmidt said. “He was all about the kids.”
Coleman’s dedication paid off – Keansburg won several sectional titles and, in 2005, captured the NJSIAA Group 1 state title at Holmdel Park. Five years later, as the boys bowling coach, he guided Keansburg to an NJSIAA Group 1 state title in that sport.
“He loved coaching,” current Keansburg cross country coach Tara Maguire said. “He had a way of finding the scrappiest kids and winning.”
Coleman – a Highlands resident who also coached boys and girls basketball, served as athletic director and taught science over four decades at Keansburg – died in December 2024 at age 75 of a heart ailment. But his calling card of giving the scrappiest kids a chance to succeed is the spirit behind the inaugural Ray Coleman Memorial 5K, which will take place Sunday, Sept. 20 starting at 10 a.m. at Thompson Park in the Lincroft section of Middletown.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Keansburg High School Booster Club’s scholarship fund. Each June, the booster club gives out 10 scholarships to graduating senior athletes during an end-of-year banquet. The 5K will increase the number of those awards and quite possibly their amounts as well, booster club vice president Shaun Alt said. In addition, a Ray Coleman Scholarship is being established for one graduating senior from each of the boys and girls cross country programs.
“He affected a lot of people,” said Alt, who was a member of Keansburg’s football and bowling teams when Coleman served as athletic director. “When we put word of this race out, I had people from all over the country reach out to me asking what they could do to help, because he meant so much to the school.”
As of Aug. 24, Schimdt said limited spots remain in the 5K race, which costs $35 per entrant. There also is a 1 mile family fun run with an entry fee of $25. Entrants in both races will receive a tie-dye race T-shirt (Coleman was a Grateful Dead fan). The event also will feature a food truck, iced-coffee truck, ice cream truck, a DJ and an automatic race timer. There will be a tricky-tray auction as well; donated items for the auction are still being accepted.
The plan is for this to become an annual event and hopefully grow each fall, with the scholarship fund growing alongside it.
“A lot of our students come from very economically disadvantaged situations, so having a little bit of extra money will help, whether they’re going to college or trade school or the military,” Maguire said.
Even if the race fills up, donations will continue to be accepted at the event’s website.
“Being that Ray was so well known in Keansburg for his coaching and teaching, I wanted to put together something that memorialized his legacy and raises money for the school that was so important to him,” Schmidt said. “It really warms my heart that so many people care about the cause. It speaks to the amount of people who cared about him.”
For more information,to sign up for the race, or to donate, visit www.runsignup.com/Race/NJ/Lincroft/RayColemanMemorial5K
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Beloved Keansburg coach who died in 2024 honored with 5K, scholarship