By: Sean Moylan
Regular readers of the Register-News are probably wondering whatever happened to Rob Novak, who was scheduled to have competed in the 1500 and the 800 meter races at the Junior Olympics in Iowa a few weeks ago.
Well, the Bordentown superstar runner never did compete in those events yet the background story as the "why" he didn’t go is a compelling one.
Bordentown track and field head coach Charlie Miller and Novak have developed a bond which would rival that of most brothers. Under Miller’s watch, Novak has developed into one of the best 800 meter runners in the state. In fact, he’ll probably be ranked either number one of two by the time the spring season rolls around. In the past, Miller has taken Novak to the New York City Armory to compete in various events. And late last spring, Miller and his wife Nancy, who was pregnant at the time, took Novak, three teammates and family members down south to compete at the nationals. Charlie and Nancy both consider Rob to be a member of their family.
"I love Mr. Miller," added Rob’s mother Beryl.
A little over a month ago, when Novak competed in the Junior Olympics qualifier at Plymouth White Marsh, he placed first in 800 (1:57) and 1500 (4:04) and fifth in the 400 (50.4 seconds) even though he ran all the races within hours of one another. Moreover he was looking forward to representing our area in the Junior Olympics in Ohio.
However, when Miller’s wife gave birth to their second child on the 4th of July, everything changed.
"Miller couldn’t go so I couldn’t go,’ said Novak, who could have gone with another local coach but didn’t want to do so.
For Novak, it just wouldn’t have felt right without Coach Miller there. Novak soon found out that Coach Miller felt the same about him and that he was ready to put his money where his mouth was to prove it.
Charlie Miller loves teaching math and coaching at Bordentown. However, he lives up North and with his ever-growing family, his expenses have grown considerably over the past few years.
A hard-working, self-motivator, Miller has worked feverishly in grad school the past few years to earn credits toward becoming a vice-principal.
This summer, Miller’s dream job opened up and he was offered a much-higher paying position at a school located closer to his home.
The only problem was Miller didn’t really want to leave Novak in his senior season.
"I told him it meant a lot to mehis coaching me," said Novak. "He said ‘I need to do this for my family’."
That’s where Miller’s wife Nancy entered the picture.
Seeing that her husband was unhappy about the prospect of not coaching Novak, Nancy told Charlie she would happily support any decision he would like to make.
That’s all Miller needed to hear. He quickly decided to stay on at Bordentown and coach Novak, and the rest of his beloved track and soccer teams.
"If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t be coaching me," said Novak, who was recently offered a full scholarship at Seton Hall.
For the Novaks, Nancy Miller is an extension of Charlie. Novak has decided to make a full commitment to running in Miller’s honor.
Instead of playing football for the Bordentown Scotties like he has the past few years, Novak will now run cross country for Westampton Tech, the school he actually attends.
"I’m going to miss it (football). It was a lot of fun," said Novak, who was a star receiver.
Recently Novak began training for the cross-country season by running 30 miles a week. He is now up to 35 miles a week.
"I’m like totally out-of-shape because I twisted my ankle playing basketball," said Novak, who actually gained 10 pounds over the summer. But don’t worry, he’ll be ready. Miler and Westampton head coach Chris Rino have put together a training program for Novak, whose first meet won’t be until September 14th.
Although his best time is 17:14, Novak would like to be in the low 16:30s by the end of the season. That will prepare him for the Bordentown winter and spring track seasons. Come this spring, Novak is sure to miss his great friend and closest rival Jon Anderson of Cinnaminson, The two distance giants pushed each other to the very limits over the last three years.
"He’s (Anderson) the reason I’ve been running this hard," said Novak, who’d like to beat Anderson’s 4:12 mile mark at last year’s Meet of Champions. Novak doesn’t care that Anderson’s time was discounted because of an obscure ruling. He still counts it.
Family and friends mean a lot to Novak.
Novak’s mother even said if she asked him to do so, Rob would stop running for her.
However, she’d never make such a request because she loves seeing her son run in spite of his asthma.
Novak and Miller have come a long way since Bordentown assistant head coach Tony Hanneman introduced them to each other in Rob’s freshman year. Back then, Miler doubted that Novak could actually run a sub 5-minute mile. He has never doubted him since.
And this summer, Miller turned down his dream job and Novak turned down an opportunity of a lifetime to run in the Junior Olympics.
Yet, somehow, one knows that each will be better for their decisions because they were made out of pure friendship.