A new novel about one of Concord High School’s most quietly influential athletes is headed to bookstores, telling a story that until now lived mostly in memories, microfiche and the humility of the man at its center.
“The Day It Matters,” written by Concord native and former coach Troy Patoine, chronicles the remarkable running career of the late Tom Atherton, who gave it all to win the New England Cross Country championship in 1970.
Part biography and part novelized feature, the book spans six decades of Atherton’s life, from his childhood as a shy Concord kid in the 1960s to his time as a Pepsi delivery driver who still found time to run.
Tom Atherton had never won a cross country race before becoming a state and New England Champion. He was never the top runner on the legendary Bill Luti’s Crimson Tide team until those last two weeks.
But he ran — every single day.
Living on the same street, Atherton and Patoine became good friends by chance.
Patoine first met Atherton through a neighbor who had run alongside him. Until then, Atherton was just a name in the trophy case that Patoine admired during his time as a student.
Over time, the two grew close, though Atherton rarely spoke about his own achievements.
“I had to press him, because he never would talk about that stuff. He was, kind of always, a very humble guy,” Patoine explained. “I couldn’t believe the circumstances of how it transpired.”
The story Patoine eventually uncovered, from old newspaper microfiche, teammates’ recollections and interviews with runners across New England and Atherton’s family, astonished him.
“People told me, ‘It sounds like you were actually in the race,’” Patoine said about his research period. “That was the best compliment I could get.”
Atherton’s rise to the top of the region was far from predictable. Nicknamed “Tiny Tom” as a boy, he was undersized, introverted and, according to Patoine, initially more interested in being a Red Sox player than a runner.
What followed in Atherton’s life was a transformation marked by persistence.
“It’s the fairest, hardest sport there is, mentally,” Patoine explained. “I mean, there’s no timeout, there’s no scoreboard. You don’t know how you’re doing as a team until you get the results. You have to give it your all the whole way.”
Tom Atherton, and Coach Bill Luti. Credit: Troy Patoine / Courtesy
That philosophy would later echo far beyond Concord. At Plymouth State, Atherton convinced a struggling freshman, future Pinkerton Academy coach Mike Clark, not to quit the sport.
Patoine’s novel focuses on the season when Atherton, facing personal hardship, “threw caution to the wind,” as former Bishop Brady coach Harvey Smith put it.
Even his teammates never saw what was coming, according to Patoine’s interviews. “When Tom did what he did, it felt like we all did what he did, and he inspired us all,” one of Atherton’s teammates told him.
The book blends fact with some fictional devices, but it sticks closely to the real events. It’s a story of perseverance through the politics of sports, personal hardships and a desire to become great.
The writing and research portion of the book was difficult. The edits and revisions Patoine made were all in conjunction with the family and his publishers.
He almost quit, but like a message from above, Patoine said he stumbled upon a Facebook clip of a Red Sox legend’s game from the ’80s. In that clip, Ted Williams hits a ground rule double near the pesky pole, and the man who catches the ball is Tom Atherton, staring right back at him holding a baseball.
For Patoine, the project was never about his own name on a cover.
“He was just an average guy. I mean, I hate to say average, but he was a Pepsi truck driver his whole life, who inspired a lot of people unbeknownst to him,” Patoine said.
He hopes that readers throughout the capital region, runners or otherwise, take something meaningful from Atherton’s journey. It’s a story about giving your best every day, for all those who think they’re not good enough to reach for the stars.
“The Day It Matters” is available at Gibson’s Bookstore downtown.