Saturday, February 19, 2022

Former Castro Valley, Northgate and Alhambra coach Peter Brewer passed away this morning

Some very sad news to pass along. I will share more later. In the meantime, if you have any fond memories of coach Brewer, please share them in the comment section below. RIP Peter.

Here is my interview with Peter from 2008...

14 comments:

Coach Bob said...

We will all miss our follow xc coach. He was a long time friend and a lot of fun at the Olympic Trials .

Coach Bob

pmccrystle said...

I just don't know what to say. To lose 2 of the people I have looked up to for so long in such a seemingly short time is very tough (Al Berrin being the other). I am so so sorry for his family, and all those who were lucky enough to call him friend, coach, or mentor. Peace Peter! They are reaching for their thesauri in heaven--he would have known the plural to that word!

Chanman195 said...

It's hard to know which Brewer story is my favorite.....but we're re-telling a lot of them in our house tonight. I remember in 2016 in Rio, he telling us about a series of missed flight connections on his way to the Olympics....and then having his wallet stolen shortly after arrival. But the best part was he told the whole tale with a smile on his face. That was pure and classic Brewer - the guy so many of us knew and loved. It makes me so sad to think that I won't ever be sipping a pint at Wild Duck or some other establishment, listening to a story from one of the Bay Area coaching legends. R.I.P. Brewer!

Michael said...

There was just something about Brewer. He could be intense, but he could also be great fun. You could start talking to him and 45 minutes later end up somewhere completely different, with no clue how you'd gotten there. He welcomed me with open arms as a freshman in a brand new state, and he fed my desire for running knowledge, which I craved. He's been hugely influential for me and I will always be proud to be one of his "boys." I'm very fortunate to have gotten to run for him

Coakley said...

Nothing better than a Brewer conversation! Since I met him in a dorm at Cal where we were freshmen, and for years as coaches and colleagues, he was always one of the most knowledgeable detail hounds and biggest personalities. A very sad loss; my heart goes to his family. Raising a pint to you, Peter!

Coach Stanziano said...

Peter was a mentor and a friend Always willing to go the extra mile to help out and always supportive of my athletes and my own kids. He will be greatly missed.

alien said...

As a brand new coach I attended Mr. Brewer's (as I called him) XC coaches clinic at Canyon Middle School in 2008. I learned so much that it helped me structure a successful program. I always enjoyed my conversations with Mr. Brewer. He had such great stories about life, running, and the sport of XC. His presence will be deeply missed.

Coach Keys said...

Great coach...sending my deepest condolences to his family.🙏🏾

Greg Fogg said...

Such a big personality who had a such a positive impact on our sport (both XC and Track) in NorCal for so many decades! As a Coaching peer, Peter always took the time to chat and reminisce about the “good ole days” and athletes from the past almost every time we met. -Such a great coach, always with very "deep" insights and such a cerebral perspective on topics. The universe feels misaligned; I enjoyed his company and I will miss not seeing him at meets. It will not be the same without Coach Brewer.

Ruth Seabrook said...

Brewer recruited me as an Assistant Coach at Northgate just as I arrived in California, he bellowed out of his truck window 'wanna run with the Varsity Girls', up until that point I had only coached adults. Working with him taught me so much about how to structure a program, and how to harness the community with you. I moved from Asst to being a co-head coach, which you would think would be hard with a man so passionate in his beliefs. In reality he was my favourite person to argue with, no one else loved to debate the nuance of a workout more. His belief system was clearly about the value of the sport, and he wanted to get the best out of every individual athlete and he wanted us all to share his insane belief in it. Favourite moments are many but his desire to entertain and be the ring master of the circus that is track and cross country was legendary. One year he entertained all the parents on the hill at Monte Vista Cross Country invite asking one talented but pain averse runner with the challenge 'Pass Him *****, What are you Waiting for a? A Marriage Proposal????'. When the athletes start to print tee shirts about you, and dress up as you for Halloween, you know you have arrived and I will be wearing the 'Ten Quick Steps' tank top for years to come. Brewer devoted his life to this sport and is worthy of the outpourings of affectionate reminiscence and the tributes as he will be sorely missed by many.

Winning! said...

Pete and I instantly hit it off because we were both German. I had also become friends in the Cal dorms with his CVHS State Champion Larry Guinee who ran a 4:06 and is still to this day, the fastest time in post 1980 NCS history.

I had been a walk-on hurdler at Cal after a brief stint at Las Lomas High in Walnut Creek, where I was an assistant coach in 2003 - 2004. Pete and I traded the occasional story and his dry sense of humor was spectacular. He had that very warm Cheshire Cat smile that spoke volumes without saying a word. He was without a doubt, one of my favorite NCS coaches.

I'll be at Calicraft Brewing in Walnut Creek this Sunday afternoon at 2pm raising a pint to Peter with other Coach Brewer fans. Hope to see you there!

Roadtrip 2012! said...

Brewer was both my cross country and track coach throughout my time in high school. Over the years since then, I have often thought about him and the way that he coached the varsity squads to which I belonged. As more time passes, I come to realize how truly impactful that he was on all of us, and how he was able to bring the best out of people. I was fortunate to have randomly encountered him a few months before his passing and talked with him for a while. I believe that his positive influence reaches much farther than we may realize.

Unknown said...

This is a very late post. Six months late. I met him years ago at a middle school event at Castro Valley High. But I really got to know Pete when I hosted the Artichoke Invitational for my first time in 2007. He came up to me and re-introduced himself. Thirty minutes and lots of laughs later, I walked away feeling like I had known him forever. He brought his teams every year, and we'd catch up. I looked forward to seeing him yearly. I will miss seeing him this year and every year from now on. His love of this sport, and of his athletes is clear to anyone that ever met him or saw him interact with his athletes or peers. Thank you Pete. Rest in Peace my friend.

Albert Caruana said...

Thank you for sharing. Peter was one of the best!

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