To this point, Rick McGrath said it is still the hardest thing he’s done in his life.

During his time at Hazen, the popular teacher crawled on hands and knees from Renton Memorial Stadium to Hazen High School to raise funds – almost $4,000 – for the Hazen ASB.

Inspiration for the trek came from a slogan taken literally. McGrath’s line boasted: “I’m on my hands and knees for the ASB.”

“I had duct tape on the shoes but the toes were completely worn off,” McGrath said. “I had to change my clothes seven times.”

After all these years, does he still remember how long the crawl took? “Six hours and 48 minutes,” he said without hesitation. “It’s still the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

As evidenced by the worn knee pads and shoes still in Hazen’s trophy case and the photo of McGrath climbing out of a dunk tank from the Renton Reporter archives, he was willing to do almost anything to help the students.

McGrath grew up in West Seattle and attended Central Washington University, before landing his first teaching job at Hazen.

He coached football and baseball, while teaching Special Education and P.E. at Hazen from 1990 to 1999. After Hazen he moved on to teach and coach at Tumwater High School.

McGrath led the Highlanders to their first trip to the 3A state football tournament in 1991. That tournament is where Hazen played McGrath’s most memorable game at the school, a 21-20, quarterfinal win over – of all teams – Tumwater.

“We came down here and beat Tumwater in front of about 6,000 fans,” he said. “It was a great moment.”

Hazen went to the state tournament each of the next two years, winning three games, and hasn’t been back since (the team made the state qualifying playoffs in 2002, 2003 and 2006). Meaning McGrath was coaching for all five of the Hazen football state tournament wins in school history.

Hazen made the playoffs seven out of nine years McGrath was coaching.

McGrath led the baseball team to similar success. The squad made the state tournament in 1990, 1991 and 1993, then didn’t go again until 2008.

McGrath also coaches baseball and football at Tumwater and, though he loves his new home, Hazen still holds a special place in his heart.

“Just like you remember your first love, you remember your first teaching job,” McGrath said. “I still have dreams about going back there and teaching again.”

McGrath marvels at his fortune in going from an ideal situation at Hazen to a similarly great one at Tumwater. He enjoys the close-knit communities at both schools.

Even though he moved on a decade ago, McGrath maintains contact with some students from his Hazen years.

“It’s almost an identical situation here at Tumwater,” McGrath said. “You never lose the bond with those kids from Hazen. It’s a neat experience.”