Sue Wright is still having fun after 39 years.

The Wright City track coach bounced around the Jefferson City High School track complex last weekend at the state championships, congratulating athletes, offering advice and joking with colleagues she has been running into there for years.

Next spring she will retire after 40 years at the school.

There are places to visit and golf courses to play.

But don’t think her impending retirement has slowed her down.

“I don’t think anything’s changed because I’m at the end of my career,” she said. “I’m as excited now as I was in my first year. I can’t tell you I’m as patient as I used to be, and in some cases my expectations might be a little higher because I’ve been through it so many times. But this isn’t any more or less important than it was before.”

Wright grew up in a family of swimmers, not track athletes.

She attended Missouri State University, and wanted to teach at a small school after graduation.

“I realized If I was going to teach at a small school, they weren’t going to have a swim team,” she said. “So I decided I better learn track.”

She played field hockey and basketball for the Bears and had free time in the spring, so she went to the track coaches and told them she wanted to do everything.

“Except high jump and hurdles,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t want to do that.”

She learned as much as she could in Springfield and took her knowledge to Wright City, which didn’t have a track program at the time.

For her efforts in creating the program, the Wright City track now bears her name.

“She’s been there since Day 1 and she’s the rock that everything is built on,” fellow Wright City track coach Fred Ross said. “She was such a good mentor for me when I came out there, and she’s like a second mother to a lot of these kids, whether it comes out of her pocket or a kid needs an extra ride, she’s there.”

After nearly four decades with one program, most coaches — at any level — get burned out or pushed out.

Wright has experienced neither.

“I’m not (burned out) but there are other things I’d like to do,” she said. “Not to be selfish, but I’d like to travel and play golf. And there’s a time when you need to let go and let someone else experience what you experienced all these years.I’m extremely fortunate to have an unbelievable 39 years and hopefully top out at 40.”

She says she enjoys watching state-title hopefuls like Kyle Christopher as much as first-year state runners like Erin Tomschin struggle to learn the ropes.

“It’s always great to have a state champion and walk away with somebody who can say that,” she said. “But I think there is something exciting with every group.”

It hasn’t always been easy.

Smaller schools like Wright City don’t enjoy the benefits of having coaches for each event, like some of their large-school counterparts.

This year, Wright and Ross coached one of the largest groups in school history.

“I feel like I can’t give 100 percent to everybody, and I feel like I slight some areas because I don’t have the opportunity to be there,” she said. “We had a very large team this year, and a lot of younger kids got slighted because we just didn’t have the time, and I felt really bad about that.”

She makes up for the lack of assistants with a fitbit that racks up thousands of steps each afternoon.

“So at least that looks good,” she says with a laugh.

Wright has wanted another assistant for years now, but admits that is unlikely before her retirement.

Besides, she can’t imagine staying away too long.

“I will only come back if they need help,” she said. “I think it’s important to be there for the kids, and if there is an opportunity, I’d come back as an assistant, but not as a head coach.”

Wright has one year left with the program, and don’t expect it to be any less enthusiastic than the previous 39.

“I’m really fortunate to go out of my career knowing I still love it,” she said. “I’m not bitter. I love it, and I’m going to have a hard time letting go. But it’s time. Somebody else needs to step in and learn and enjoy what I enjoyed.”