“To many, Memorial Day is the last Monday of May.  To some, it’s every single day.”

I don’t know about you, I’m reminded of someone that’s no longer with us physically every single day.  Not just one person, but several.  It’s crazy how many friends or just people I know to some effect that you have a connection with that have passed away just in the last five years.  A couple grandparents, both from my dad’s side within five months of each other in 2009, a friend who just this past Saturday would have turned 27 years old passed on Veteran’s Day in 2010 and just over a week ago, a fellow runner who I found out last summer was an avid reader of my blogs and freedom runs with the flag passed away just moments following his best time during a full marathon that qualified him for the Boston Marathon at the age of 35.  Two guys I played basketball against the same age as me (would be 28 if they were alive today) passed within two months of each other in the summer/fall of 2009.  I started running longer distances and carrying the flag while doing it because of a friend who lost his life at the age of 20.  You might think I’m bad luck…I think it’s just the fact that I know quite a few people and seem to have some kind of connection with them that leads to more conversation and learning about that person.  Even if it was only a ten minute conversation when you met once, you still feel like you come out of it knowing about their entire life and who they are as a person. 
After the first half marathon of this season like many of them, there’s a mix of emotion.  It’s such a great feeling of excitement and happiness when you cross the finish line that you can’t help but smile.  In some cases, it just looks like you’re smiling because you’re in so much pain – but a pain that will wear off eventually and build your muscles up stronger so you can endure more pain in the future. 
Everyone I’m sure has heard that cliché ‘No pain, no gain.’  I honestly don’t like pain, but coming to the realization this year during my training, the more pain that comes through in each training session, the better things become in the long run.  Not just the long run meaning a race…but the long run in the future.  You fix your muscles to become stronger, your mind to become not only stronger but smarter & your heart to limit its beats per minute when you’re resting, so it doesn’t have to work so hard all the time.  I mean seriously, who wants to work hard all the time?   So why make your heart do that. 
Today I made a trip to a community not too far from where I live.  Oklee, MN I completed a 5K run last summer during their Centennial celebration.  This was a hot and humid day, and I mean HOT!  It was probably one of the worst runs I’ve ever run in weather wise.  It’s very rare that you get ideal conditions during a run, but this sucked.  I can handle wind, rain, even snow during or before a race, I did in the first two 5K’s of the year in the end of April/early May and set two PR’s by running in them.  I also set a PR in the half marathon I did May 21^st in Fargo running 2:00:45, also in some pretty good wind.  In Oklee, I stopped over to the home where Paul Melby grew up to visit with his parents.  A few other family members were also there when I arrived.  I wanted to drop something off and didn’t feel would be appropriate to just mail it. 
People think I’m crazy enough the way it is, maybe would think it’s weird to make a trip to someone’s house of whom I’ve never met just to drop off an item, but getting the chance to meet Paul’s parents was something I feel I needed to do.  I only met Paul himself last summer after the hot and muggy run we were both part of that he ended up winning.  Now it probably sounds even weirder to you.  It wouldn’t if you were there listening to our conversation we had just beyond the finish line by the high school last year.  One of the things he mentioned to me that I had explained to his family members there, was that Paul kept up with my running through this blog.  I honestly thought he was kidding and just trying to make me feel good, but he mentioned some of the posts I had recently put and the races I’d completed prior to that run and what he liked about them.  So it made a little more sense that maybe this guy was actually paying attention to it.  To me, that meant a lot.  Hearing from another guy, and in this case from my home county, that he appreciates the fact that I inform people of what I do through an online blog. 
When I had heard that Paul collapsed at a race near St. Cloud I couldn’t believe it.  He was in such good shape and to my knowledge didn’t have any heart conditions or other problems, he was in great shape.  You have to be to run like he did!  His parents told me today that he did finish the race, and just after getting his best time and accomplishing his goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon (3:14:39 – needed to finish under 3:15 for his age group), got his medal placed around his neck and was asked how he was feeling said “not good”, then collapsed.  The weather wasn’t bad, it was pretty cool that day actually.  I don’t know how it ended up the way it did for him, and maybe no one will ever know.  The only thing I knew for sure was I wanted to support him and his family in some way and that’s why I made the trip.  I wanted to give them a wristband that I wore right next to my steel bracelet on my right arm with Corey’s name on it.  A white wristband with the number 7169 written in black marker.  That was to be Paul’s bib number during the half marathon that he was going to run with his dad and brother in law.  I explained to his family there that I just wanted to make sure Paul’s number got across the finish line in some way.  For a guy that I didn’t know very well, although he did know my sister pretty well from running track with her, I wanted to do something.  He supported me in what I did, it was my turn to support him after a job well done again.  The Boston Marathon, much like the Fargo Marathon, Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth that I will be part of too and the Disney Marathon in January along with others that Paul would have taken part in this coming year, will miss a great guy.  A dedicated individual to everything he did, especially running. 
Making the trip over to Oklee today made my weekend.  They may be people I only knew of their name before and barely even knew their son Paul, but they were more than willing to tell me stories of his life, show me pictures and talk about his accomplishments. 
I had several people question whether or not I should run after what had happened to him.  You never want it to happen to anyone, at any age.  The only thing I could tell the people that questioned me was something that put a startling look on their face.   “If I die running, at least I’ll die doing something I love to do.”  Until it happens, no one thinks about it.  Kind of the same reason we run to remember fallen soldiers.  Until someone runs in memory of them, people might not take time to think about them.  Everything should be done for a purpose.  Whether you want to qualify for the Boston Marathon, run to remember a fallen friend/relative or whatever it might be.  Go for it.  Never let the fear of one bad instance stop you from living your life.  If you’ve got your life, you might as well live it and have fun while doing it. 
I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend and enjoy the start of summer!   Be prepared, not scared, of what’s to come.  And we’ll see you at the finish line.