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Dear Kickrunners and VRAA participants:<br><br>
Today, Tuesday, January 8 (Day 5) is our tribute to <b>SherpaJ</b> (Jean). <b>Jean</b> was a player in VRAA #5 and a dear friend of <b>Marathon Princess.</b> Jean scored points on the first four days -- 28, 24, 30 and 24 -- before tragically passing away on October 6, 2008. Jean was a member of <b>Team H</b>, which carried on to honor him by winning VRAA #5 with one player shorthanded.<br><br>
In remembrance, Day 5 of this round is dedicated to Jean. You can earn an extra 5 points for your team by taking the following steps: do a workout today, earning at least 1 VRAA point, then come here and post in this thread for SherpaJ (in addition to posting your points to the Day 5 thread.)<br><br>
Below are the words of Marathon Princess. She offered to write our first tribute to SherpaJ here in the VRAA. Thanks, MP!<br><br>
Here's to you, Jean. Today, your spirit illuminates our way as we score VRAA points for you.<br><br><span style="font-size:xx-small;"><i><b>(posted by Marathon Princess):</b></i><br>
On the morning of Friday, October5th, 2007, I walked out my front door at 4:30am for my morning run and SherpaJ was there in his car waiting. He had just started running in August again after coming off an injury. He was only running twice a week with me…accompanying me on my recovery runs as he was still building up his mileage. It was a glorious morning and he was excited because he had decided that he was ready to start increasing his mileage and was going to join me in Vermont for the Vermont City Marathon (we had run it together 2 years ago)…so we were talking training plans. That evening we chatted on IM and he was going to meet me the next day and accompany me on my 20 miler on his bike. The last thing I said to him that evening was…”talk to you later old man”. At 5am on the morning of Saturday October 6th, his wife phoned to tell me that SherpaJ had suffered a massive heart attack and died at 1:30am.<br><br>
SherpaJ was probably one of the 3 closest friends that I have had in my lifetime and today I am going to try and give you insight into a part of SherpaJ’s life that I was so priviledged to share. SherpaJ and I met through our shared passion of running. I honestly think that had we not been runners our paths would never have crossed and as tragic and painful as losing SherpaJ has been to me…it would have been more tragic to have never had him as my friend. I met SherpaJ through the Running Room 6 years ago while training for our first HM and we quickly became running acquaintances because we ran at the same pace…so on group runs we would end up side by side. SherpaJ was a great running buddy because he didn’t talk much so I could have an ongoing monologue and never be interrupted and he would just smile at me the whole time. As time went by we started running together away from the group setting. He would drive over to my house and we would head out for runs or we would meet somewhere and run. I am not sure when or how it happened but somewhere in our first year of running together we became what you would call running partners…and from that partnership emerged an incredible friendship.<br><br>
SherpaJ and I had 4 rules that we established in order for our partnership to work.<br><br>
Rule #1…we run no matter what<br>
Rule #2…we never leave our partner behind<br>
Rule #3…SherpaJ will make an effort to get as much airtime as Marathon Princess<br>
Rule #4…what is said on the run stays on the run<br><br>
Now I thought long and hard about what I was going to tell you all today about SherpaJ and his running. I could talk to you about all of the hard training he did in order to complete probably 20 HM’s and 2 full marathons. I could tell you how he always carried my stuff …including feminine hygiene products...and took care of me and put up with my monologues and silliness and accepted me and my excentricities. I could tell you that he drove 35 minutes from his house to mine at 4am almost every day in order to run with me. I could tell you how passionate he was about running… how he read about running and inspired others...how we co-instructed a HM clinic together and led a group of 20 runners to complete the Quebec City HM…how he was looked up to by so many fellow runners…how over a hundred runners from the Montreal area congregated at his funeral to pay their respects…but I will try to share my personal perspective about him instead.<br><br>
When you run with someone ...you do 2 things…you run and you talk…both activities can go from an hour to 4 hours …depending on how far you are running. And during our runs…because of Rule #3… SherpaJ said a lot, talked a lot, opened up a lot and there are so many things that were said on the runs that define him as a parent, a husband, a friend…and I truly believe that is it is BECAUSE of the running that he was able to express these things. It is like the long run is almost intimate in nature...somehow you are just able to share things there and feel safe about it. By his nature SherpaJ was an incredible listener and through the long runs we shared he learned to become a fantastic talker and communicator as well.<br><br>
In his daily life SherpaJ was a quiet man…loving husband to his wife of 25 years and adoring father to 3 wonderful girls…and through running he was not only able to get healthy but also begin to verbally express his feelings and dreams and make some of those come true. He was the kind of man who was action oriented rather than word oriented. He said very little when he was not running so when on long runs he started talking it was like a lifetime worth of words came pouring out.<br><br>
He was the kind of man who could be relied on 24/7. I can remember being home alone, sick as dog, one week out from the Adirondack HM that we had trained for…with my kids to take care of (at the time 2 and 5 years old) and he left work and just showed up at my door and took them out for the day so that I could rest and get better for the race. I knew that I could call him anytime and he would be on my doorstep ready to help me.<br><br>
Our families vacationed together and spent many weekends together hanging out and having fun. He loved my kids as if they were part of his own family and they knew that. SherpaJ’s passing has been just as hard on my children as it has been on me. He took my son kayaking and showed him how to skin a fish when we went camping together. He always took the time to make you feel special. This past September...he knew I was going to my HM alone and he showed up waiting to accompany me and cheer me on and take pictures of me along the way. When he was injured and could not run...he would show up along my routes during my long runs just to make sure I was safe and OK...even though I told him not too.<br><br>
SherpaJ was one of my best friends, a confident...someone that I could talk to and know that I would never be judged …a shoulder to lean on…someone that I could count on 24 hours a day if I needed him…I will miss him more than words can express…he has taken my secrets, my dreams, my words to his grave…like he always promised he would…but he did it way too soon…I wasn’t finished talking yet.<br></span>
Today, Tuesday, January 8 (Day 5) is our tribute to <b>SherpaJ</b> (Jean). <b>Jean</b> was a player in VRAA #5 and a dear friend of <b>Marathon Princess.</b> Jean scored points on the first four days -- 28, 24, 30 and 24 -- before tragically passing away on October 6, 2008. Jean was a member of <b>Team H</b>, which carried on to honor him by winning VRAA #5 with one player shorthanded.<br><br>
In remembrance, Day 5 of this round is dedicated to Jean. You can earn an extra 5 points for your team by taking the following steps: do a workout today, earning at least 1 VRAA point, then come here and post in this thread for SherpaJ (in addition to posting your points to the Day 5 thread.)<br><br>
Below are the words of Marathon Princess. She offered to write our first tribute to SherpaJ here in the VRAA. Thanks, MP!<br><br>
Here's to you, Jean. Today, your spirit illuminates our way as we score VRAA points for you.<br><br><span style="font-size:xx-small;"><i><b>(posted by Marathon Princess):</b></i><br>
On the morning of Friday, October5th, 2007, I walked out my front door at 4:30am for my morning run and SherpaJ was there in his car waiting. He had just started running in August again after coming off an injury. He was only running twice a week with me…accompanying me on my recovery runs as he was still building up his mileage. It was a glorious morning and he was excited because he had decided that he was ready to start increasing his mileage and was going to join me in Vermont for the Vermont City Marathon (we had run it together 2 years ago)…so we were talking training plans. That evening we chatted on IM and he was going to meet me the next day and accompany me on my 20 miler on his bike. The last thing I said to him that evening was…”talk to you later old man”. At 5am on the morning of Saturday October 6th, his wife phoned to tell me that SherpaJ had suffered a massive heart attack and died at 1:30am.<br><br>
SherpaJ was probably one of the 3 closest friends that I have had in my lifetime and today I am going to try and give you insight into a part of SherpaJ’s life that I was so priviledged to share. SherpaJ and I met through our shared passion of running. I honestly think that had we not been runners our paths would never have crossed and as tragic and painful as losing SherpaJ has been to me…it would have been more tragic to have never had him as my friend. I met SherpaJ through the Running Room 6 years ago while training for our first HM and we quickly became running acquaintances because we ran at the same pace…so on group runs we would end up side by side. SherpaJ was a great running buddy because he didn’t talk much so I could have an ongoing monologue and never be interrupted and he would just smile at me the whole time. As time went by we started running together away from the group setting. He would drive over to my house and we would head out for runs or we would meet somewhere and run. I am not sure when or how it happened but somewhere in our first year of running together we became what you would call running partners…and from that partnership emerged an incredible friendship.<br><br>
SherpaJ and I had 4 rules that we established in order for our partnership to work.<br><br>
Rule #1…we run no matter what<br>
Rule #2…we never leave our partner behind<br>
Rule #3…SherpaJ will make an effort to get as much airtime as Marathon Princess<br>
Rule #4…what is said on the run stays on the run<br><br>
Now I thought long and hard about what I was going to tell you all today about SherpaJ and his running. I could talk to you about all of the hard training he did in order to complete probably 20 HM’s and 2 full marathons. I could tell you how he always carried my stuff …including feminine hygiene products...and took care of me and put up with my monologues and silliness and accepted me and my excentricities. I could tell you that he drove 35 minutes from his house to mine at 4am almost every day in order to run with me. I could tell you how passionate he was about running… how he read about running and inspired others...how we co-instructed a HM clinic together and led a group of 20 runners to complete the Quebec City HM…how he was looked up to by so many fellow runners…how over a hundred runners from the Montreal area congregated at his funeral to pay their respects…but I will try to share my personal perspective about him instead.<br><br>
When you run with someone ...you do 2 things…you run and you talk…both activities can go from an hour to 4 hours …depending on how far you are running. And during our runs…because of Rule #3… SherpaJ said a lot, talked a lot, opened up a lot and there are so many things that were said on the runs that define him as a parent, a husband, a friend…and I truly believe that is it is BECAUSE of the running that he was able to express these things. It is like the long run is almost intimate in nature...somehow you are just able to share things there and feel safe about it. By his nature SherpaJ was an incredible listener and through the long runs we shared he learned to become a fantastic talker and communicator as well.<br><br>
In his daily life SherpaJ was a quiet man…loving husband to his wife of 25 years and adoring father to 3 wonderful girls…and through running he was not only able to get healthy but also begin to verbally express his feelings and dreams and make some of those come true. He was the kind of man who was action oriented rather than word oriented. He said very little when he was not running so when on long runs he started talking it was like a lifetime worth of words came pouring out.<br><br>
He was the kind of man who could be relied on 24/7. I can remember being home alone, sick as dog, one week out from the Adirondack HM that we had trained for…with my kids to take care of (at the time 2 and 5 years old) and he left work and just showed up at my door and took them out for the day so that I could rest and get better for the race. I knew that I could call him anytime and he would be on my doorstep ready to help me.<br><br>
Our families vacationed together and spent many weekends together hanging out and having fun. He loved my kids as if they were part of his own family and they knew that. SherpaJ’s passing has been just as hard on my children as it has been on me. He took my son kayaking and showed him how to skin a fish when we went camping together. He always took the time to make you feel special. This past September...he knew I was going to my HM alone and he showed up waiting to accompany me and cheer me on and take pictures of me along the way. When he was injured and could not run...he would show up along my routes during my long runs just to make sure I was safe and OK...even though I told him not too.<br><br>
SherpaJ was one of my best friends, a confident...someone that I could talk to and know that I would never be judged …a shoulder to lean on…someone that I could count on 24 hours a day if I needed him…I will miss him more than words can express…he has taken my secrets, my dreams, my words to his grave…like he always promised he would…but he did it way too soon…I wasn’t finished talking yet.<br></span>
