Ryan Shay

There is very little I can personally add about the sad events that took place on Saturday at the Olympic Trials. It wad far too reminiscent of earlier this year when many people were looking forward to celebrating the success of the Boston Marathon making it through the storm which threatened to cancel it, only to hear about the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech.

You wish to be happy for the good things that are happening but the bad things make you feel guilty about enjoying anything.

That said, I, for one, will not say how sad I am that Ryan Shay passed away this past weekend. Why? Because while I am indeed saddened by the loss of a man who seemingly was an all-around great guy, I feel saying how sad I am cheapens the real sadness felt by his new bride, his best friends and his family.

I did not know Ryan Shay. I saw him in magazine ads all the time. In this age where at least someone in the world has a bad thing to say about everyone, I never read a negative comment about Shay. I have every feeling in the world that he was a wonderful fellow.

So, yes it is a terrible loss for the running community. But that is not even in the same realm as the loss his family and friends are dealing with right now. The world is populated with stories of horrible people who live to be 90, wreaking havoc on everything they touch where those who do good while they are here seem to be taken away far too soon and for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

If those close to Shay can take any consolation, perhaps it is in knowing that it appeared God needed an anchor on his good-guy marathon relay.

I’m going for a run.