Andy after Oak Mountain 50k this spring.
The weekend after a satisfying Massanutten 100, Rob and I ran the Scenic City Marathon in Chattanooga. I’ll say upfront that it’s not my favorite race – there’s usually a dispiriting lack of post-race anything, much less vegetarian food, but my friends wanted to go and any time I can spend with them is good time, so that’s where we went. Easy decision.
It was an interesting day. We were in absolutely no hurry and put high priority on checking out the flowers we don’t usually see and talking with marathoners we wouldn’t normally have met, getting a refreshing glimpse into their world for a change. We didn’t get to spend much trail time with my friends, several of whom ran the half, but that was okay because we all agreed the real event was coming later with our group’s own, very extensively-supplied picnic/post-race party.
We were in the last two miles, picnic on our minds, when we caught Andy Colee. Andy’s unmistakable. As you’ll see in a minute (watch the video), he’s easy to pick out in a crowd and on the trail. He’s unique, one of a kind, and he wouldn’t consider being like anyone else. He always seems perfectly content to quietly and consistently follow his own, well-considered path.
We’d missed him at the start and took extra time to chat with him here since we hadn’t seen him since Oak Mountain 50k in March. He mentioned with a smile and some awed pride that this was his 500th ultra/marathon. Think about what it took to get to that point – that’s like running 25 ultras/marathons a year for 20 years. It’s an amazing accomplishment and all done quietly under the radar, with no flash, no glam.
People like Andy help me look forward with anticipation, blazing a trail for me to follow and reassuring me that it’s perfectly okay to blaze my own trail. I sure hope to be as happy doing what I love to do in the way I want to do it when I’m where he is.
Check out this short (2:44 min), uplifting video made about Andy that day. It’ll leave you smiling!
Rock/Creek’s Scenic City Trail Marathon from Rock/Creek on Vimeo.
