For Elmer

I can still see the back of his t-shirt fluttering in the sea breeze as he accelerated down the beach away from me. All that was left of him was a set of toe marks on the damp sand in Redbarn. We had covered 7.5 miles at a steady pace and he ran the last half mile like Michael Johnson runs the 400m, still talking to me as he picked up the pace and left me behind. 

He was always in a jovial mood when it came to running, always up for a bit of craic and banter, no matter where we ran or what the weather was like. He was the first person I knew to try Vibram Five Fingers and was a huge advocate of barefoot running. His enthusiasm for it was infectious and led me to buy my first pair. He could have written 'Born to Run' based on his own experiences. 

 

My friend since our early encounters at UCC on a hockey pitch, Elmer was the sort of guy who would happily take on a challenge (although he did decline my offer of the Marathon Des Sables!). Perhaps his most ambitious challenge athletically was to run a sub-3 hour marathon – something he was well capable of it in terms of his ability to run, but he was often a bit unlucky with injuries, even from his days on the hockey pitch (for some reason he always chose the No. 13 shirt). He recorded his progress (and his injury woes) on his blog - www.canirunasub3hourmarathon.blogspot.com - now this blog will sadly remain unfinished.

On the 14^th of April 2012, my barefoot running buddy and great friend was tragically killed when he and other crew members were thrown off a yacht near San Francisco in erratic waves during a yacht race around the Farralon Islands. He died in the midst of another adventure, living life to the maximum. I carry his spirit whenever I lace up and head out for a run. He is sadly missed.