“Faith, Hope, and Love”
Date: August 31st, 2023
PAX: Schrute, Sweet Roll, Baby Shark, Gigablast, Butterfly, Pacesetter, ICB, Uncle Jesse, Tenacious D, Swinger, Safe ride, Gunner, Nae Nae, Redwire, Sparty, KOA, Woodstock, Amadeus, Parsecs, Busser, Low Flow, Schnaps, Swiper, Wolverine, Larry Legend, Line Dance, Ichiro, Invictus, Ferdinand, G String, Yugo, Double Dip, Knobs, Longboard, Boss Hogg, Arch, Sweet Sweet, Rayban, Tony The Tiger, Plague, Harding, Simmons, Animal House, Levy, Rooney, Korver, Fun Dip, Mortar, Mr. Hanky, Stranglehold, Frosty, Tator Tot, Grease Fire, Q Tip, Wentworth, Stripes, Khakis, Potato, Ogre, Beans, Fore, Skidz, Bobsled, Big Rig, Squeaky Clean, Farva
FNGs: Ogre
Pre-Run: Lots of HIMs (Check Strava)
AO: The Sandlot
Q: Farva & Squeaky Clean
Conditions: Clear, 64 degrees F, Feels like 65 degrees F, Humidity 81%, Wind 5.7 mph from SE.
At 5:30, YHC welcomed the PAX to the Sandlot and recited the 5 core principles, mission statement, credo, and disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional, modify as necessary. The exercises are simply a suggestion.
Warmarama: No warmarama…. we got right to business.
Pre-Thang: Nope…. see above.
Thang:
The running route this morning would follow the normal Sandlot Pre run route, but with stops every mile to reflect and share stories about Mark and Taylor.
The PAX then headed west on the Papio trial towards 84th street. After 1 mile, we stopped and reflected during 48 seconds of silence. Mark was 41 years old and Taylor was 7.
We continued west on the Papio trial towards Papillion Landing, after another mile we stopped again and Wolverine shared these words about Mark: I was thinking about it and just a couple of quick examples of his eternal optimism … when things would not go as planned or not be ideal…. he would act like it wasn’t just ok, it was perfect. Whether he cooked a pizza with the cardboard under it (made it taste better according to him) or a big race the morning after the parish festival (keg beer & sausage is the best way to carb load … sports science he’d say) …. lots of people are positive, but he just simply could not be any other way for very long…. he always was high on life with a huge smile on his face.
We stopped one last time before heading down the home stretch towards the flags. Larry Legend (Mark’s brother) shared these words: With the support of his wife, Mark changed his career trajectory. He had been working multiple jobs and was not happy with any of them. He was nervous for this change as he was in his 30’s and going back to school full-time was never something he thought of. Mark excelled in the Occupational Therapy program and with his peers. His classmates voted him to give the graduation speech on their behalf and he was asked to return to the program to teach a lab section. Fast forward a couple of years and Mark was applying for faculty positions at Creighton. He was not hired on the 1st or 2nd time he applied. However, he persisted and worked to strengthen his resume and build collaborations. His persistence and dedication paid off and he was able to join Creighton as a faculty. I have always been so proud of him and admired his persistence and dedication. This is a constant theme in the stories I hear from former students and colleagues, when they share their stories with our family.
After passing Papillion Landing, we began the journey down Lincoln road and back to the flags. It was such an awesome site to see so much orange and blue running down Lincoln road. Once everyone arrived back at the flags, the guys from the Steel Mill joined us for the COT.
Mary: None
NOR
See above for PAX present
Announcements and Prayers:
Toy Drive starts tomorrow
Honored to receive the Swole award from ICB
COT:
I wanted to start by thanking everyone for being here. The support from everyone is an awesome feeling. I especially want to thank Schrute for leading the Steel Mill ruck and joining us and Squeaky clean for helping organize this run and beginning the tradition three years ago.
The thing I want to share this morning about Mark is how much he loved to coach youth sports. I know a lot of people in this group are also coaches. It was so natural to him and he was great at it. I am happy that I got to coach with Mark and I look back at those times as great memories.
September 4th, 2021…. probably the worst day of my life. It seemed like a normal Husker Saturday. I had just got comfortable in the Farva man cave when my wife came downstairs and said that Mark’s wife had texted her that she was worried about Mark because he wasn’t answering calls or texts and hadn’t sent the usual photo of him and his son in their seats. It was about this time that news was getting out about a bad accident on the interstate on the way to the Husker game. I found a photo from the accident scene online and was trying to figure out what kind of vehicle it was or if I could see a license plate. It wasn’t possible to determine either of those. I reached out to my Law Enforcement friends to see if anyone knew anything and ICB said he would check with some state patrol friends. Not too long later, I received a call from an unknown number….I knew what it was without even answering. I drove to Mark’s house and as soon as I pulled into his driveway and his wife saw me get out of the car, she knew too and collapsed on the driveway and was inconsolable. Then I had to drive to his parent’s house and it was the same reaction. I just remember giving Larry Legend a hug and telling him that Mark was like a brother to me…because he was. Finally, I had to drive home and tell my kids and that was the hardest. They had known Mark all their lives and played with Taylor. This was their first experience losing someone close to them.
Sometime that week I was mindlessly scrolling and came upon what I would later learn was a Nameorama. I had no idea what F3 was, but I recognized some men in the video from high school…Swiper and Sweet roll. This was from the first memorial run. I later ran into Swiper at the funeral luncheon and asked him about F3. Fast forward almost two years now and I don’t know where I would be without F3. I lost a brother, but gained numerous others in this group. This I why I give it my all everyday and try to be the best version of myself. Tomorrow is not guaranteed and every day is a gift. I will continue to honor Mark and Taylor with this run and the site I launched in their honor at Gross high.
Although Mark and Taylor are no longer with us, we still have Faith, Hope, and Love. The greatest of these is Love. I have felt the love from this group and I love you all. Please go and keep giving it away.
Prayer – Swiper
10-7, EOT
Farva
