My Son Ryan Shay

Alicia- My thoughts and prayers have been with you during this difficult time. Ryan was such a great person and I will always remember his smile and how you lit up around him. I hope the good memories will help you through this difficult time. May peace be with you and your family.

God bless-

Lindsay (Hyatt) Barr

My husband and I send our thoughts and prayers to the Shay family and Alicia. I didn't have the opportunity of knowing Ryan personally but I knew him as a great friend to others and an inspiration. Alicia we send our love and support during this difficult time.

Julia (Stamps) and Jon Mallon

I was in college in the Big East at the same time as Ryan and had the pleasure of watching many of his Big East races. As a spectator he was easy to remember because he was always out front pushing the pace.

I am very saddened by your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

To the Shays, Alicia, and all of Ryan's family,

I can't express my sadness for you. Having recently lost my mother to a sudden heart attack, I unfortunately know what it is like to have a loved one ripped from you in an instant. Nothing compares to that sense of loss. Try to be comforted that Ryan's time came while he was doing what he loved to do, run. My thoughts are with you.

I am sorry for you and your family's loss.

Hes beaten me so many times, but only got to know him this last weekend. What tremendous character and heart. Truly a genuine guy. He will be sorely missed.

A teammate and good friend of mine's parents have a lake house just down the street from you. I was invited to stay with them a few times throughout my middle and high school years. When I was maybe 13, and just starting to get into running, we spent a week at the lake. My friend's mom told us about this kid across the street who was running unbelievable times. We were both motivated to go on one of our first ever "training runs" in the woods nearby. 5 years later I was visiting again for a New Year's skiing trip. I had become a decent runner by this time, and should have been getting my runs in. But the brutal weather forced me to cut my runs drastically shorter. All I could think was how your son had trained through this weather all winter, and how strong of a person he must have been.

Although I never met him, I always followed his career after knowing the tiny connection we had. It's a terrible thing that has happened, but I hope you find some small bit of joy in knowing that your son was an inspiration to a few kids who he'd never even met.

Mrs. Shay I just want to say my prayers go out to you and your family. This was a sad disaster and I feel like I know what your going through. I lost my father at a young age. I know you will miss him very much we all will miss him. He is in God's hands now and he is looking down on all of us smiling thats what I like to think about my father as well. Just remember he left us doing what he loves to do and thats to run and now he is running in heaven. Again my prayers go out to you, your family, his friends and fans. Much luv...

Mrs. Shay I just want to say my prayers go out to you and your family. This was a sad disaster and I feel like I know what your going through. I lost my father at a young age. I know you will miss him very much we all will miss him. He is in God's hands now and he is looking down on all of us smiling thats what I like to think about my father as well. Just remember he left us doing what he loves to do and thats to run and now he is running in heaven. Again my prayers go out to you, your family, his friends and fans. Much luv...

To all those of you who love running as much as Ryan did, a poem and a prayer for "peace that passeth all understanding."

Joy

by, Carl Sandburg

Let a joy keep you.

Reach out your hands

And take it when it runs by,

As the Apache dancer

Clutches his woman.

I have seen them

Live long and laugh loud,

Sent on singing, singing,

Smashed to the heart

Under the ribs

With a terrible love.

Joy always,

Joy everywhere—

Let joy kill you!

Keep away from the little deaths.

Cox has an OMT update on his site and a photo of Ryan posted:

...My mom knew I was a friend of Ryan Shay’s - she didn’t tell me of the news until I exited X-rays. There are no words at the moment... we all feel Ryan’s loss. He was a good friend, a fellow workhorse and a valiant competitor. Something like this simply cannot happen... not to him, not today.

Life is fragile; tomorrow is a lie. It puts everything in perspective.

My heart and prayers go out to Alicia and the Shay family.

He will be missed.

http://www.joshcox.com

Ryan's passing is truly tragic. My thoughts and best wishes goes to Alicia and the Shay family. Not really sure what to say so thought I would just write a memory of Ryan:

In 2001, in Eugene I along with the rest of the field got throughly thumped by an incredibly bold and brave run by Ryan in the 10k. After the race I walked over to the practice track where a friend of mine was doing drug control for Ryan following his win. I watch him cooling down around the practice track. I turned to my friend and say "he had an unbelievable run today." My friend turned to me "I will tell you what is really unbelievable, this guys just won the NCAA 10k and his last mile on the practice track was 5:40."

There was truly no relent in Ryan. An inspirational figure to those who believe in pursuing every task to its limit.

Sorry for your loss. Your Son, husband, brother sounded like a great guy.

6miles

Mr Shay,

I, like thousands of runners thought about your son while they ran today, those thoughts were based in saddness, but also carried the sprit your son showed. The gift of just being able to run and enjoy the people you love gets forgotten in our everyday lifes and Ryan woke us all up.

People can sign a guestbook at

www.mortensenfuneralhomes.com

.

To the Shay family,

I am deeply saddened by the loss of Ryan. As a Notre Dame alum and a recreational distance runner I followed Ryan’s career at Notre Dame. I was lucky enough to be a varsity swimmer at ND and had many friends on the track team when I attended. It was a thrill to see Ryan’s personal success and, by association, success for all of the Olympic sports at ND.

One of my favorite places to run is in Huddert Park in Woodside, CA. When I read the tribute article on the ND site, it mentioned that he trained there at times with Ian Dobson, Ryan and Sarah Hall, Gabe Jennings, Lauren Fleshman, Kate and Laura O'Neil, Missy Buttry, and Alicia. I am pretty sure I ran across them several times, because I could not forget how beautifully they ran through the park. It was akin to the Chariots of Fire beach scene, but played out gliding over the trails in the redwoods. Running perfection.

While I never met Ryan, I have a profound sense of loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Dave LaBerge, ND 81

To the Shay family,

I am deeply saddened by the loss of Ryan. As a Notre Dame alum and a recreational distance runner I followed Ryan’s career at Notre Dame. I was lucky enough to be a varsity swimmer at ND and had many friends on the track team when I attended. It was a thrill to see Ryan’s personal success and, by association, success for all of the Olympic sports at ND.

One of my favorite places to run is in Huddert Park in Woodside, CA. When I read the tribute article on the ND site, it mentioned that he trained there at times with Ian Dobson, Ryan and Sarah Hall, Gabe Jennings, Lauren Fleshman, Kate and Laura O'Neil, Missy Buttry, and Alicia. I am pretty sure I ran across them several times, because I could not forget how beautifully they ran through the park. It was akin to the Chariots of Fire beach scene, but played out gliding over the trails in the redwoods. Running perfection.

While I never met Ryan, I have a profound sense of loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Dave LaBerge, ND 81

I didn't know Ryan in college, but after I had graduated I started working for Saucony, for whom Ryan was a marquee name. One year ago at the NYC marathon I helped put on an event at the Stock Exchange for the Run for Good foundation. This helps fight childhood obesity and other secondary diseases. Ryan was adamant about helping. He came down and lead a group of about 50 middle-schoolers through stretching and helped with the relay. That was the first time I had met Ryan and was taken back by how much he cared about this cause. He shared his tremeandous love of this sport with inner-city kids who probably never thought about running in any capacity beyond punishment in football. It could have been a group of high school runners for all he cared, he was going to show as much enthusiasm for this sport as humanly possible. By the end of it, his eyes were lit up and you could tell that he was doing something he really really loved.

At that event I also had the pleasure of meeting Alicia. At this point they weren't married, but you could see the devotion between the two already. He was as passionate about her as he was for his running and vice versa. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families in this hard time and I hope that through the heartbreak people are able to smile in the end. Afterall, he died in a fashion totally fitting for Ryan: running full bore on a huge stage with his boots on. Truely doing something he loved.

-Nat

Peace to your family in the wake of this unthinkable tragedy. So many of us feel your heartbreak.

I am very sorry this tragedy happened. I hope the 3 Olympians will dedicate their race to Ryan Shay. I wish this didn't happen. I was there at the Trials.

Knox

(age 8)