Great runners who have died young????

Jimi Hendrix ..... all along the watchtower.

....which we should all know is bob's tune...

bob is neither young, nor dead, nor a runner

16x mentioned Bret Hyde. I ran against, and with, Bret while in the Air Force. We were both officers and both ran the steeple. He was obviously much better, having been 5th in the country at one point, and one GREAT guy. We ran on the AF XC and track teams together. He was about the nicest guy you could meet. Here is a great tribute by Bob Schul, Bret's coach and good friend. It's from Bob Schul's website BobSchul.com

Bret Hyde

I LOST AN ATHLETE AND FRIEND TODAY

IN SORROW--BOB SCHUL

International class Steeplechaser, Bret Hyde, age 40, lost his struggle to Lou Gehrig?s disease on Sunday January 14, 2001. He was buried in Post Falls, Idaho the following Friday morning with the Fairchild Air Force Base Honor Guard giving him honor for service to his country.

Bret had been diagnosed with the disease on September 2 of 1998 and for the twenty eight months he fought for his life, he showed the same courage he had shown in his races.

As I stood watching the ceremony in this small cemetery, with a few hundred other friends, the snow was falling lightly on ground that was already white and the pine trees held the snow on their bows. On any other day it would have been a beautiful site.

An hour earlier we had attended a memorial service where I and Rob Langstaff, his friend since boyhood and once a member of the Racing Team I coached, spoke to the overcrowded room where hundreds of friends and family had gathered.

I came to know Bret when he and six other Air Force athletes came to Wright Patterson in 1981, specifically to train with the Racing Team. He had just graduated from the Air Force Academy where he had run well in the Steeplechase with a best time of 8:43.4.

As I watched him over the next few weeks, I found he had little natural speed and his fastest 400 meters was 56 seconds. This was a problem and would be a factor as he trained to become one of the best in the world.

What he did have was a strong work ethic and a drive that reminded me of my days with Mihaly Igloi and the athletes who had that same drive. It wasn?t long before he was on twice a day workouts six days a week with a long run on Sundays. It was not easy as he still had his eight hour job with the Air Force. But he had a goal, and that was to qualify for the Olympic Trials in Los Angeles in 1984. He told me he would do anything I asked. He was true to his word. To be a top runner the athlete must be able to push their body even when they are hurting. When other runners back off to run in a comfortable state Bret was able to push his body and run in a discomfort zone.

That is not easy and takes courage to accomplish. And courage he had and he showed that in race after race. It was also apparent that other runners in the workouts were able to learn from Bret. Others saw how dedicated and driven he was and tried to emulate him. It was the perfect situation for me and I was able to use Bret to make him and others better runners.

When Bret arrived in Dayton, Susan Overholser, had been with the Club for many years. I don?t know how long it took but it wasn?t long before the two were dating. Over the months I watched the courtship evolve into marriage and eventually two fine boys were added to the family. Bret became a husband and a father and for those of us who watched the transition, it was what we expected. Susan and Bret were the perfect match and you could tell they loved each other very much. Bret had been a leader on the track and he carried that over to his private life. Leadership came easy to Bret, it was just the way he was. Others expected him to lead and he did in an unpretentious, easy style.

As the months passed he became a better hurdler and could take the water jump with less effort. He was now beating people who had beaten him in college. But still the basic speed was lacking. There was no way I could change his muscle tissue. We talked about changing to the 10K but his size was against him for he was 6? 4", 177 pounds. Not good for a 10K runner, and we would continue in the steeple. Before long, Bret had become one of the best Steeplechasers in the Nation and he made us proud of his accomplishments.

By the time 1984 rolled around, Bret was ready to run well and in the TAC championships he placed second and was going to the Olympic trials. When, at one time, he had wanted to take part, he was now a major player. In the trial heat I told him in order to make the final he couldn?t allow the race to be slow. His best chance was to use his strength and not allow a lesser athlete with good speed beat him in the last lap. He ran perfectly and made it to the final. With a days rest he stepped on the track with nothing to lose. Again his instructions were to force the pace. He led most of the race, until the final lap when those athletes blessed with speed went by him, and he placed eighth with a time of 8:27.59.

In his career he beat many athletes because of his determination and because he was able to get the most out of his body. And through it all, Bret never said, "What if." What if I had more speed. He accepted what he had and would tell me after loosing a race, "I really tried." There was never any doubt in my mind that was the case. I never saw him give up. He never gloated over a victory or dismayed over a defeat. He understood that all he could do was his best.

As his disease progressed he was in a wheelchair and his last email he sent to me took fifty minutes to write three sentences. But even then he joked about it. In his last weeks he was no longer able to eat by himself or talk, and he could hardly move a muscle in his body. Finally he made the decision to end it all. No more food through tubes. No more medicine to keep the blood clots from forming. No more anything, he told his wife Susan, communicating in a way only she could understand. A neighbor who had been with him through this ordeal told me Bret was not afraid to die. That does not surprise me as his courage was part of his being.

Susan, who had been his nurse, is now going to take classes to become a nurse. Paul the eldest son, age 15, is a runner as is Seth who will be 13 in February. Gene, Bret?s father, kept a scrapbook and the boys will be able to show their children the feats of their grandfather. They can be very proud of his accomplishments.

As I stood in the cemetery and watched as the Honor Guard folded the American Flag with precision, the snow continued to fall. Two Air Force Buglers stood off in the distance and once the flag was folded one of the buglers began playing Taps and the other would echo the notes. The sound came through the pines, so beautiful with the snow on their branches. When the last haunting sounds were heard there was a Twenty One Gun Salute and then an Air Force Officer carried the folded flag to Susan, and with words of thankfulness for his service to his country he presented her the flag.

A tear rolled down my cheek as I thought of this friend. Bret had shown courage in his races and over the past two years Bret would show that courage in what would be the toughest race of his life. There is no doubt he was able to do that. It is hard to understand why Bret would have to undergo this ordeal. We say it isn?t fair. Of course all who knew him will miss him. He was a friend, a competitor, a son and most of all a loving husband and father.

And now that Bret is with his God, I, like so many others can truthfully say, I am so glad he came into my life. Our paths had crossed, but the time was far too short.

Bret was something special I hear - and you have confirmed that. I use to pull for him in whatever he ran.

very cool, I loved the story, sad, tears. That cat was a winner.

Seamus McElligott, 1969-1998: Multiple Division III All-American Seamus McElligott died of smoke inhalation in Ontario, Canada, on Sunday. As a student at Haverford College, McElligott twice won national titles in cross-country as well as 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. He qualified for 1992 Olympic Trials final in the 10,000 and was a member of the U.S. team at the 1996 World Cross-Country Championships.

bump

how did Landreth die?

Vladimir Kuts, 5000m and 10,000m champion at the 1956 Olympics, died at the age of 48 of his fourth heart attack.

Thanks for sharing from Schul's website and to 16x for first mentioning Bret's name.

Want to share a little more about Jeff Drenth, mentioned earlier. First, though, a little about two of his brothers, Walt and Doug. Walt has been a coach at ASU for a few years, William & Mary before that and Doug led the Petoskey High girls cross team to their first-ever (MI) state title last fall. Doug's wife, Terre, just penned one of those Idiot's Books...think it's on marthoning.

First met Jeff at a northern MI road race in the late 70's when he was a prep. I was struck by his enthusiasm...he introduced himself to me and we talked running a bit. At CMU, it was 2 years before his enthusiasm became focused w/the aid of Jed Hopfensperger.

They ran together and Jeff found himself logging longer, faster and more consistent miles ultimately leading up to some All-America performances. From there it was on to Athletics West where he made a couple US Int'l cross teams and ran some promising track times before the heart failure took him at age 24.

Everywhere he went he won people over with his kindness and optimism. At his funeral, over 800 people filled the Charlevoix gym including Joan Benoit, Ed Eyestone and Bruce Bickford. My son is named after him.

Just as sad, his parents were killed by a drunk driver in '91. Too much bad fortune to strike such a giving family.

I ran at Miami U when Jeff Drenth was at CMU. I saw him and Brian Carlton of Miami have some really great battles in some 10k's on the track.

Previously undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy...Travis was out for a tempo run with some Farm Team friends in Palo Alto on January 12, 2001, and he simply collapsed. He was only 24 years old...full of life and fun...and is sadly missed every moment of every day by those of us who knew and loved him.

Since we're up to 48 y/o I'll mention Paul Cummings.

Anybody remember a book and made-for-TV movie about runner from New Mexico named John Baker? I think it was called A Shining Season. He died of cancer, but spent his last year working with kids and gave the trophies and medals he had won over the years as awards to the kids. I think Tony Sandoval was even mentioned in it.

Thanks for the words about Bret...I raced Bret on many occasions and we became running friends...one of my most cherished pictures is of the 84 trials where Bret and I are side by side...we are the only two with Brooks spikes on...although I never beat him we had many good runs at each other and he was a nice guy to warm down with and talk with...

The University of Wyoming is pretty close to where I go to school I remeber when they had a pretty good team in 2000 and like all there runners died...

yes i remember him, same cancer as laNCE I THINK,?

Scott Weiland - Stone temple Pilots. 6:43 mile in gradeschool and should have been dead a long time ago.

I found the following in last week's USA Today: The visitor center at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona will be renamed to honor Cadillac (MI) native Kris Eggle, a slain National Park Service ranger. Eggle, 28, was shot to death in the park in August (last year) while chasing two suspects in a drug-related killing. The renaming is covered under a bill signed by President Bush.

Kris wasn't an All-American runner but was in every other positive sense of the word. He was a very fine runner at Cadillac High (home to Paul McMullen and Mark Smith) and did some running at the Univ of Michigan. He was a warm, outgoing, ambitious young man. Like Jeff Drenth, Kris introduced himself to me which was impressive enough and he seemed interested in the world at large and was always looking for ways to make it better. Kris died too young.