Update on Reflections of a Lost Runner

Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote a post about a little tucked away memorial to a person who had passed away. You can read the post HERE.

I had done some research and found out she was a runner. I pass this memorial on my favorite running route and always pause there.

This is right near the spot where the memorial is located. Cloudy day, but you can kinda see the Dallas skyline in the background.

Since I wrote that post, I’ve gotten a few messages from friends of her. If you read the comments in it, you’ll see some of them. It seems she was very much loved. I’m glad to hear that she made such an impression on people…So much so that they are still searching for her online so many years after her passing (That’s how they come across my blog post). That said, I still had many questions about who this person was…

…Fast forward to this week, and I received another message. One of her friends shared some more details about her. Here is what she wrote:

“Scott – I was a good friend of Sabra’s and her sister, Monica. I met them through mutual friends and became close to them when I joined Luke’s Locker’s marathon training programs in 2000. They’d been running marathons for years, and when I joined the group they took me under their wings and helped me prepare to run my first half-marathon (White Rock half). Although they were both much faster runners than I was, they were so sweet to run at my pace to keep me company and give me pep talks. I told them both at the time that I’m not sure if I would have made it through that first race without their support. We were also good/social friends outside of running. Sabra’s death was tragic – a motorcycle accident caused by a driver who ran a red light.

She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside, just like her sister, who was her best friend. Monica spearheaded planning for the memorial bench that you’ve discovered, and a number of us running friends contributed to its erection at the park. The phrase on the bench was Monica’s idea and it’s absolutely perfect. So many friends spent hours – years – training with Sabra at the lake and we wanted a place where friends and family could come to visit her. I shed a few tears of sadness when I stumbled upon your post, but also a few tears of happiness to know that her memory lives on at the lake and that others have discovered the special spot where she spent a lot of time and touched so many lives.”

Panorama mode

I’m thankful that she reached out to me, and that I am then able to reach out to you with this information. But I’m most thankful that Sabra’s friends know that even though she’s gone, people are still thinking of her…even people that never met her.

No questions today, but if you have any thoughts on this, please share in the comments.

PS – If you ever run at White Rock Lake in Dallas, and want to know where this memorial is, holla at me and I’ll fill you in.

Reflections of a Runner (Update)

A few months ago I wrote about a deceased runner memorial that I always see when I do my long runs at White Rock Lake.  Please do take the time to read it if you can, as I give details that I won’t in this post (you can skip about halfway down the post to where I start writing about her).

You can read that post HERE.

Back when I wrote my original post, I didn’t know too much about her.  A lot of readers wrote in the comments that they were curious about her like I was.  I did my best to research her, but couldn’t find too much.  I did find her brother on Facebook and Linkedin.  I sent him friend requests hoping he would accept and then I could reach out to him…unfortunately he hasn’t yet.

That said, if you scroll down in the comments of the post, you’ll see that I have since gotten comments from a couple of her friends.  One was last week.  They actually came across my blog when they were searching for her.

They left some very nice messages.  One also left a link to her obituary.  It was very nice of them to offer some insight into who she was – saying that she was a beautiful person inside and out.  I’m glad to hear it.

This past weekend I got a chance to run at that spot for the first time in months. I usually start/end my run where the plaque is.  This wasn’t by design – I didn’t notice the plaque until well after I had already established this as a good meeting point (as I said in the original post, it is kind of hidden).

When I finished my run, I went to the spot where the plaque is to stretch (like I always do).  I said a few words to her to let her know she wasn’t forgotten by her friends (and even some of us strangers).

Anyway, that’s just a quick update in case any of you were wondering what ever happened with that.  I promise to share if I ever get any more info. If you are reading this and have anything to share, please do!

-Scott

20 Miles, Reflections, & Tacos

For my Disney Dopey Challenge Hal Higdon Training, the weekend called for runs of 5 miles on Saturday, and 15 on Sunday.  And that’s what I did, for a nice 20 mile weekend total!  The weather didn’t make it easy though.  I got running before sunrise both days, but that didn’t help much.  Saturday was around 80 with about 90% humidity.  Sunday was a little cooler – around 70, but with 90% humidity.  Both days I was a sweaty mess!  In fact, it was commented to me that it looked like I had jumped in the lake.  My clothes (and shoes) are still trying to dry.  After that, I felt I deserved a treat….TACOS!

Migas Taco from Torchy’s Tacos. Here’s 1 of about 4 that I ate!

For the Sunday run I met up with some peeps to run around White Rock Lake.  Some of them I knew, some I now know.  You get to know people when you spend a couple hours running together, you know?  And it definitely makes it easier to run these longer distances when you have people to do it with.  That’s one of the reasons I go to WRL to run.  It’s a 9 mile loop with TONS of other runners.  I always enjoy the head nods when you see people who are going the opposite direction as you, especially when you see the same people 2 or 3 times!

We also took a few little batman routes to get us some extra mileage.  I was thrilled when we finished one loop and were at 12 miles instead of 9.  I was thrilled for two reasons.  1) I only had 3 more to go to get to 15.  2) It was my one running friend’s 1st time going that far!  And we did it with a decent pace too!  Somewhere around 8:40 miles.

After the run, I went to a bench that I use to help me stretch.  Under the back side of the bench, kind of hidden, is this small plaque:

Like I said, I use this bench to help me stretch each time I run there.  And I have seen this plaque before, but this time I really looked at it.  “A place to go to think of a friend”  I wonder what exactly that means?  Is that something this Sabra Frazer said often?  Was this her spot to sit and think of friends?  Or is this where her loved ones come to think about her?

And who is this person?  What happened to her?  It says she died in 2003.  She was only 35.  Curious, I did a Google search.  I can’t find many details…except this:  It appears she ran in races.  Some of her race results popped up on pages like Athlinks.com.  But I can’t find much else about who she was, or what happened to her.  If anyone has any information about her, I’d love to hear it.  Please tell me if you know anything!

The bench that this plaque is under is curious in itself.  Instead of facing the lake, it is facing the trail where all the runners are.  Thousands of people go by this memorial every day.  I doubt not more than a handful have ever noticed it.

I’m guessing like many of us runners in the area, this is where she came to train.  I’m also guessing her family put this here so they can come and sit and watch all the runners and remember how she would run past this same spot so many times.  So I sat on the bench for a little while and did what the plaque says to do.  Yes, it is a very good place to go to think of a friend.