Run organized to celebrate Palmer’s life

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When Andy Palmer died in North Carolina on Feb. 4, the state of Maine lost one of its elite distance runners.

The Maine running community lost a friend.

“Andy was as interested in the jogger as he was in the elite runner,” Ed Rice said, pointing out that Palmer was just as apt to help either group.

Rice and Peter Millard of Orono are helping to organize an event that will celebrate the life of Palmer, who died after a run at the age of 48.

The Andy Palmer Memorial Relay is a mammoth undertaking: Running clubs from across the state will team up to run a relay from Kittery to Palmer’s hometown of Madawaska. The run will begin at 8 a.m. on Friday, June 14, and finish at about 11 p.m. Sunday, June 16.

According to estimates the organizers have compiled, the run will cover 504 miles and will take about 63 hours. The time estimates are rough, based on runners traveling at a 7:30-per-mile pace. And some bikers will participate, which will also alter the total time.

The relay is expected to pass through Bangor at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

“It’s all very rough at this moment,” Rice said. “Trying to coordinate those running clubs [which will be responsible for their sections of the state] and groups of people is going to be a task.”

The relay will serve to celebrate Palmer’s life, and will also be a fund-raiser for ZAP Fitness, the nonprofit training facility that Palmer and his wife, Zika, founded in Blowing Rock, N.C.

Palmer won the Seattle Marathon in 1982 and ran the Bostonfest Marathon in 2 hours, 16 minutes, 25 seconds in 1983. He participated in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 1984 and 1988. In 1986, he was 13th in the trials for the world marathon championships. His career bests included a 4:13 mile and 29:04 10K.

With such an undertaking, Rice points out, come logistical problems that organizers are trying to sort out.

And he’s looking for all kinds of help, so that he and Millard don’t have to dip into the funds that are raised to pay for necessities. He’d prefer the money go to ZAP Fitness.

The immediate needs:

. A van.

“We’d like to make it known that we’re looking [for a van], so that we can have this one unifying thing that goes from club to club, all the way up to Madawaska,” Rice said.

He hopes that a car dealer will step forward and donate the use of a van for the weekend.

. A cell phone.

The thought is that a single cell phone that would be with the van all the way from Kittery to Madawaska would allow organizers to keep track of the progress and let others know how the relay’s going.

. Glow sticks and vests for runners who may arrive and not have one. They’ll be required for all after-dark runners.

. A plaque, which would be left in Madawaska.

Rice said Palmer’s message was simple.

“One time he said to me, ‘I’m a work in progress,'” Rice said. “What he meant was a lifetime person who stayed in shape. The irony of it was he died, and he was in shape. Way too soon.”

Anyone interested in contributing to the run, or in donating any of the items mentioned, can contact Rice at 866-7238 (e-mail edrice1@adelphia.net), or Millard at 866-3503 (pmillard@adelphia.net).

Clark challenges elite field

Last year, Heather Clark didn’t have to look very far for competition: All the Brewer High runner had to do was step on the track and race against teammate Heather Jovanelli.

Then Jovanelli graduated and headed to the University of Maine. And Clark got better. And now, competitive races – the kind runners thrive on – aren’t so common.

“Unfortunately, now that I’m [faster], everyone’s graduated and it leaves me and [Hampden star] Oriana [Farley],” Clark said.

In order to get into a faster race and face top competition, Clark is heading to White Plains, N.Y., this weekend for the 35th Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Track & Field Games.

And she’ll get exactly what she’s looking for: Her indoor 1,600 best of 5 minutes, 10 seconds leaves her seeded 19th in a loaded high school field.

Clark, who will miss a relay meet the Witches host, said the timing of the event fit both her schedule and her team’s.

Now she’s ready to race.

“Whether I’m in the fast heat or the second heat or the slow heat, I don’t really know,” Clark said. “I want to take advantage of the competition that I have and try to run with the best of ’em.”

Finishing kick: Runners looking to race this weekend have a couple of Sunday choices:

In Portland, the city’s professional baseball team will host the Portland Sea Dogs Mother’s Day 5K at Hadlock Field; and in Rockland, the 12th Coastal Community Action Program Mother’s Day Road Race is set for 8:30 a.m.

John Holyoke can be reached at 990-8214, 1-800-310-8600, or by e-mail at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net