I received this e-mail from the people at Brooks in regards to my friend Liz who was killed last year. They will be hosting a memorial run and bench dedication on April 20th.
Hello everyone,
Nearly one year ago we lost fellow coworker and friend Liz Duncan. On April 21, 2007, Liz was out for a daily training run and stood at an intersection waiting for the rest of her running group to arrive. Without warning, an out-of-control car jumped the curb, struck Liz and killed her instantly. To honor her contribution to Brooks and to remember the good spirit she instilled in many, we invite you to join us on Sunday, April 20 as we dedicate a legacy bench in her name along the Burke Gilman Trail.
The new bench will be located alongside a Bothell portion of the trail many of us run routinely, as did Liz. On the ground in front of the bench will rest a plague with an inscription including “Life is Short. Run Long.” as well as her name and dates of life. On the bench seat you’ll find a bronzed pair of Defyance shoes in Liz’s size, as if she had just finished a run, took off her Brooks, and left them behind. The bench donation will benefit King County Parks.
Joined by Liz’s friends and family members, we welcome all of you to gather bench-side with us as we celebrate Liz’s life. Following is more information regarding the dedication event:
**Date: **Sunday, April 20
**Time: **1 p.m.
Where: In Bothell along the BGT (see attached aerial map, exact bench spot will be Location #1…not #2)
Who: Brooks employees, Liz’s friends and family members, and a representative from King County Parks
Questions: Please see Dawn Gardner (dawn.gardner@brooksrunning.com) or Jenni Lopez (jenni.lopez@brooksrunning.com)
**Additional details: **Liz’s favorite flower was gerber daisies, those able to attend are welcome to bring flowers to adorn the bench
Those it’s been hard for us to come up with a way to honor Liz, we feel that this is a wonderful opportunity to come together and remember the incredible person that she was. This means so much to us and we look forward to seeing those who are able to attend.
Thank you,
Dawn, Jenni and the whole Brooks Customer Service crew
(My original post from April 2007)
I received the very sad new this weekend that a runner I knew from my hometown was hit and killed in Seattle on Saturday. I met Liz in 2004 when she just started getting into distance running. She ran a 3:23 for her first marathon (Portland in 2004) and placed 18th overall and second in her AG at the Seattle 1/2 last year. She had a gift for running and had hopes to pursue it more seriously in the future. She was 26 years old…
Life is short, make everyday count.
26-year-old struck by car remembered
Published Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
**MICHELLE DUPLER HERALD STAFF WRITER **
Passionate, shining and magnetic are the words Elizabeth Duncan’s family and friends used to describe the woman they loved who died Saturday on a Seattle street.
The former Richland High star soccer and basketball player was out for a run about 9:30 a.m. in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood when she was hit by a Pontiac Grand Am.
The 16-year-old driver told police she lost control while turning left and slammed into Duncan, 26.
The teen hasn’t been arrested or given a citation, said Officer Sean Whitcomb of the Seattle Police Department. But, he said, it had rained and the girl may have been driving too fast for the wet pavement. Their investigation is continuing, he said.
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Duncan’s father, Dennis of Richland, said running was one of his daughter’s passions.
She ran track as a Richland High School Bomber and worked for about a year as a sales representative for Brooks Sports Inc., a Seattle-based company that designs and markets high-performance running shoes and apparel.
“She was one of those kids who had so much going on,” said Bruce Blizard, one of her track coaches at Richland High. “It was kind of remarkable how she was able to manage everything. She was able to move from one season to another through all four years without missing a beat and that’s pretty rare.”
Everyone who knew Elizabeth Duncan, known to most as Liz, remembers the way she excelled at everything she did and encouraged others to excel too.
Blizard’s enduring memory of Duncan was her leading a relay team to third place in a regional track meet her senior year in 1998.
The team went into the meet with the slowest relay time, he said, but the sheer force of Duncan’s personality inspired the girls to what he called a remarkable turnaround.
“Those four girls really elevated themselves on that particular weekend,” Blizard said.
The relay team wasn’t the only group of Bombers who found themselves better for having known Duncan. Chris Smith, Richland High’s girls varsity soccer coach, said she helped lead her team to the state’s final four for the first time in the school’s history when she was a junior.
“Liz really was paramount,” Smith said. “She and a handful of kids boosted the program to new heights.”
Smith remembers the way other students would gravitate toward Duncan’s magnetic personality.
“She always had a positive, shiny attitude about everything,” he said. “She was a leader on the field and off.”
Former teammate Lindsey Jorgensen said Duncan brought that infectious spirit with her during her four years playing women’s soccer for Washington State University, where the two became best friends.
“She was one of the most vibrant and passionate people I’ve ever met,” Jorgensen said.
The two shared their Christian faith as well.
“She had an amazing relationship with God that transformed her life and gave her a purpose for all that she did,” Jorgensen said.
Mike Stevenson, Duncan’s godfather, said she found peace through her faith, and reached out to share that with others. She spent a few years in Ohio reaching out to college athletes as part of Athletes in Action, a ministry that uses sports to build a spiritual movement around the world.
About a year ago, she moved to Seattle and was training for the Chicago marathon when she died, Stevenson said.
“I’ve known her since birth, but I never knew she could make a mark on so many people so fast as I discovered (Sunday) in Seattle,” he said. “There was a huge outpouring of people bringing flowers to the crash site, people pouring their hearts out on the street corner about what a great, loving person she was.”
Jorgensen said her friend would want others to celebrate the life she had and to live their own lives to the fullest.
“I know definitely that she would want everyone to do that with the perspective of Christ being an important part of (their lives),” she said.
Friends and family will gather at 2 p.m. Saturday for a service celebrating Duncan’s life at Bethel Church, 600 Shockley Road, Richland.
