Saying Goodbye to Another Running Parter: Jerry Crump RIP

Within the past couple of years, I said goodbye to a couple of running buddies (Steve and Sam); today I said goodbye to another. Jerry Crump died yesterday after a long illness; he was 67.

I met Jerry through the running races; it was his style to have a training partner and I was to become good friends with his first one. He also was active in Building Steam (to train new runners).

He was a fiercely competitive runner who cared about his times and places; he even ran a marathon in the 2:50′s as a 50 year old.
We ran a few long runs together; he took me on a variety of courses and I took him on my half marathon course from our house through Springdale Cemetery. He also introduced me to Farmdale Cemetery.

We entered many of the same races, but unless he was recovering from something (say, a 50 miler), I was rarely ahead of him.
I especially remember the 1998 Galesburg half marathon. It was very, very windy. I was in 1:3x shape but the win whipped me and whipped me bad; I ran a 1:42 and it was a real struggle. But Jerry just tore through the wind with no trouble at all; he was exiting a park just as I was entering it and he was in full stride, with his skinny body upright and tearing through the wind.

He didn’t strike an imposing figure; he was very, very slender with a bald stop and scraggly beard. He was an accountant and his personality very much fit the part. He was organized, dependable, sincere and very, very private.

He appreciated the beauty of a course; there was time to push, a time for speed work, and a time to do a course that was “good for your soul” as he used to say.

I found out that he was terminally ill this summer; he just didn’t look good. He told me that he was ill but also asked me to keep my mouth shut, and so I did.

Here are a few of our adventures:
Our last race together was the Park to Park 5 miler in 2005; he did very well in his age group:
96 Jerry Crump East Peoria IL 62 1 M 60-64 36:41.8 7:20/M
165 Ollie Nanyes Peoria IL 45 18 M 45-49 41:04.5 8:13/M

(ok, I was in ultra walking mode and had no running speed. )
That day was hot as all get out; my friend Tracy and his training partner went with us.

We also traveled to the Quad Cities to do a half marathon in 2002; this was my last half marathon at a pace faster than 8 minutes per mile:
2 Jerry Crump Peoria IL 58 49 1:38:44.69 7:32 (2n’d age group, 49′th overall)
16 Ollie Nanyes Peoria IL 42 78 1:43:06.23 7:52 (16 out of 39, 78′th overall)

And we met at some other races:
At Delevan in 2001, he and I ran the first part of it together; he was worried that we had gone out too fast. Of course, I couldn’t stay with him all the way.

26 Jerry Crump M 57 East Peo. IL 1:36:59
28 Ollie Nanyes M 41 Peoria IL 1:37:32

Still, that was a good one for me.

And there was the Mitsubishi Half Marathon in 1999; I ran my PR and beat my “special rival (Jerry’s training partner); Jerry was upset with his time.

26 Jerry Crump 56 M 1:33:57
30 Ollie Nanyes 40 M 1:34:16
31 Deborah Wresinski 33 F 1:34:28

There were many other events.

Jerry, you left us much too early. You’ll be missed.