Paul Dwyer - RIP
Paul Dwyer, a friendly face from the old days, died on November 5 at the age of 75. Paul’s multifaceted life included running several events with our gang. He finished Bull Run Run five times. He was a regular at Andiamo. He finished the Umstead 100 and JFK 50, the latter several times.
Paul always had a friendly word and a smile. Paul was from the Scott Mills era of Bull Run Run. That was appropriate since Paul was a retired Air Force colonel and the two got along well. On learning of Paul’s death, Scotty said, “Paul and Cindy [Paul’s wife] were and are great patriots and extremely kind and giving individuals. His work with Wounded Wariors and young military families goes beyond what I have ever witnessed in this regard.”
Here is Paul’s obituary. There are opportunities to make memorial gifts noted in the obit.
Smitty had this rememberance of Paul:
“So sorry to hear of Colonel Dwyer’s passing. I thought I’d share a small vignette circa 2002, location: Clifton , Virginia, occasion: Bull Run Run 50. I had been in my usual struggle mode, by the time I made it out of Wolf Run Shoals on my way to the Marina and eventually, hopefully, up the final hill to the promised land that awaited at Hemlock. I happened to be running a similar pace to this older fellow and as often occurs, we began chatting and the miles seemed to hasten by, we were still able to curse the hills that we encountered but the journey had become a lot more enjoyable. Lo and behold we found ourselves within 1/2 mile or so from the finish line, at the bottom of ‘The Hill,’ one last obstinate obstacle before the beer tasting would begin. Begrudgingly, Joyfully, Whimsically I looked at the impending climb, gandered at Paul and said ‘let’s get this thing outta the way,’ Paul looked at me with an odd expression, paused and stated rather authoritatively, ‘Smitty, the way I’m looking at it, I’ve got about an hour and fifteen minutes to get up this damn hill!’ I’ll never forget that run, in large part because of company I was fortunate enough to travel with and the smile I couldn’t take off of my face going up that hill and recalling that day.”
About a year ago, Paul contacted me saying that he had shirts and hats he didn’t need anymore and offering them to the club. I took him up on the offer, but I have dropped the ball in distributing the items. I need to rectify that.
If you want something, contact me. This is good stuff. It’s BRR t-shirts and two finishers jackets from the Mills era, an old style VHTRC hat, and two JFK hats (from 1999 and 2002). The sizes go from XL to medium. Paul would want you to have it.
Happy trails, Paul!
