Lisa Thomas Duits

It has been a week since we heard the tragic news of our beloved friend, teammate, and assistant coach’s passing. In the past week I have gone through every emotion multiple times, and just when I think things are getting back to normal the pain hits me again. Sitting down to write this, I ponder all the wonderful things I could write about her. Lisa was more than a friend. She was everything.. To so many people.

I met Lisa for the first time in August of 2006. I came to Gunnison two weeks early to adjust to the altitude and to get to know the team. I was staying with some of the girls at their apartment when Lisa came flying through the door like a fiery ball or energy. She was spouting out the most obscene things I had ever heard, and making everyone fall off their chairs in laughter. I was shocked at the amount of energy she brought into the apartment in such a short period of time. I was also a little spectacle of her, as she seemed to be eyeing me from across the room. I could tell she was devising some sort of plan, or trying to figure out how to approach me for the first time.

One of the first runs I went on with Lisa was an over distance run at Hartman’s. Coach Vandenbusche kept on sending us up more trails and we had already been running for an hour and forty minutes. I couldn’t believe it, which was the longest I had ever run in my life. Then he sent us up Rocky Ridge, and everyone moaned in agony as we began our ascent. About ¼ of the way up I surged to the front and started yelling out “lets blow this mother down!” All of the older girls looked at me like I was crazy, but Lisa didn’t hesitate a second. Before I knew it the two of us were up and over the ridge and soaring down the backside, cheering, and signing at the top of our lungs. At that moment I knew it was the start of a beautiful relationship.

Over the past three years Lisa has supported me through my injury, pool laden days, she has guided me through the toughest times, and sent me into more fits of laughter than I could ever imagine. In the fall of 2008 I got injured again, and she was there, filling my heart with hope and determination. She never let me give up on myself, and always kept me longing for more. I told her I would line up with her in November, and despite running through an injury for a majority of the season, she literally held my hand, and pushed me to the start line where we lined up together, as I had promised her we would do. She helped me achieve my goals, and fulfill my promise to myself and to her.

Over the course of the last two years our team has grown closer than I ever would have thought. Lisa was the handle hold for many of us, and pulled us into a tight group of teammates that are really more like sisters. She taught us that it doesn’t matter what your number on the team is, as long as you are there. She took the pettiness out of the team sport, and instead filled us with love and respect for each other. Lisa taught me that instead of looking at my teammates with jealousy, I should look at them with honor and pride. I can’t count how many workouts Lisa pulled me through. Every day was like learning a lesson with her. She would sacrifice her own workout to help me have a better one. She would call me the night before a race, even when she had one, to come up with my “game plan.” She was always the first person to call and see how my race went, and make sure that everyone had on enough clothes before the cool down. When I went home for winter break she would have me call her when my plane landed to make sure I made it safely. She was truly the older sister someone could only dream of.

When I think back over my time with Lisa, I can’t believe I have only known her for almost four years. Now, what seems like a lifetime of laughter is memories. The girls and I continue to talk about her as if she will be back tomorrow. Maybe part of it is denial, maybe it is the fear of letting her go, but I truly feel her with us. I still can’t believe that her body is gone, but her spirit is forever in me, pushing me a guiding me through running, and life. I think I can speak for everyone that knew her when I say I feel truly blessed to have gotten to know her, and have her in my life. Lisa has forever touched, and influenced my life for the better. May she always be here! GO WSC!