Carrie Chavez
I love you, Mark Ramirez ❤️! I am so sad for you, your family and all who loved you. Your passing is such a tremendous loss 💔. It doesn’t seem real.
I often wondered how I got so lucky to have someone as precious as you in my corner. Your love and friendship knew no bounds.
We met through running. Like so many of your friends. One of our favorite memories as friends was one of our first, from the late 90’s/early 2000s. Can’t remember the exact race date. We often talked about it over the next 20 plus years. We had both run CIM. Mark had finished ahead of me and when I crossed the line he was there. It was a freezing cold day and he was wearing shorts and a tank top and shivering. I asked him where his dry clothes were. He said instead of doing a sweat check he had given his dry clothes bag to Kathy to meet him at the finish, but he couldn’t find her 🥶. I said come with me and we got my dry clothes bag and I dressed him head to toe in my extra clothes including my extra socks as gloves 😊. He was so happy and warm. We all went home from the race and I forgot about it. The next week he came to my home and brought me a gift. A clear briefcase filled with chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil and a card that said I was worth my weight in gold 😊❤️. Awwwww. So thoughtful. That was Mark.
Our friendship grew over the years, over many miles together and family milestones. He loved our Tuesday track workouts and often invited people he met on the Ironhorse trail to join us. He loved the Friday hill runs and was always the first to snap a sunrise picture and share it with words of gratitude. On weekend long runs you were so lucky if you got to run with Mark. He always offered nuggets of wisdom to help you toward your goals. If you were going through anything he would pray for you and follow that up with a text and more words of encouragement. One of my favorite things to chat with him about was his love story. I would ask him to repeat the story over the years of how he and Kathy met and got married and raised a family. He just gushed with love for Kathy and his family and I loved hearing the story.
He always supported and loved my family. Our daughter Madison who is now a freshman in college adored Mark. He was there through my pregnancy and all the way through now. He cheered her on in all her races and attended her big high school events and milestones. Madison feels this loss tremendously. To have someone who loves you that much is such a gift. She has been so blessed to have Mark supporting her.
What stands out to me the most about Mark was his faith, grace and ability to encourage anyone he came in contact with. My running friends have been sharing their Mark stories with me and the common theme in all of them is how he encouraged them. Kathy shared with me this week that they would be driving in the car and if he saw a runner on the street, he would pull up, roll down the window and yell encouragement. She would ask if he knew them and he would say no. ❤️. That was classic Mark Ramirez!!
We called him the Mayor of the Ironhorse Trail. He greeted everyone and made life long friends there.
I asked Kathy and his family if I could host a memorial run in his honor and they burst in to tears. YES! They said. They definitely wanted that and they want to be there.
Please join us for Mark’s memorial run on 11/19/22 @ 8AM right near where he would start his run every day, along the trail he loved so much. You can run, walk, bike, visit, have coffee and food. Mark loved a good run and social.
All are welcome to attend. Please spread the word. ❤️
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