Thomas Cahill wrote a fascinating book about the amazing impact of the Irish on the development of Western civilization. I am here to add that the Irish have left an indelible stamp on the tiny Isle of Guam, here in the Asian-Micronesian quadrant of the Pacific Rim.

This year* our running community said, "Good bye" and "God Speed!" to our own beloved Irishman and one of the founders of the Guam Running Club. You can see a younger version of Mick on the front cover of this year's (2004 Edition) of The Guam Runner's Training Log©. Mick left us, his wife Nelda, and his family for fairer hills and brighter skies than even this island paradise could offer. After battling over a year with cancer, he hung up his running shoes and walked through the Door to beyond. (During Mick's battle with the cancer, he actually resumed 18+ mile long runs while undergoing his chemo ... simply amazing!)

Mick left us ... and he left us so much. Even to those of you who will never have the privilege to have met him, Mick Flynn left his gift. Some of our club's signature and most insane races are Mick's creations. If you have ever struggled and gasped up the mountainsides of the southern part of Guam attempting the third major hill of the Alley Oop 6.7 miler, you have Mick to thank for your pain. Mick said he named the race after Alley Oop because it took a caveman's brains to sign up for this race and a caveman's legs to finish it! As one of the club's early presidents, Mick provided leadership and humor.

Browse through the course records on the GRC website sometime (www.guamrunningclub.com) and you will see Mick Flynn is there ... often. Mick's name remains as he continues to hold an enviable number of division records which all bear witness to one fact: Mick Flynn was a very fast runner. Even though Joe Taitano (the Grand Man of Guam running) and Graham Rogers (the New Zealand Fury) have nibbled away at his achievements, even they look at some of Mick's records and simply shake their heads in wonder and resignation, "Can't touch that!!!"

Mick Flynn reveled in the pure joy of running and ran his races in the tradition of the Irish-- hard and fast followed by a stout brew. It was understood that on certain races on the annual calendar that three Miller Gold Draft beers would be tucked in the bottom corner of the ice-chest--this was Mick's "pot o' gold" at the end of the rainbow.

Unforgettable is the only way to describe the annual sighting of this rare bird in a feathered head dress (the kind parents once bought for their kids at the corner 5 & Dime store to play Cowboys and Indians). This was Mick's standard attire at our annual Turkey Trot 3.5 miler. That was Mick the head gobbler and running prankster in full costume. The very last Turkey Trot Mick ran, he wore the very first Turkey Trot T-shirt ever printed for the GRC (that's 37 years ago). Mick had virtually every race T-shirt the GRC ever produced, which probably necessitated several expansions and additions to his home to provide additional storage. Nancy Hawkins-Rojas inherited the feathered crown and donned the head band this past Turkey Trot. Those of us who knew what this meant were grateful.

"Keep it fun ..."--that's what Mick urged when I took up the president's position of this venerable running club. With a building head of steam, I began to dream of growing our marathon and, briefly, got caught up with the corporate wooing and the hoopla required to make it happen. When I shared these plans with Mick, he looked at me quizzically through eyes of whimsy and wit and asked, "Why?" I sputtered momentarily and then stopped, realizing I had no good answer for such a simple, down-to-earth question. Why, indeed! At the end of my pause, (my silence itself an acknowledgement that I got the point), he said, "Keep it fun, Neil. Keep it fun." And that from a man who could run circles around most of us ... a friend acquainted with the same sorrows as any of us have faced, a mentor who confronted his last adversary -- cancer -- with triumphant love and the company of his wife and family; his is advice that applies not only to running but to the whole course of life: "Keep it fun!"

We will, Mick Flynn. God helping us, we surely will.

Celebrating the gift of the Irish,

Neil Culbertson,
January 2004

If you look carefully, note the fellow behind and left of the beachboy with the turkey. That, folks, is a younger Mick
Flynn at the very first running of the GRC Turkey Trot 3.5 miler. Can you see the mischief and the fun in his face?

* "This year" meaning July 4, 2003.