Category: How does one miss a person they’ve never met? Even though I never had the honor of meeting Christine in person, I feel a sense of loss today at her passing. Christine was an active and vibrant part of the forums at Beginner Triathlete. Her logs there were titled “Pocket full of sunshine” because that’s how she viewed life.
She was a wife and a mother of two teenage sons. She finished the Ironman 70.3 Florida race on May 18 and walked a 5k race as recently as July 4th. She was even posting on the BT forums as recently as Saturday, but now she’s gone. 
Here are some photos of her from the Florida Half Ironman race:
Christine began noticing numbness and tingling in her left arm about a month ago. It then began progressing up to her face, and then down into her left leg. About a week later, she began having vision and balance/coordination issues as well. After seeing various medical professionals, last week the neurologist discovered a mass on her brain and scheduled further tests to determine the exact cause/nature of the mass.
She took a turn for the worse on Sunday and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. The neurosurgeon reviewed all of the CTs with the family and felt that this most likely was a hemangioma that had been sitting there, perhaps her whole life, like a time bomb, just waiting to go off. There really was not anything that could have been done at any point in time. Christine passed away yesterday, and as was her nature of being such a giving person, her organs were harvested and will be provided to those who need them.
Christine’s coach at the Hit The Trails store was already hosting a 5K race this Friday near Tampa. After hearing of her death, he has now stated that all proceeds from the race will go to her family. Many of us from the BT boards who knew Christine have registered for the race and will simultaneously do it virtually in our own cities. So, this Friday at 4pm PT, I will be participating in the Hit the Trails XC 5K race in honor & memory of Christine. Even though we never had the pleasure of running a race together in person, in my mind, she will be with me each step of the way on Friday.
WOOT..there are 4 comment(s) for me so far!
Tragic loss and a reminder to live each day as if it is your last. My heart goes out to her family.
life is too too short. it is sad that I DID need this reminder to remind my loved onse that I, too, wanna donate my organs should anything happen to me.
my heart and prayers go out to her family as well.
Keeping her family in my prayers. This life is short and so unpredictable. We must live each day to it’s fullest and be present in each moment we are blessed with.