Essie Garrett, whose knee-length dreadlocks and sunny perseverance made her one of Colorado’s most recognizable ultradistance runners and extraordinary fundraisers, died Tuesday. She was 74.
Garrett grew up in Riesel, Texas, joined the Army when she was 16, and served for three years before moving to Denver. About that time, she became a follower of , the Indian spiritual master who believed enlightenment could be achieved through , including long-distance running and swimming.
A solidly built woman with an inquisitive gaze and a deliberate way of speaking, taught refrigeration mechanics at Emily Griffith Opportunity School for more than two decades.
Most of her students were male. They were initially surprised to find that their instructor was a female, and even more surprised at her self-assured competence with electronics.
She often ran from her longtime home in north Park Hill to the school’s downtown campus, her dreads bound in a ponytail that bounced heavily on her back.
“She was always coming up with different ideas for fundraising,” said Chris Millius, who worked with Garrett at the school. “She led a walking group at lunchtime. What I remember most about her was that I’d be driving to work, and I’d see Essie running through Five Points or City Park.”
Nearly always, she was in training for a goal. First, it was the Leadville Trail 100, the punishing 100-mile race that initially defeated her when she was caught in a thunderstorm on one of the passes.
As Garrett , she began including multiple-sclerosis research that she hoped would help , a close friend diagnosed with the disease, the Denver Rescue Mission, Cops & Kids, Emily Griffith Foundation, Children’s Hospital Colorado, the Colorado Aids Project .
In 1991, she began a Thanksgiving tradition of raising money for the homeless by running laps around the Colorado Capitol building for 48 hours, pausing occasionally to refuel at the temporary soup kitchen she set up for her supporters. Garrett knew about true hunger.
“Don’t you ever say you’re starving,” she admonished friends who casually used that phrase as they were sitting down to eat. “An appetite is not the same thing as starving.”
From 1981 to 2012, she ran more than 25,000 miles, raising more than $1 million for charity. In 1993, into the Sportswomen of Colorado’s Hall of Fame.
After retiring in 2010, she moved into an . She soon joined residents in campaigning to improve conditions in the antiquated building.
Garrett was discovered in her apartment March 26 after a friend, concerned when Garrett failed to return her calls, contacted her building’s management. Friends said she was emaciated and unconscious, wearing only a T-shirt, when emergency medical technicians wheeled her from the building.
News of her death shocked people in the nonprofit and distance-running communities.
Garrett never married and has no known survivors.
Memorial services are pending.
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477, cmartin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/byclairemartin
Essie garrett 1940-2014
Ultramarathon runner and tireless fundraiser Essie Garrett, who ran more than 25,000 miles and raised over $1 million since 1981, died April 1.
