Through Thursday morning’s darkness, the white light of more than 70 headlamps glowed through the meadow of a Colorado Springs park – runners who were on their way to a hilltop, where they would hug and cry and long for their leader.
Michael Shafai, the former president of the Pikes Peak Road Runners who spent 15 years fostering active lifestyles in the area’s great outdoors, died unexpectedly Wednesday.
A cause of death had yet to be determined Thursday, close friends said. Shafai was found unresponsive Tuesday night at his Manitou Springs home and rushed to Penrose Hospital, where he was pronounced dead after midnight. He was 47.
Survivors include his wife of three years, Stephanie Wurtz, current president of Pikes Peak Road Runners, as well as his daughter, Alexandra Shafai, 18, and son, Benjamin Shafai, 15.
The Sunrise Striders, the group Shafai started in 2003, gathered Thursday morning as usual. As usual on Sunday, Shafai emailed his 350-person listserv the workout plan for Tuesday and Thursday.
Also Sunday, he prepared meals for the fellow mountain bikers who were to travel with him to spend the next week in Moab, Utah. He once again organized the annual trip he called “Rocktober.”
With 50-plus finishes in 26.2-mile races counting the Pikes Peak Marathon and Boston Marathon, Shafai planned to add to his list this year with the New York City Marathon and Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota.
“That’s what’s so shocking: He was such a healthy person,” said John Gardner as he reflected on the longtime friend he paced at the Leadville Trail 100 ultramarathon, the friend who encouraged him to complete an Ironman Triathlon; Shafai finished several of those contests consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon.
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