Kayoh was my running partner and best friend for the past several years.

That all came to an end, when she became a victim to a hit and run driver on

December 7th, 2004. She was a beautiful Golden Retriever / Siberian husky

mix. She would of been 8 years old last Monday.

My times and mileage have suffered greatly with her lost. I am still

running the marathons, but without the good times and not the same

enjoyment. I do not have a motivation problem, but a Kayoh problem. We

lived in the country together and we would cover the trails along the river,

the creek, and various deer trails too. I have not been able to run them

alone for very long now. It is very difficult to let go. My Love for Kayoh

goes deep.

She would be ready to go each morning for a run, especially in the winter.

She loved the snow. I can still see her jumping though the snow with her

ears perk up and her tailed curled up too. In the warmer months she would

take a break and go for a swim in the river or creek that we ran along. She

would catch up with me later or join me on the way back through the woods.

She seemed to have endless energy. Many runners have been amazed by what I

have done in my running career, Kayoh amazed me.

I remember the time that she was on the losing end with a skunk. After a

couple of bathes in tomato juice she was able to come into my home again.

Boy, did she ever smell bad. Another time I came to her rescue when she was

trying to get a fawn to play with her. She was lucky that I came by before

that bellowing fawn's mother got there. Then there was the time she was

trying to get a big fat groundhog to play. Of course Mr. Groundhog just

wanted to take a nap until February, it was in October. I called off Kayoh

and the fat groundhog waddle away.

After many times trying to catch a rabbit without much success Kayoh

finally caught one and you could see the pride in her face and eyes of

finally catching one. Thank you for taking the time to read this maybe

this will help me to go on with my life. I have lost two wives in the past,

one to cancer and another to a stroke, but Kayoh's lost seems to hurt the

most. I know that I need to go on but it is difficult. The Lincoln

Marathon 2005 will be my 200th and a special remembrance run to honor

Kayoh for without her I may not have gotten there.

Tom Detore