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Last Monday night, while out on a run, Jim Kelley was struck and killed by a car. Kelley, 51, of Cascade Township, Michigan, was an avid runner, and heavily involved in the Grand Rapids Running Club.
Kelley had recently run the Chicago Marathon, finishing strong even after stepping on a grate and twisting his ankle less than halfway through. He stopped at an aid station and the medics told him to stop, said Scott Belland, a friend.
"He said, ‘No, tape it up. I'm going to go on and I'm going to finish,'" Belland said. [...]
"He was never in a bad mood. He always had a smile on his face."
As talented as he was, Kelley took care to look out for beginning runners, Kern said. He mentored those training for their first big race and cared about seeing their successes. But even more, he enjoyed seeing their love of the sport take root.
After his death, friends remembered Kelley in the way he likely would have wanted -- with a run:
via Reddit