Many of you know by now that Cindy Brochman passed away last week. She was a long time MDRA member, Run n Fun runner, Team Baba Yaga racer, USATF committee chair and the list goes on. There will be more details on her life and career as an athlete in the upcoming issue of RunMinnesota.
This moving tribute was written by her Team Baba Yaga teammate Paula Willis. (photo courtesy of Craig Yotter)
Cindy Brochman
Cindy Brochman was part of a sisterhood, born fifteen years ago, on the top of a mountain. Every year since the mid-1990s, Cindy covered the steep, grueling first leg of the Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon, as part of Team Baba Yaga, a sisterhood of twelve. The faces of those twelve changed a bit from year to year, but Cindy’s face was constant. Cindy’s salience was insured at the annual event, as it was her character that embodied the spirit of Baba Yaga. From the confidence she exhibited at the start of the relay, clad in bun-huggers, to the fearlessness that set the square of her jaw-bone, to the strength she poured into those dreaded “fourth legs” of the relay she was called upon to run on more than a few occasions, Cindy’s spirit led the Baba Yagas to Women’s Open Division Championships or runner’s up, fourteen years in a row. Cindy played out the message of the Baba Yaga story on the course and in her life. She embraced all of life’s challenges with a sort of zeal that most of us only envy. Her final race was not so unlike the many that preceded it. She was familiar with the pain associated with drawing breath in the final miles. In the end, her last race must have ended the way all good races do; with the embrace of friends and loved ones, and a feeling of deep satisfaction, knowing that you dredged the depths of your abilities, and discovered a surprising new piece of the humanity you call Self. Suddenly, you feel unburdened…free…as if you had wings.
Cindy Brochman was part of a sisterhood, born fifteen years ago, on the top of a mountain. Every year since the mid-1990s, Cindy covered the steep, grueling first leg of the Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon, as part of Team Baba Yaga, a sisterhood of twelve. The faces of those twelve changed a bit from year to year, but Cindy’s face was constant. Cindy’s salience was insured at the annual event, as it was her character that embodied the spirit of Baba Yaga. From the confidence she exhibited at the start of the relay, clad in bun-huggers, to the fearlessness that set the square of her jaw-bone, to the strength she poured into those dreaded “fourth legs” of the relay she was called upon to run on more than a few occasions, Cindy’s spirit led the Baba Yagas to Women’s Open Division Championships or runner’s up, fourteen years in a row. Cindy played out the message of the Baba Yaga story on the course and in her life. She embraced all of life’s challenges with a sort of zeal that most of us only envy. Her final race was not so unlike the many that preceded it. She was familiar with the pain associated with drawing breath in the final miles. In the end, her last race must have ended the way all good races do; with the embrace of friends and loved ones, and a feeling of deep satisfaction, knowing that you dredged the depths of your abilities, and discovered a surprising new piece of the humanity you call Self. Suddenly, you feel unburdened…free…as if you had wings.
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1 comment:
Thank you for this moving tribute. I wish I had known Cindy personally. She sounds like an amazing person. I run on snowshoes and was at some of the races she organized or won. I really admire her strength and determination in her running and in her life. What an inspiration.
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