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Jack Waitz keeps learning about his wife, Grete Waitz, since she died April 19 at the age of 57. People tell him about their one meeting, stories that glow with kindness and generosity.
So begins a lovely story about Grete in the New York Times by George Vecsey.
“She met one guy in New York, in a hotel, and he had a boyfriend who was running the marathon, and Grete talked to the boyfriend and he was so surprised, and Grete sent him a note with a little training program,” Waitz recalled the other day. “There’s a lot of people like that, just people that she met on the way.”
Grete Waitz was always on the way, with that lithe body that was built to travel long distances economically, gracefully. And when she paused, people discovered a shy person who nevertheless had time for others.
No doubt Jack Waitz will hear more stories this weekend when he and Grete’s brother, Jan Andersen, fly to New York for a tribute to one of the great champions of the city, of the world.
On Friday there will be a private memorial, and on Saturday morning in Central Park, Jack and Jan and a cluster of male friends will be the first men to run in the Mini, the landmark 10-kilometer race for women, which Grete won five times.
Read the rest of Vecsey's moving story about Grete Waitz here.
PHOTO: Since Grete Waitz's death, her husband has received many stories of her graciousness with other runners. Sara Krulwich, The New York Times
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