LETTER: Selfless act inspires 5K runner to return to Flagler

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

By Stephen Cole

Guest Writer

Last year at the Police Athletic League's 5K Hot Pursuit at the European Village, a runner by the name of Dave approached me and told me that he lives in the Pensacola area and that he ran the 7 Mile Bridge Run in the Keys earlier in the morning and basically drove straight to Flagler County from the Keys to run our 5K in the evening before returning home.

Dave told me that he had been at our event the prior year to support a friend but did not run in it. He said he was so impressed with the event and loved our award medals that he made sure he was going to do our event last year and win a medal. Unfortunately, in 2015, the year Dave actually ran, we gave away tiles instead of medals, and he was a little disappointed.

This man deserves a medal

David Farnum confirmed Cmdr. Steve Cole’s story, but added another detail or two. First of all, during the phone call with the Observer’s editor, Farnum said, “Hold on a second. There’s a turtle on the road. I gotta jump out and save him.”

When Farnum got back on the phone, he said he was surprised that Cole had sent him the medal.

“For somebody to do that — that’s a selfless act,” Farnum said. “I’m an out-of-towner. I don’t live here. There was not a reason for him to have done that. It was really cool of him.”

He explained that after he got the medal in 2015, he didn’t want to merely write a letter back. “My only way of showing my appreciation was to drive back down and say thank you in person.”

Farnum wanted to do something nice for PAL in return. After the 2016 race, he saw that they were selling last year’s T-shirts for $1 apiece as a fundraiser.

“I bought a couple of them,” Farnum said. “Then, I called him later and said, ‘I want to buy all the rest of the shirts.’”

If there ever was any doubt of Farnum’s gratitude, there isn’t any more. Why else would he buy 48 Flagler PAL T-shirts?

I was so impressed that this individual would basically circle our large state in a day to do our event that I looked up his address from our registrations, and I mailed him a leftover medal from the previous year with a note of encouragement with my business card. I never heard anything this year and was unsure if Dave ever received this medal or not.

Then, on April 30 of this year, Dave ran our race again. At the end, he tracked me down and shared with me how surprised he was when he had received the package from me last year.

Dave told me that he had a troubled past that involved law enforcement and that his life had been going in the wrong direction. He told me that he was able to stay focused by competing in events, and, by constantly training for an upcoming event, he was able to fight his demons from the past.

When Dave received my package that had a return address from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, he thought the worst. When he opened the package and saw my note and medal, he was humbled and inspired.

He described this small gesture as validity that he had made it, and he now knows he has turned his life around. Dave told me that he has shared this story many times over the past year when he speaks to others that he mentors who are trying to get on the right path.

The path to our April 30 event was not easy. Dave ran a 10K that morning in Pensacola and intended to run our race. But his vehicle broke down, and, in a pinch, he rented a vehicle. No matter what, he was going to make sure to run in our event and to thank me.

I was humbled by my conversation with Dave. In addition to having a positive impact on others, he also had a positive impact on me.

I share this story with each of you as a reminder that often the small things we can do each and every day can change a life, and, in this case, a person who resides six hours away from us.

Stephen W. Cole is a commander with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.