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  • Amanda Gray Goshen News City Reporter

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July 14, 2012

ON THE RUN: In memory of a friend: This one’s for you, Rob

By AMANDA GRAY THE GOSHEN NEWS

GOSHEN — Almost four years ago, I lost a classmate in a car accident.

Rob Melton and I knew each other in high school. We weren’t the best of friends, but we had classes together and we liked to talk about our favorite bands when we had spare time. We graduated from Mishawaka High in May 2008, and we went off to college. I knew he was going to Purdue for engineering, and I was off to Notre Dame to write.

And then, just a little over a year after we graduated, I started seeing posts on Facebook. “R.I.P. Rob — We love you,” they said. “Can’t believe he’s gone.”

My heart sank. All of a sudden, I was stalking every local news organization possible for some concrete evidence. And then I found it.

Turns out, Rob  was the only fatality in a car accident coming home from a church trip on July 25, 2009. In fact, he was coming home from the Demolition Derby at the Elkhart County Fair.

His viewing and funeral were attended by thousands, and I remember waiting in a three-hour line, hugging his mom and crying with classmates, saying that he shouldn’t be gone. We lost that floppy-haired, gangly bass player.

Rob was also a runner — and a good one, at that. He ran on Mishawaka’s cross country team, and I remember summers seeing the team dart past my house near the high school. He made a name for himself.

These memories have stuck with me. High school memories of sitting in our Physics class with Mrs. Foley, finding ways to justify our experiments of launching eggs, Barbie dolls and toy cars off the top of our football stadium. Playing music a little too loudly when we had breaks. His smile and genuine good attitude, even when he didn’t understand the complex math that we all struggled with.



I’ve thought about Rob a lot lately, especially with my newfound interest in running. I run past Rob’s old house on my daily running route, and when I’m huffing and puffing late in a run, I mentally see the pictures of him from our yearbook, hair flopping as he ran against other schools.

It’s Rob who I see on signs, and it’s his Facebook page that’s become a living memorial for the guy we miss but know we’ll see someday.

In one week, I’ll be racing in the Rob Melton Legacy Invitational, a race that benefits a scholarship that goes to kids just like Rob, kids who run and want to study engineering. It’s at George Wilson Park in Mishawaka, off of Dragoon Trail. There are several runs, including a 10k, 5k, 3k stud run, 3k middle school run and a one mile fun walk.

More information is available at www.racemyplanet.com, search “Rob Melton Legacy Invitational.” You can even register on race day between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., or just donate to the legacy fund, if you’re so moved.

This course makes me nervous — it’s “off-road,” meaning no pavement, and there is more than 750 feet of elevation change during the course.

Oh, did I mention I have to cover the Elkhart County 4-H Fair just after running it? It’s going to be a long day.

But you know what? I’m doing it.

I’m doing it for me, to face my fears and experience new situations. I’m doing it for the dozens of people who have told me my running inspired them to begin a journey on fitness. I’m doing it for all the runners who are taking on new challenges.

But most of all, I’m doing it for Rob. For all of the runs he never got to go on, all of the races he never got to experience because of a life cut short. I know he’s running races where the streets are paved with gold, but we still don’t have him here right now.

This one’s for you, bud.

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