Flint Runner Bill Hayes Loved The Crim So Much, He Was Buried In His Race Shirt
William "Bill" Hayes passed away on February 17th at the age of 87.
Bill was a Flint native who resided in Davison until the time of his death. He was one of a group of 148 runners who had run 30 or more Crim races; he ran 38 consecutive 10-mile races before missing last year.
Yes, you read that right. He was running into his 80s. He was also a Navy veteran and a University of Michigan alumni.
Instead of wearing a suit during his viewing on Tuesday at St. John the Evangelist, he requested to his daughter Kathy that he be wearing one his many Crim shirts.
And apparently, he's not the first person to be buried and/or viewed in Crim gear, either. Runner Eddie Wiberg also made the request before he passed.
As a Crim runner myself, I can't "like" this enough. It's an amazing event, and Bill is a true inspiration. Thank you to his friend and fellow runner, Riley McLincha, for the picture.