On a typical race morning, Brendan Jackson would wake up at 4 a.m. to chalk the course with the name of his athletes. Often, he would work by the light of his car's headlights. He’d then deliver an inspirational pre-race speech, drive along the course to cheer all the runners on, and finally, greet them at the finish line. After, he’d send out the following week’s training plan.
Jackson stood as a pillar in the central New York running community. He acted as a coach for the athletes of Fleet Feet Syracuse and anyone else he met along the way. But now his motivation will be missing, as Jackson died on Sunday at the age of 58 after suffering a “serious medical injury” during the Seneca7, a 77.7-mile relay race in Geneva, New York.
Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Jackson was an avid runner in his youth. He competed at the collegiate level for Le Moyne College.
Later, he worked as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation counselor in Syracuse. He was also a coach for Team In Training, a training group that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Jackson became a regular at Fleet Feet and directed his athletes there, too, to find the right footwear. When the rehab center he worked at went out of business, Ed Griffin, the owner of Fleet Feet Syracuse, considered Jackson for a job. But he questioned how Jackson would perform at a sales job with no prior experience.
“He looked me right in the eye and said, ‘Ed, I can convince any man or woman of any age or size that they can complete a marathon. I think I can handle your sales job,’” Griffin said. And with that, Jackson became Fleet Feet’s first full-time employee and later became the head coach for the beginner, intermediate and winter triathlon programs.
Jackson made every person he met feel like an athlete, Griffin said. It didn’t matter if they had been running for 20 years or it was their first day, the coach made sure every runner felt like they belonged.
Seth Jackson, Jackson’s son, said his father sacrificed his own competitive career, his time, and his health for the athletes. Seth ran for St. Lawrence University, graduated in 2012, and is now an assistant coach there.
“There was a modest level of care that would have sufficed for almost all participants in his programs,” Seth said via email, “but he worked tirelessly to personalize and perfect every aspect so that every single person had an experience that made them feel worthy of the title ‘athlete.’”
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“Each runner who met Jackson has piece of him inside of them,” said Beth Lancer. Lancer met Jackson while she was an athlete in his Team In Training group, and later coached alongside him. “He always joked and told us, ‘Don’t screw up,’” she said. “If we didn’t keep doing what he taught us to love, we’d be screwing up in his mind.”
Lancer was also racing in the Seneca7 and met up with Jackson at exchange points throughout the race. She was with him when he needed it most, she said. He wasn’t alone.
The Mountain Goat Run on May 7 will be the first race for many without Jackson’s presence. Before the 10-mile race, known to be an uphill battle, Jackson always chalked one of the tougher hills to get the athletes to the top.
“That’s what he did,” Lancer said. “He always got us to the top, always got us to the finish.”
