It is with great sadness to have received news that my friend, Brenda Donato, passed away today. Below is the email I received from TnT Manager Monica Healy..
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Brenda passed away tonight, just after 5 pm. She was surrounded by her family and loving friends.
Tonight, we can rest easy that she is at peace. She fought an amazing fight - right up until the end. Our real work begins now. We need to keep her spirit alive in everything we do. The world needs and deserves Brenda and it is our job to make sure they experience the wonderful, loving, big-hearted, spirited and of course, 'freakishly strong' person that we knew.
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I first met Brenda when I participated on the East Bay run team back in Fall 2005. She was one of our team Honorees and gave moving and emotional speeches to the team when we needed the motivation the most.
I remember running into her at Sports Authority in Concord on a Thursday in 2005 during a rare day off work. She was there with her oldest son shopping for triathlete clothing. Brenda was so positive and always in a cheery mood, it was infectious. She told me she was signing up for the Tri team next season and would be participating in the Wildflower in May 2006. Even with such a terrible disease, her spirit was stronger than anyone I have ever known and she didn't let anything slow her down. Brenda trained and completed the Wildflower Olympic with her team and I have never been more happy and proud of her.
Brenda has been such an inspiration for me that I feel blessed to have known her. I will miss her very much.. Rest in peace.
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