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Weekend stroll around the lake

Barmore to conquer longstanding desire Saturday

By Scott Kindberg 5 min read

Challenge.

Community.

Strength.

All three will be on display, beginning early Saturday morning. It's just the way Dunkirk resident Collin Barmore has envisioned it for months.

So at 7:30 a.m., he will leave Lakeside Park in Mayville and embark on a run that will take him around Chautauqua Lake. For those keeping score at home, that's 42 miles -- give or take.

"When I first started running my sophomore year of high school, I realized how far I could take it," said Barmore, now 25. "Racing was fun, but actually the people you meet on the sidelines are the best part. I wanted to do something that was separate from racing."

The 2019 Cassadaga Valley Central School graduate also had another reason for enduring the hundreds and hundreds of training miles -- his father, Chris.

"My dad was diagnosed with cancer my senior year," Barmore wrote in a Facebook post. "Through treatment he remained strong, to the point that many people didn't even realize he had cancer. When runs get hard, thinking about how he handled his diagnosis and treatment reminds me that there is light at the end of the tunnel. He has now been in remission for over six years.

"It is such an inspiration he was able to get through something that hard."

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Seven years ago, the relay team of Barmore, Rayven Sample, Bryce Baglia and Austin Johns -- representing the Falconer/Cassadaga Valley track team -- competed at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships.

That quartet was exceptionally good.

So good, in fact, that the relay came home with a state crown.

A few months later, Barmore enrolled at SUNY Fredonia, ran cross country and track for two years and ultimately earned a bachelor's degree in environmental science. He is now employed with the Chautauqua County Department of Health.

Barmore and his wife, Hope, who married in May, just returned from a two-week honeymoon at Olympic National Park in Washington State. Although he didn't train during the trip, Barmore did plenty of hiking.

"I tried to keep it nice and easy," he said.

Upon his return home, Barmore resumed his preparation for Saturday's "lake run." A typical training week, he said, has included 6 miles on Tuesday; 8 miles on both Wednesday and Thursday; 22 miles on Saturday; and 8 to 14 miles on Sunday, often accompanied by fellow running enthusiasts and Dunkirk residents Colby Garza and Devin Eddy.

The Barmore-Garza connection is especially deep.

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Once a year, Garza runs his brother Casey's age in miles. Casey, according to Garza's Facebook post, passed away Aug. 6, 2020. Since then, on Casey's birthday, Garza has run 1 mile for every year of his sibling's life. This year, the post continues, Casey would have been 41 on Aug. 28.

So on that day, Garza, Barmore and others showed up at the Dunkirk High School track at 8 a.m. to begin "Casey's Run."

"Forty-one miles is 164 laps," Barmore said. "It took us about seven hours. We had a lot of good friends joining in."

And, it was good preparation for what he intends to do on Saturday.

"I feel really good," said Barmore, who is happy to finally be ready to conquer his longstanding desire to circle the lake.

"The community that a run like this brings together is the type of community I want to be in," Barmore wrote on his Facebook wall. "Whether it's someone who decides to join for some miles, or someone who is silently inspired and decides to jog their first mile ever, that is the true beauty of this kind of event. This goal was always meant to include others and not just myself."

Asked how he'll feel as he nears the end of his run, Barmore said he'll "probably be ... pumped up and excited. ... There's no goal or pace. I just want to try to have fun and see some people I haven't seen in a while."

So if you happen to notice runners on Saturday -- led by Barmore -- near Mayville Lakeside Park, Village Restaurant in Dewittville, Midway State Park, Long Point State Park, Bemus Point Inn, Town of Ellery Park, McCrea Point Park, Chautauqua Harbor Hotel/Lucille Ball Memorial Park, Richard O. Hartley Park, Edward F. Loomis Jr. Park, Hogan's Hut, Willow Run Golf Course, Andriaccio's Restaurant and, finally, back at Lakeside Park in Mayville, join them or toot your car horn or, even better if those folks are taking a break, stop and offer encouragement.

"The more people who come by, the better," Barmore wrote on Facebook. "For those who do make it, I appreciate you for helping us make Oct. 3 a legendary day."

How are legends made, you ask?

Well, I have a thought: they accept a challenge, do so with a community of like-minded people and then show their physical and emotional strength.

Barmore appears to agree with that blueprint, too.

Starting at /week.