Andy Palmer garners Legends honors

    Andy Palmer, who was an educator, coach, writer, Maine Running Camp owner and director, ZAP Fitness Center co-founder and national class runner, is the newest member, posthumously, to be inducted into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors.     Palmer represents the Northern Region in the shrine for 2009. This honor is presented to men and women for their extraordinary commitment and work behind the scenes both academically and athletically.  He will be officially inducted at the Maine Sports Legends annual banquet in Waterville Oct. 11 at the Alfond Youth Center, with the honor to be presented to his family.
    In 2002, at the young age of 48, Andy Palmer passed away while on a training run only a few weeks after the ZAP Fitness Center construction was completed. He and his wife, Zika, fulfilling a dream, created this center for post-collegiate runners in their quest for excellence.
    ZAP is a state-of-the-art-training facility in the mountains near Blowing Rock, N.C. It offers camp for runners a number of weeks throughout the year as well as permanent living and training facilities for a few elite athletes. Although the fitness center continues today without Andy, Zika said, “It is Andy’s energy which drives us to this day. I am certain he would be proud of what we do.”  
    Palmer’s athletic career started at Madawaska High School as a basketball player in the late 1960s. He then continued his basketball playing at University of Maine at Presque Isle, where he received a bachelor’s degree in health, physical education and recreation.
    A classmate and close friend throughout Palmer’s life, Edward Marshall, who serves as athletic director at Madawaska High School says, “Andy forced himself to become as good a basketball player as his abilities would allow. That desire to become a complete player for his team was rewarded when he was inducted into UMPI Athletic Hall of Fame in 1983. His dedication, desire and the hard work he learned in his early years transferred into his professional career and was the basis of his life.”
    At the age of 23, Palmer found running and “ran on pure heart and determination,” marathon legend Bill Rodgers was quoted saying in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2003. Palmer would train running up hills wearing a 40-pound vest, thus his 6-3 frame thinned out and he moved faster and faster.
    George Towle, a coach at University of Southern Maine said, “In the 1980s when I first got to know Andy, he was being coached by the British marathoner, and 1984 Olympic medalist Charlie Spedding. At the time I thought the volume and intensity of the workouts was sheer madness (very few of us could withstand 150 – 200 miles a week). Andy welcomed the challenge.”  
    In 1980, Palmer owned and directed the Maine Running Camp in Bar Harbor and had this camp for more than 20 years. The camp would fill up with runners of all levels and ages of young and old adults who wanted to run and have a chance to train with Palmer. The charming coastal village was filled with endless miles of pristine trails. Here, Palmer refined his coaching techniques, his communication skills and his life’s philosophy.
    Towle has thoughts on Andy’s outlook on running. “I think the genius of Andy was his ability to convince people that they could succeed at a level of running they never dreamed was possible. This was the way he lived his own life. He gave up a lot of material things to pursue his own dream during his years as an elite runner. This approach to life also enabled him to open his fitness center.”
    To the present day, the ZAP Fitness Center is booked many weeks before each camp session. It is one of the premier training facilities for elite and future Olympian runners.
    “Andy’s and my dream was to take the passion for athletics and the support of athletes to a new level.  Those who knew Andy knew he was a visionary who believed in helping any and all who were pursuing their athletic dreams. We made this dream come true in ZAP Fitness Center,” said Zika.
    In Palmer’s short life, he accomplished more than 10 full lives. He received, in addition to his bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees in education (physical education and exceptionality) and a PhD in educational psychology. He was a sports psychologist and a performance enhancement specialist. He traveled the country as a motivational speaker, consulted to Reebok, Nike and New Balance, was a senior writer for Running Times magazine and published many articles on performance enhancement, aerobic exercise and other subjects to aid anyone who wanted to become a better athlete.  
    Palmer set many records, therefore achieving several other personal accomplishments: participated in the Olympic trials in the marathon in 1984 and 1988, 13th-place finish in the World Championships trials in 1986, 10th fastest American at the prestigious Cherry Blossom 10-mile road race, set an American record in the 30K for 29-year-olds, chairman of Road Runner Club of America coaching certification committee and inducted into Maine Running Hall of Fame in 2000.
    In an article by Candace Karu in the Running Times, she wrote, “He was the glue that held his own family and his extended running family together over endless miles and years. To honor his life and his legacy, we owe it to him to run toward tomorrow as he would have, with joy, determination and laughter.”
    Palmer’s family includes mother, Anna; father, Ralph (deceased); three sisters, Mary, Martha and Jane, two brothers Jim and John (deceased) and many extended ones whose lives he touched.