Susan Shafer of Wilmington, North Carolina, grew up as a spectator, watching and supporting her dad run the AJC Peachtree Road Race.
"It was an annual thing, and it meant a lot to him," Shafer told 11Alive's Jennifer Leslie.
John Passafiume taught at Georgia Tech after a distinguished career in the Army and went by the nickname Col. Flagg.
He completed 19 Peachtree Road Races before the blood cancer multiple myeloma took its toll in 2010.
"He was in hospice, and I told him right before he passed away that I was going to do his 20th," Shafer explained.
What would have been his 20th Peachtree became Shafer's first Peachtree. In fact, it was her first race.
"I'll never forget crossing the finish line. I never thought I could do it," Shafer said. "It was a way to reconnect with him, and I know he was there."
The race started a change in Shafer.
In the months and years that followed, she became a runner, just like her dad, and wen on to do marathons and Iron Man events.
"There's not a race that I've done that I don't tear up and think about him," Shafer added. "He really is what keeps me going."
She'll be back to run her second Peachtree this year.