Community Remembers Friend Killed While Running Near Lake Overholser

Runners across the metro are remembering a friend, after a driver struck and killed 65-year-old Joe Warfield near Lake Overholser Saturday.

“We set out to run, and we were all running different distances and different paces, so we got split up pretty quickly,” Stacey Brown said. “He set out to run 10 miles, and that fell short by a little over four miles.”

After suffering a stress fracture, Brown said Joe was on the mend.

“Yesterday’s run was very important to him, he mentally and emotionally needed to know his speed was back,” she said.

Joe was preparing for this coming weekend’s Route 66 Half Marathon, with hopes of qualifying for the New York City Marathon. Brown said the Boston Marathon was one of his favorites.

“He would say that there was nothing going to keep him from being at that race each year,” she said.

Running thousands of miles and more than 50 marathons, Stacey said Joe's smile was a common site at races across the state.

“Some people sit on the bench in life,” Brown said. “He definitely wasn’t on the bench. He wasn’t even just a starter. He was a difference maker.”

Joe leaves behind a wife, two children, seven grandchildren, church and running families.

“We were talking yesterday at his house, that there are a lot of us in the running world and a lot of people are friends because of him,” Brown said. “He was the connecting person. When we look around, a lot of the close relationships we have was him.”

Friends have organized a run in Joe’s honor at his favorite running spot, the place he ran his first race, Earlywine Park in Oklahoma City, Monday at 6 p.m.