They were glistening with sweat before they ever took a step. Some of them had actually been warming up, but even a walk from the car to the registration table would have caused a person to bust out the perspiration. It’s hot in the Land of the Sky friends. The Suwaree laugh at us from on high. “That’s what you get, you land stealing, tree cutting bastards!” they seem to say. We cannot respond in any rational way. So we go out and run around in circles.
Among those warming up was @wordnrrrd (I think it has 3 r’s in it). It’s a wonderful thing about Twitter, that you get to meet new people. Unless you don’t like meeting new people. In which case Twitter may not be for you. Nevertheless, meeting new people is a wonderful thing, and it was nice to wish a new friend good luck in his first race. Either there or at the one mile mark I also saw an old friend. Old in the sense that we have known each other for at least ten years. Also old in the sense that he retired from his chosen profession after 50 years of service. Any way you cut it, that makes you aged at least, but it’s pretty likely you’re old.
My old friend had not been running in other races recently. I was a bit afraid he had stopped running all together. It would be hard if he did stop racing because his is a face I expect to see at local races. His presence makes me feel at home. And in turn, I want to make other people feel at home. Like my new friend, who ran well and look like he was having a good time doing it. Which is a good thing because otherwise running in the sticky hot weather is stupid. It only works if we get to do it together.