NSV - Today, I was "that guy" running past other people

The trail that I often run on in the Harmony Hill Nature Area in East Bradford township, PA is about 2.75 miles long (just a bit longer than that actually).

What this means for a longer run, is that I have to run a part of it “out-and-back” multiple times. I like this trail for a 6 mile/10k distance because the trailhead that I park at is just about 1/3 of the way along the trail – meaning that it is .75 miles from that trail head to one end, and 1.5 miles from the trailhead to the other end. When I want 6 miles, I run the “short” side – then back, then the long side and back, and then the short side and back… ending up right near the car. (.75+.75+1.5+1.5+.75+.75 = 6 miles)

On this trail, this is not an unusual pattern for runners looking for more distance. Because of this, you can end up seeing the same people multiple times on a single run.

Today, I had a funny experience… one where I was on the “other” side of beginning running.

At the start of my run, I passed two women out for a walk together about a half mile in – they were heading north on the trail – about a .25 mile into their own walk. I reached the end, turned around and ran back north, catching up to them and passing them just about the 2.0 mile point of my run. They were still walking north, about 1.25 miles into their walk.

I continued on to the end of the trail – turning around just after the 3 mile lap on my GPS watch and headed back south again. With my first 5k being in a sub-35 minute time, and feeling strong, I decided to see if I could break 70 minutes for a full 10k and I kept pushing my pace rather than allowing myself to stop for walk breaks. As miles 4 and 5 ticked off, I ran past my car and back onto the “short” end of the trail and just as I was getting to my final turn-around point at the south end, I came up on the two ladies who were finishing their walk.

I slowed a little bit instead of trying to get around them and turn around with just a few yards left in the trail, and one of them called to me “Hey… thanks for showing us up!” She said this with a smile on her face and a laugh in her tone… obviously voicing approval of my 60 minutes of running while they had 60 minutes of walking.

I laughed and said “Thanks. Have a great day!” and then turned around and ran back up the hill.

I think that little exchange gave me a bit of extra motivation and spring in my step to finish out the last mile of my 10k run strong… stronger than I would have expected.

So, apparently… for today at least, and for those two women… I was “that guy” running out on the same trail where they were “only” walking.

It made me smile. Six hours later I’m still thinking about it so I guess it made my day.

It’s just another change that I am grateful for, more evidence of the good that running has brought to my life.