I had New Year’s Eve off from work. This allowed me the luxury of running during the day and not having to get up before the sun to get a run in. I’ve been in a rut lately and decided to just lace up the shoes and run. I didn’t have a route or mileage in mind, I just wanted to run for the fun of it and let fate take me where it will.

I headed out intent on enjoying the day, the scenery and anybody I happened to “run” into and about 3 miles into my run I encountered “The White Hare”. Our interaction was quick but friendly. I didn’t hear him coming because I decided to wear headphones that day. When he was right behind me I finally heard his foot falls and ditched my headphones to say hello.

The White Hare passing me had to be in his late 50′s/early 60′s. Trim and setting a torrid pace, I immediately admired this man where time had showed it’s age in his outside appearance but not the same effect internally or physically. We gave each other the respectful running salutations in the fleeting seconds it took him to overtake me and move back close to the curb. I shouted out some encouragement, he gave me a wave without looking back and headed off into the distance. It was at this time I really got to watch him. Since I didn’t have a route in mind, I decided to follow him as long as I could keep up with him.

The first thing that caught my eye was his stride. Obviously he had some kinks in the armor because he favored his right side but he ran on the balls of his feet. I’m not sure I ever saw his heels hit the pavement and I was in awe. I’m not sure why I was so mesmerized. Maybe because it’s what I try to do with my stride or the fact that this silver-haired man just looked so natural but I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

As luck would have it, he began walking at the traffic circle to let some cars pass and I was able to gain on him. He turned left and I followed. Up the inclined street we went. The White Hare floated above the pavement 100 yards ahead of me and my pace quickened. I didn’t want to lose this guy. I began to admire this man that I had know all of 10 minutes. He was a model of what I wanted to be in 20 years or at least what I think I want to be as a runner.

As we turned right and headed up another street with a gradual incline he turned his head and acknowledged that I was still kicking behind him. He didn’t have to wave or shout words of encouragement. The fact that he noticed me at all was enough. Maybe it was his way of telling me to stick with it. Keep running and keep enjoy the sweat and tears that follow and you too can be like me!!!

He turned right when I needed to go straight. There was no goodbye or good luck. Just a fleeting image of what could be. What I could be.

RMFR

Tags: The White Hare

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Runners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.