I sometimes amaze myself. Saturday morning I got up and headed to Louisville with Joe. We both were going to run in the Papa John 10 Miler, the last leg of the Louisville Triple Crown of Running.
I have not practiced at all. The last time I ran was the 10K race of two weeks prior. That one was hard to finish, but with blind determination I did it. 10 miles is quite different from 10K. Added to that, the middle five miles are up and down the very steep and sharply graded hills of Iroquois Park. I was having a major pity party going on inside my head. I had to prove to Joe I could do it, since he has been chastising me for weeks now about my finding every excuse possible for not running!
The gun goes off and 5000 crazy people take off running for the Iroquois Park hill of torture. I did pretty good the first three or so miles. Then I slowed down to a run/walk mode going up the "mountain."
At mile FIVE I noticed a police officer talking to a child. Being the natural mother (and incredibly nosy person) I am I jogged over to the kid and asked if he was okay.
He had left his runners number and chip in the hotel room and the police officer was questioning him about it.
His name was Jonathan, he was 12 years old and is an absolute charmer. He talked non stop to me the last five miles. I heard the entire plot of his favorite two scary movies, the ins and outs of his favorite video games. I heard all about his first date at the movies with his girlfriend. I heard about his troubles with studying and having his Play Station taken away. He told me all about his younger sister and how he baby-sits her. I heard about his latest crash and burn while skating. The last miles went by so easily with him chatting away. An angel sent to help me through the pain.
Maybe I helped Jonathan finish the race too. He had not trained either. He was a tough little bird. We entered the Papa John's stadium together. His Mom was waiting for him in the stands. I was so proud of him, I can only imagine how she felt.
He was something else. I'll remember him for a long time.
12 comments:
What a wonderful story. I think it's a real gift to be able to connect with young people, and I'm really proud that you finished the 10k. Congratulations.
Sounds interersting. I dont think I d last up and down thise hills Lori
Yeaaa!! 2 peas in a pod!
Vince
Awesome story, as usual! Congratulations on finishing! Did Joe run? Finish?
What a cute kid! Sounds like such a fun day...except for the running part... Lisa :-]
What a wonderful story ... and what a handsome young man you have there!
Smilin Mon
10 miles!!!!I would be hard pressed to run one! Walking I could do 10 easily, but I am not a jogger! You go girl!!!!
Tracy
http://beta.journals.aol.com/sasonalmah/ARoseByAnyOtherName/
That is a nice story. I'm glad you met your goal and had the interesting company to add to it. He sounds like a nice kid. I run too. Occassionally to the bathroom, mostly out of time, and sometimes away. My Regards, Bill.
Is that him??? What a charmer! (And what a lovely story!)
that's too cool ... he looks like a real lady-killer, too. Sure he wasn't just hitting on ya? ha ha. Great job on finished the race!
~ Karyn
What a cutie-pie! I'm teary-eyed over here... beautiful story!
I just found your journal, and this is so funny - I wrote about this same race in my journal, from a different standpoint - i live in the Iroquois Park area. (Here's the link: http://journals.aol.com/mrccgoody/RememberingGrace/entries/367/). This is a great story, and congratulations for finishing the race! -Michelle
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