Oh, come on, who doesn’t want friends like these? Runners have fun like nobody else!
Mark Matthews, an author and Salty friend, recently posted a hilarious essay about his reaction to strangers running through his neighborhood.
“Yes, if you run by my house, my nose will detect your scent, I’ll watch you like a junkyard dog, my spidey sense will tingle, and I’ll be thinking, ‘Wait, why don’t I know you? You are a bit of a stranger here? Did you just move into this neighborhood, did you run farther than you thought, or is this perhaps your first run ever? You are running through my neighborhood. I don’t know you, and I should.”
This resonated with me, first because it’s funny, and second, because it’s so true. What runner doesn’t perk up a little little, like a guard dog, when we detect motion in front of our homes, especially if it’s motion that appears to be wearing Lycra?
Instinctively, we want to know who goes there. But in reality, even when we see a fellow runner repeatedly, we may know her pace, but have no idea what her name is, or even where she lives. That would require stopping, something we runners are loathe to do.
Worse, it would require asking another runner to stop, which, as faux pas go, is right up there with asking if you can take a sip from a stranger’s water bottle. Also, runners are famously solitary souls, so for a lot of us, connecting with an unfamiliar runner is as appealing as a bout of plantar faciitis.
So even though we have an extremely major thing in common, we pass each other repeatedly with only a wave or a nod, if that. We’re intimate strangers. But we don’t have to be.
A few months ago, I had an idea for a party. There are about a dozen people on my street that I see regularly out walking or running, people that I know little about, even though we live in walking or running distance from each other and share a love of the road. How cool would it be if we actually knew each other and had a network of sorts? These are a dozen people who could, for example, be counted on to call the police if someone was hauling away my valuables in a U-Haul truck while I was on vacation. Or maybe we could one day meet to pick up trash, beautify the street that gives us so much enjoyment.
Knowing our fellow runners doesn’t mean we have to run with them… just to know who they are! (Image via Tumblr.)
We belong to a community of runners. Wouldn’t it be nice if that was more than just a phrase, if we actually had a community of runners, beginning with the most important ones, those in our own neighborhoods? So my party idea is this: to hold a drop-in for the walkers and runners of my neighborhood. To hand out invitations over a period of a few weeks, whenever I spotted one of our tribe. Nothing major – just to say, come have a cup of cider or a glass of wine and meet your fellow walkers and runners, get names to go with the faces. Maybe learn where we all live. (Maybe get rid of all my Christmas cookie leftovers. Yeah, still have some!) Haven’t done it yet, but it’s one of my New Year’s running resolutions … to make “the running community” more than a nice sentiment.
SALTIES, is there value in knowing the runners and walkers on your route? Or is all this potential socializing just going to slow us down?
I really like this idea, it’s crazy how many people I know but don’t know in my neighborhood. Interested to see how this goes for you
Amanda recently posted..Need More Time
Twitter: debra_serrins
says:
What a great idea! I wonder how you could really go about it. Just carry cards when you run and hand them out? I mean in my neighborhood there is the guy who lost all the weight and sometimes runs with the stroller, the fast guy who doesn’t carry water, the woman who runs with her 2 dogs and ties their leashes around her waist so I’m afraid they will trip her, that college student looking girl, the girl who runs in just her bra, and those 4 old people who walk at 6:30 in the morning. I’d love to pre-print their name tags so they could write their names and it would say “Alice – dog/leash/waist lady” or “Dave-fast no water guy”.
Debra recently posted..Training Plan Week 7 – 01/07 – 01/13
Well, if you invite the girl who runs in just her bra, every male runner in the neighborhood will definitely turn out! love your nametags. Yes, only way to do it is to carry small invitations — maybe business-card size? — and hand them out over a period of weeks. yes, I may have to stalk some people. but I think it will be fun, if I can get over my naturally introverted self!
Mace recently posted..The Case for Meeting our Neighborhood Runners
I love your invite idea! Although I think your cards would need to be laminated, you know, to be sweat-proof.
Sassafras recently posted..Sassafras’s Training Log – 1.13.13
Hey thanks! (So you were the one visitor to my blog last month. Ah-ha.)
Yes, it feels weird to see someone run by your house, and it’s a runner who you ‘don’t know.’ Just doesn’t seem right.
So I love your idea. My kids love to point out runners who are faster than me. This way I could have them over and my kids could tell them directly. I’ll run by your neighborhood if it means getting an invite.
Mark recently posted..Want To Run Fast? Here’s 13 Things To Try
Ha – you must have had at least 2 visitors because I have a draft blog that incorporates a different recent blog post of yours. Coming Soon. :)
Mint recently posted..Berbee Derby 2012
I love this. I live in a rather small town and I can’t tell you how many people (some runners, some non-runners) recognize me solely as that lady that is constantly running all around town. Without having a party though, I’ve met several people by forcing myself to stop and say hello. It works best if you’ve seen and said hello to someone many times first (and of course don’t stop someone if they look like they are in the midst of a hard workout). I’ve met some great people that way.