RUNNING BUDDY

For the past few months since late Spring, Cate has been my daily running buddy. I am not sure why she decided to join me each day around 6AM, which most people would find an ungodly hour to exercise, but she has.

Each weekday after our runs, we go to the gym and alternate between an upper or lower body workout. On Saturdays, we make a 1.5 mile walk each way to the Starbucks by campus for our post-run drinks. This has become a delightful routine, and I will enjoy this as long as it lasts.

While on vacation in Sydney this week, we decided to keep up our running routine. After our first night in town, we woke up with plans to go out for our run. However, the annual Sydney City to Surf 14K Run was taking place, and runners were already streamed by when we were contemplating a running route. The ability to get across the street, let alone navigate to other parts of town to run, was severely limited, so we decided to join the throngs and jump into the race "bandit"-style without an official race number. 

We weaved in and out of the crowded street of runners and passed hundreds of people as we travelled along at a decent pace. When the organizers at one point announced to the crowd that the finish was only 2K away, I told Cate it might be time to bail. She was surprised that she would not get a chance to cross the finish line, but I told her that was reserved for the non-bandits. We pulled off the course and watched more runners stream by. It was one of our funnest runs that I'll soon not forget.

Running has meant so much to me for the past 30 years. On our run that morning, I told Cate than running allows you to see and experience a city in a very different way. The same holds true for experiencing other people. I hope that this is just the start of a lifetime of running with Cate!