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by Michael Selman It has been said that runners have their best thoughts of the day while out running. Runner and writer Michael Selman shares his "Thoughts on Running" with us here at ontherunevents.com.
May 1, 1999-Tampa, FL- This weekend, Harriet and I flew down to Tampa, as the guests of the Tampa Bay Runners. Our association with the club had been mostly electronic over the past couple of years, primarily through e-mail correspondence. The club’s newsletter has published my essays for the past year or so, and I feel as if the club has adopted us over the course of time. We had met a couple of the members of the club at the Rock and Roll Marathon last year, but had not had the pleasure of meeting the members of the club as a whole until this past weekend. We got in on Friday evening, and were met by our friend Neal, a.k.a. Pharlek, at the airport. He is one of the few we had met before. We then picked up his girlfriend, Wanda, and had a very nice dinner at a restaurant overlooking Tampa Bay. As we ate, Neal proudly proclaimed that we would be running not far from there the following morning. The next morning was unseasonably cool for Tampa in May, but it was perfect for running. At 7 AM sharp, we met many club members at a predetermined location, and spent the next hour and a half twisting and turning along a route that the regulars knew all too well. As Neal and I ran, first hanging a sharp left, then the next right, he proudly pointed out each imaginary mile marker, as if he had personally laid the stake in the ground. He took complete ownership of the roads we ran. He pointed out the parts of the route where the Gasparella Classic filled the streets with celebration each February. This was his gold, but unlike minerals and precious metals which are stripped from the ground to never be replaced, he was more than happy to share his treasure with anyone who might value it as much as he did. Later that day, with 9 miles already behind us, Harriet and I got in Neal’s car, and he drove us up to Temple Terrace. He wanted to show us another treasure he had known for years. The Temple Terrace 10 mile run is a Sunday Morning tradition for many of the Tampa Bay Runners. Almost religiously, every Sunday at 7 AM, they congregate, and run the “hills” of Temple Terrace. There is a void left on the rare week that someone is unable to attend. Since we had a race to run on Sunday morning, a drive of the course would have to do. As we drove the course, Neal again was happy to show us every mile split, every water stop, every change of topography along the 10 mile stretch, and the feelings he has had as he has run the course on various occasions. The history of the Temple Terrace 10 mile run goes back many years. For as many Tampa Bay Runners as have run that course, there are tenfold as many special stories to tell. Hearts of Tampa Bay Runners have been both melted and broken along the 10 miles of roads that probably hold more than a couple of secrets. People’s lives have changed along the course, and possibly, as a result of the course. As we covered the route by car, I could see that Neal knew every inch of it as if it were an extension of himself. That’s because it was. Every new place we run is an opportunity to hit paydirt. I have experienced it many times myself, and this weekend, I saw it in another runner’s eyes. Neal had come upon his treasure in the form of a 10 mile stretch of asphalt known as the Temple Terrace 10 mile run. The value of that initial investment would put any financial advisor to shame. Like the commercial says:
A new pair of running shoes-$120.00 Thank you Neal, Wanda, and all Tampa Bay Runners, for being most generous hosts this past weekend.
Thanks Michael for sharing your "Thoughts on Running" with us here at
ontherunevents.com
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