THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!

Last Friday I visited my family doctor. A nagging cold/cough/congested malaise had nagged me for a few weeks. In a few moments he diagnosed the ailment as a sinus infection. He could have sent me on my way, but we spent another ten minutes talking about training. He is a four-hour marathoner, who recently completed the Philadelphia Half Marathon. When I asked him if it was ok to continue to run, he not only replied affirmatively, but informed me of recent studies that have endorsed running as a way of stimulating and cleaning the cilia that lines our lungs. So, indeed, running makes us stronger, in many ways.

Once I cleared up my health issues, I attended to my dogs. They received their annual checkups, and their veterinarian, who is also a runner, spent time discussing his upcoming arthroscopic knee surgery, and wanted to know what my thoughts on his recovery time were. He runs with his daughter, a sophomore in high school, who thoroughly enjoys running with her dad.

It was impossible to resist the pre-Thanksgiving sale at Lowe's, so on Tuesday I loaded up my cart with Christmas lights (one can never have enough). A fellow in line ahead of me called out, "Hey, I ran three miles today." I had no idea who he was.

Prior to my Lowe's excursion, I braved 5 miles on slick, wind-blown, icy roads, glazed by an afternoon storm. I thought I was quite the man, foolishly hitting the roads at twilight, while others clung to the safety of their treadmills. To my surprise, I passed six other runners on my journey.

Wherever you live, wherever you go these days, runners are everywhere.

Isn't it great!!

Over 1,500 runners hit the streets of Berwick, Pennsylvania yesterday for the 104th edition of the Run for the Diamond 9-mile event. In fact, all over the country yesterday, 'turkey trots' were more numerous than football games.

Keep it going runners. Spread the gospel of our sport. Make sure people know that our sport is truly 'democracy on the move.' All of us are created equal in the distances we run, and in the eyes of the clock. Anyone can participate in our sport, and they can toe the line in the same races as the elite of our sport. There is no age, sex, or weight limit.

So, keep taking it to the streets. Use our influence, our staggering numbers, to lobby for trails, safe running paths, and more races.

Yes, runners are everywhere. Let's do our part to keep those numbers growing.