My Running Buddy

The weather was absolutely lovely today. Because of that, I felt the need to go for my first out door run of the year. I love my little neighborhood, so I decided I was going to run close to the house as opposed to a run with the lofty goal of making it to campus. Anyway, I was 50 steps away from my front door, when I spotted this adorable little boy playing on the sidewalk, I'd say he was about 5 or 6. Anyway, I smiled at him and continued on my steady jog past his apartment complex. About halfway down the street I heard the thudding of tiny feet on the pavement, and look to my left and who do I see? but that sweet little boy running to catch up with me. Once he achieves his goal, he promptly stops in the middle of the street and stares at me as I continue to run on. I look over at him and smile as I continue on my way. Soon after, I hear him running to catch up with me again, but this time he kept pace with me.

Now, this was the last thing I was expected from this kid. When I smiled and said hi to him when I first ran by he stood silently and blankly at me. Suddenly, I had a running buddy. We ran about a mile together in complete silence. Every so often I'd catch him glancing at me, making sure he was keeping excellent time and form. Eventually, he got tired and stopped after our third lap around the neighborhood, but for those 30 minutes I experienced something eye-opening, the importance of body language in every day situations.

This little boy and I never exchanged words. I said hi and was promptly ignored, yet he felt some kind of need to run by my side. When a car would drive by I would watch to make sure he shifted closer to the side of the road. Every once and a while I looked over and gave him an encouraging smile.

As odd as it is for me to admit, this is one of the purest interactions I've ever had with any single person. All he wanted to do was run with me. A moment of companionship. Something to do on a Wednesday afternoon, in the sunshine of a fresh spring day. Anyway, we weren't asking anything of each other. We weren't needing anything. We just wanted to run. Truly, one of the most eye opening experiences I've had in a long time.