The alarm went off at 3:10am. My wife and I call it "stupid-early." But since we live on the east coast of Florida, where the cooler temperatures of the fall season have yet to make an appearance, we have to start our long runs early to beat as much of the heat as possible.  We were meeting in the park at 4:15 for our weekly group long run.

Let me tell you a little about our running group.  Over the last couple of years, we have grown from a small group of four to more than twenty.  We are all different from each other in many ways.  We have young and we have old(er) members.  Some are single. Some are married.  Some are divorced.  Some have kids, some do not.  We have Jews, Christians, Agnostics, Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics.  And we cover the spectrum of political viewpoints, from far-left to far-right and everything in between.  Running brings us together.  Not only does it bring us together, it creates a bond that I find is pretty rare in today's world. 

Many of us are training for different events, so we are at different places in our training programs.  On this day, the plans ranged from 14 to 20 miles.  We get started together, but as is the case with all running groups, we soon start to spread out because everyone runs/walks at different paces. So our large group becomes fragmented into small groups of two and three, and some run solo.

I am usually in that last category because I actually like to run alone. While I love starting and finishing with the group, and seeing them along the road, my runs are usually "my" time.  I'll use the time to listen to a book or some of my favorite music and get lost inside myself for a few hours.  That's how this run started.  I started with the group, but was soon running on my own and getting into the last hour of my latest audio book. 

We run along the river and it can be very dark in some stretches.  It was cloudy, so it was even darker than normal. The ladies in our group usually run in small groups to keep each other company on the dark road.  At the water stop at mile 2, Marie, one of our newest team members, caught up with me.  Her normal running partner wasn't there, so she asked if she could pace with me.  I couldn't let her run alone in the darkness, so of course I said yes. 

I couldn't even tell you Marie's last name.  Being somewhat introverted, I'm not a big talker, and I will admit to being a bit disappointed that I was going to lose my alone time.  But I turned off my audio book and ran the next 12 miles with Marie…who is not an introvert.  Her plan called for a 14 miler, mine called for 20, so I would still get my alone time.

We spent the next two hours learning about each other and I learned that we have a lot in common.  She is married to a slightly older man and has a teenage stepchild.  My wife is married to a slightly older man (that would be me!) and has a couple of teenage stepchildren (my kids).  We discussed raising teenagers…from driving and dating to getting them ready for college.  We learned that both of our fathers passed away at the young age of 62 from cancer.  She learned that I have a goal to run a marathon in all 50 states.  I learned that she has a goal to complete her first. And I learned that she wants to qualify for Boston.

While I learned a lot of other things about her, I re-learned one of the things I like most about running…the social experience.  I am not very fast so will never win awards in my events.  I've never experienced the "runners high." I still do not actually like the physical act of running…it is hard work and it sometimes hurts.  But, for us middle-of-the-pack runners, it sometimes gives us an opportunity to spend a little time with someone and get to know them in a way that we might not get to in a different social setting.  My wife and I have met some of our best friends through our running group.  And I just made a new one.