Running Climate

Florida is not exactly known as a place whose summer climate is conducive to running, the temperatures usually soaring during the afternoon into the 90's.  That's been the case lately here in Gainesville; actually for July it's been relatively moderate.  And now, in a freak reversal of fortunes, our weather is relatively runner-friendly compared to other places north of us in the eastern United States.  Why, Minneapolis of all places, known for its mild summer weather, just reached 101!  I think I'll just go with the low 90's here, thank you.

Speaking more figuratively of "running climate", our current era has provided a much friendlier social context for running, and this cuts across age and gender.  That is quite different from the situation when I was growing up in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  In that era (and in my working class neighborhood) a solitary runner jogging down the street would be viewed as a target for harassment and bullying, while the numerous stray dogs all around back then would delight in chasing the misguided soul, sometimes getting in a bite or two in the process.  No, it wasn't so pretty back then, and yet I know that there are places even today that are hostile to runners.

It was encouraging yesterday at the Melon Run race to see so many competing, and with such a diversity.  At the end of the run, I found myself first passing an elderly gentleman and then a younger man.  Then, I caught up with a young woman pushing one of those aerodynamic super-strollers, passing her with the same relief that I felt passing an elderly runner with his dog late during the Tom Walker Half-Marathon last year.  But as the finish line grew closer, here came that stroller back to challenge me.  It passed me and rolled on to glory at the finish line. Beaten by a baby.  Wonderful. And just before I finally crossed, a young teenage girl came out of nowhere and passed me.  Wow: the old man, the middle-age man (me), the young woman, the young man, the teenage girl...oh yeah, and the baby!  Yes, quite a bit of diversity in the span of a few seconds dashing to the end of a three mile run...