When we were in San Francisco, I remembered several great runs from previous business trips there. Below is a relevant post I did for the UltraList sometime in the late 1990s, plus or minus a couple years.
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Since my job requires fairly frequent trips to various
locations all over the U.S., I am always looking for that exotic run in a new
place. It’s so great just to explore on
foot the roads and trails in a new location and thereby get that unique
pedestrian view of things. I’ve been at running nearly two decades now, and as
in all things, one’s taste and interests evolve over time. The last couple of years I have gravitated
more towards long-distance trail running as opposed to shorter road races. I have had some very memorable runs in the
Rockies, the mountains of northern Alabama, thru Civil War battlefields.....
But it’s not always sunshine and roses. Last August I was in the San Francisco Bay
area on business and had hoped to run the Skyline 50K, a trail run in the
Castro Valley area. Well, my travel
plans changed and I didn't arrive in the Bay area until several days after the
race. Not to be thwarted from running
among the redwoods, I used the maps that had been provided with the race
application and ran in Redwood Regional Park on my own. Unfortunately, when I returned to my rental
car I discovered it had been broken into and several hundred dollars worth of
my stuff taken. I dropped a post card to
Will Uher, last year's Skyline 50K race director, just to let him know of my
experience so he could spread the word among his running group that parking at
that particular spot could be risky.
Fast forward to this March.
I was again out to the Bay area on business and called up Will, the
first time we had actually spoken. All I
was looking for was advice on a safer parking spot, but Will said, "I'll
be free that evening, let's run together."
So I got a guided tour over some of the nicer trails, a delightful running
partner, a new friend, and another memorable run to treasure.
Moral of the story:
The setting for this anecdote happened to be San Francisco, but that's
irrelevant. The key issue is that there
are good and bad people everywhere, and my experience here showed that the
forces of good (Will) overcame the forces of evil (the thief). The sport of
running is populated with kind, helpful people, so don't be afraid to invoke a
running contact, no matter how tenuous.
Somehow, sometime you'll be a situation where you can return the favor.
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