Didn’t You Pass Me Already?

“Didn’t you pass me already?”, asked the distracted hiker with the enormous camera and off-leash dog.

“Yes. And this is my last loop”, I said.

What I didn’t say was that I had passed her 5 times already on this 2 km loop and that I had done the loop 3 times before that.

Not many people notice us “loop-ers” but I love seeing their confusion and then their amazement when it dawns on them they they have been lapped.

Last year, as I was on hill repeat 10 out of 20, one casual hiker asked how many I was doing. When I said I was working on 20, he was truly inspired and decided to join me. I don’t know how many repeats he did but by the time I finished my 20 he was still going strong. Maybe he was proving something to his girlfriend, but I was happy to see I inspired someone.

Today on my 1 km city trail route, I saw a commercial grass cutting crew on maybe 5 of my 8 laps. On each of my laps I saw most people at least twice – several dog walkers, girl out for graduation photos, grandmother out for a smoke break, and a few other runners. I hope my running has inspired some of them to kick it up a notch even further.

No matter how much or how little our running effort seems to us, it can be a huge inspiration to someone else. Or they can think we are just loopy.

Keep running. Keep inspiring.