Made a Difference

I've been having trouble with the running mojo, especially with getting out the door more than two or three times a week. So I inquired with a Surfrider buddy about going for a run together. Megan's training for MCM and had a few obstacles in her training recently, so I figured it would be good for both of us.

So we did about 5.5 miles in Rock Creek Park yesterday evening. We don't know each other all that well, so the conversation included a lot of get-to-know-you stuff. I asked her about her running history, and what prompted her to try MCM last year. Turns out, indirectly, it was ME!

One of the first volunteer projects I created for DC Surfrider was working at a water stop at the National Marathon in 2005. That went well, and we've worked with National for all three years of its existence. In 2006, we also worked MCM. Megan was friends with a regular Surfrider member, Nicole, and tagged along to help out. She had been running more already to work out some life stress, but watching the tens of thousands of runners stream by inspired her. Later that day, she ran into her ex, and announced that she was going to run MCM in 2007. A promise to herself that she kept.

I dug up a photo that shows her pouring water for the thirsty runners (right).

I get a lot of joy out of Surfrider, and out of running (most of the time). I love seeing my Girls on the Run girls fall in love with running and know that I had a hand in it. And hearing that someone was so inspired through an activity I organized that she spent a year preparing for a huge challenge, and now has stuck with it and made it part of her life...wow.