Mike

Note: If you are a person who gets nervous when I talk about living in a city and the "what-if's", please do not read this blog.

I drove to Charlotte yesterday for an interview and am staying for a few days to hang out with my roomies, decorate, etc. This morning I decided I wanted to go on a long run down town, so I looked on MapMyRun.com for routes that other people had taken. I found a 10 mile route, but decided to alter it to make it shorter. The ran began at Freedom Park, so I drove to the spot, parked, put on my watch and Runner ID, and began my ran. As I approached a gas station on East Blvd about 5 minutes in (a nice, safe area of Downtown Charlotte), an old black man on a bicycle stopped near my path. He was trying to get my attention so I stopped. He had a smokey grey beard, baseball cap, and dirty bookbag. He appeared clean. He started saying something about how he was sorry to stop my running, but that he had something he wanted to give me. I was a little cautious, but there were plenty of people nearby, and a cop had actually just pulled up about 10 feet away to fill up his gas tank. The man introduced himself as "Mike", shook my hand, and asked me my name. I told him "Sarah" and he said, "I knew that. I'm psychic. Last girl I met I thought her name was Sarah too, but actually it was her daughters name." He chuckled and told me he had a medal for me. As he began unzipping his bookbag, he pulled out an old grocery bag. I told him I was nervous and he said, "I know I look like a terrorist, but I'm not. I just have something I want to give you. My daughter used to hand these out to people." Sure enough, he pulled out an old Kiawah Island Half Marathon blue medal. He told me how he was an x-military man and that he used to run but now lifted weights (he grabbed and flexed his bicep as he said this. I smiled at him. He told me to go get back to my run and that he hadn't wanted to interrupt me. I told him it was not a bother, and started off again. I dropped the medal off at Dilworth Coffee (Bekah was working). I told her I would explain the story later and continued on my way. I ran the next 7.5 miles downtown filled with thoughts of people, life, love, and God.

I must say, I have the best playlist ever.