Today’s Run: 7.33 miles

Back in 1980 I was a Freshman in College.  Boy, that really dates me, does not it!?

Way back then, in the stone ages, I had a favorite college professor.  We will call him Dr. “O.”  Dr. O was a very good teacher.  He was not intimidating or anything.  Very approachable.  Good communicator.  He was/is one of the great ones.

He was a tall, round man.  Pudgy even.

The Fall of my Sophomore year, there was a new professor.  Tall and lanky.  Thin even.  It was Dr. O!  What had happened over the Summer?

Running had happened.

Then it came to me.  I could remember seeing him in sweats and Adidas shoes trudging around the campus.  Then jogging around the campus.  Gradually becoming more and more efficient in his running.  He trimmed down.  He was fit!  He was still the best professor in the school (IMO).

Dr. O qualified for Boston!  Twice!  He did well!  YAY Dr. O!  The entire school was very proud of him.  With good reason, too.

Well, the four years zoomed by and I graduated in May of 1984.  It is now almost 2014 and guess who I now have on my FB FL?  Yup~Dr. O.  He is now retired from teaching.  He lives about two hours away from me.

Dr. O has been following my running career on FB.

See, he planted a seed in my mind.  You can do anything you put your mind to.  I watched him struggle learning to run.  I watched him glide effortlessly around the campus a year later, a new man.

Two years ago, I began running.  Dr. O was a role model to me in my running.  If he could do it, so could I.  Today, I posted my running totals of 2013 on FB.  This quiet man, the man who had challenged me in my chosen profession back in the early 1980’s and the man who challenged me in my running, commented on my post.

This is his comment:   Very impressed. Got a record for you to shoot for. Me/1984: 4316 miles.  Still challenging me all these years later!  Go, Dr. O!!!