Best Run Ever

         So I went for a run today- like I said I would in my earlier blog. I was on my way back- I was at about 23 minutes and was going to do 30 but I was dying. My legs hurt and I was drenched in sweat like never before. Well I didn’t have far to go back to the house and right as I turned the corner for the last stretch I passed two of the other world racer girls running. Running with them were four African girls between the ages of 12 to 6ish I would say. These girls were all barefoot and in mismatched skirts and tank tops. I smile and wave to them and continue on my way.
         I was just going to quit, I couldn’t possibly go any farther when (maybe I sent up a prayer- I’m not sure) but I thought ‘okay, something needs to happen for me to make it these last 5 minutes.’ I look up, I have a bad habit of looking at the road directly in front of me as I run, and I see this little girl crying in the middle of the road. She couldn’t have been more than 4 because she didn’t even come up to my waist. Well of course I stopped and asked her what was wrong and we tried to communicate as best we could with gestures, as she didn’t speak any English. She pointed ahead and started crying again and looking really frustrated. I also pointed ahead and said something like ‘Oh you want to be with those girls.’ She nodded and hesitantly started going forward all the while looking at me like she wanted me to go with. I turned around and started jogging back from where I came from and where the other girls just disappeared. She immediately got a smile on her face and joined me on the run. I’m not going to lie- she kept pace with me. She even pushed me to go farther than I would have because of course I thought if she can do it barefoot and at the age of 4 then surely I can keep up with her! So we pretty much run all the while holding hands (with the occasional walk) the mile and a half until we meet up with the group. They had already turned around and were headed back since they were going much faster. The rest of the way back this little girl is able to go fast enough that I do have to run in order to keep up.
         It was absolutely incredible. The four girls were keeping pace with the other world racers just fine even though they were also barefoot. I really couldn’t believe how easy it was for them to run. I would bet all my money that you would not be able to pick one American child under the age of 12 and have them run 3 miles with a 23 yr old runner in decent shape. It was pretty great to just watch them move. I slowed my pace down to match the little girl and we ended up making it back to the house. I was planning on running for 30 minutes and about 3.5 miles but I ended up running for 55 minutes and doing 5.4 miles. After we made it to the house we showed the girls where the swimming pool was. They were quite excited to get right in and I had to join them after I did some stretching. I pulled off my shoes and socks and jumped right in with my running clothes on. It was a great experience and probably my most favorite run ever.