On a personal note, I am 23 years of age and have essentially been practicing social distancing outside of my workplaces (hospitals, schools, etc.) while on the run! I have been working full-time and running alone for the past six years, have been running competitively for the past two years, beating personal records, and now continuing on to course records and hopefully an Olympic Marathon A Standard. Every Friday I enjoy running with a group of men in their 30’s-60’s and I love that we are able to empower each other through group morning 10k runs. I am still able to train, the only difference is the occasional rainy day. Regardless of the Cincinnati Marathon begin postponed I have decided to keep training and attempt a time trial; a solo 2:24 Marathon @ Hanes Park in early May before taking some time off and training for my first Chicago Marathon.
When I run I typically try to avoid being near other folks, I use hand sanitizer, but it is always nice to say a friendly “hello!” to those passing by. By giving an occasional wave it really does help others as well as myself to stay motivated to keep taking the next step forward. Any pace is a good pace at any distance and I hope that each of us in the Winston-Salem running community can use this time to focus on our nutrition, sleep, and family time as we do our best to be productive runners in a time of trouble. I love the sport of running, we all do, as the purest sport, it has everything and anyone can participate from the youngest to the oldest. I encourage all runners to grab your spring-time singlet, socks, shoes, and enjoy all the smiles for miles!