Over the past 24 hours, hundreds of runners have been doing loops around the Philadelphia Art Museum, Kelly Drive, and West River Drive. They began around 10:00 am on Saturday and didn't finish until 10:00 this morning. Some were "lone rangers", running as many miles as they could in 24 hours. Others were part of 5-person relay teams also covering tons of miles throughout the day. All were part of the Back On My Feet (www.backonmyfeet.org) fundraiser, known as the 20 in 24. It's a truly amazing event for a great cause.
Originally, I had signed up to participate in the event as part of a relay team. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury suffered last month forced me to withdraw from the team, but thankfully, I was able to be replaced. In addition to financial support, I wanted to show the team my emotional support so I went over last night with my son Ben to cheer the runners on. In this picture are two members of the team I was to be on, Paul Canton and John Stelmaski. They each ran roughly 25+ miles, as did the other members of the team.
As Ben and I were leaving the Art Museum Area, we came across two young women who appeared to be sightseers, holding an i-phone and taking pictures. I asked them if they wanted me to take their picture. After a moment's hesitation, they said, "Sure", and then quickly went to a scenic spot for the photos. They were certainly enthusiastic, asking our names and Ben's age, and thanking us repeatedly. It's one of those simple gestures that I try to keep an eye out for, as most people really appreciate it.
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