Lollipops, Michael Jackson & Air Guitar

On Saturday morning, I drove over to Waltham, MA to run a 4 mile race.  My motivation was low but I had signed up a while ago and figured I might as well get the t-shirt.  This race, called the Tailgate Trot, was created to honor a Waltham resident who died at the young age of 51.  He was a scholar and an athlete and he lived his life as one who always wanted to give to others.  Each mile was run for a specific charity and the proceeds were divided equally between these four organizations.  Before it started, I walked over to the raffle table and noticed a rainbow of cookie lollipops frosted in the colors representing each of the four charities.  I smiled and thought of my daughter who would have thought these were AWESOME.  My mood shifted and I was fired up to be there by this point.  As if on cue, a deejay started right in with 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' by Michael Jackson.  As I warmed up, I made a mental note to dig deeper into the Michael Jackson catalog when I got home.

Four Miles for Four Reasons

Minutes into the race I noticed a guy in front of me bending in a strange way every few steps and occasionally lifting his head back in a jerking motion.  Despite the fact that we were trudging up a hill I felt I had to know what was going on.  As I got closer, I saw that the guy was wearing headphones and realized that he was actually playing air guitar.  The fact that were racing and that our pace was pretty swift did not seem to faze him in the least.  I was in complete awe.  When the race was over, I walked up to him and asked him if he was, in fact, playing air guitar.  "Oh yeah", he said,  "it's what gets me to the finish line every time."  Whatever it takes, I thought.

Finally, I walked back to my car, tired and hot, and noticed the above jeep parked next to me.  I smiled again.  I felt good.  I got a good run in.  I rocked out to a little Michael Jackson.  I witnessed my first ever runner's air guitar.  I helped raise money for four good causes.  And I had fun.  All before 11:00 in the morning.  Yes, I thought, life is good.

Listen to this*:
Wanna Be Startin Somthin'   
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough   
Smooth Criminal  
*All from "The Essential Michael Jackson"