This past weekend, my wife and I spent some time in Boston and attended the Saturday afternoon Red Sox game versus the Yankees. But before we left for the game, I went out for a 50 minute run around 9:30 am along the Charles River. I can't remember running along with or near as many people other than in a large race. Runners of all shapes, sizes and abilities were coming out of the trees literally. On Friday, I had watched the scores of runners, bikers, boats, and walkers from our 12th floor hotel room window pass by along the river so I figured that a run would be anything but solitary.
I headed across the Charles River from our hotel and headed south towards Boston University along the east side of the river for 25 minutes or so. I decided to go this way because there's a dirt path that runs along the paved sidewalk, which is much more forgiving on my joints. I passed by B.U. bridge, Harvard Bridge, and Longsfellow Bridge, and turned around near Bunker Hill Community College. I talked to one guy near my turnaround point and asked him how far he intended to run. He politely replied, "18 miles or so," as I turned and waved goodbye.
Just as I started back, I noticed a fairly tall blond-haired woman running slightly ahead of me. It took me about a minute or two, but I was able to catch her when we got stuck at a traffic light with another 13 or so runners. As we headed north along the river, I passed her and said, "This might be a mistake trying to pass you." She laughed and kept on running. We seemed to be going the same pace so we ended up talking for 5 minutes. It turns out she works in college financial aid. We talked about the Red Sox and running around Boston. I enjoyed our exchange until we parted ways around the B.U. Bridge.
I wasn't able to get in a run on Sunday before we left, but plan to run along the Charles River again if the opportunity presents itself. It was a really enjoyable run and I had great running weather: sunny, a slight wind, 65 degrees F.
By the way, the Red Sox ended up beating the Yankees Friday and Saturday so the weekend was a total success.
