We were just getting ready to head out of town for the Labor Day weekend - my wife was out running a couple of last minute errands and I was, well, sitting around doing pretty much nothing. I ran early with the usual crew (thankfully, the knee is feeling pretty good, so I'm thinking I'm back in the saddle so to speak) and was just relaxing.
When JL (my wife) got home, she said that there's a guy in running gear on the side of the main road a few blocks away. He's on his mobile phone and had his thumb out while he was running trying to hitch a ride.
JL said that she stopped and asked him if he was okay.... His response was that he was a pilot, staying a couple of towns away, and got a call that he was to depart earlier than anticipated. He had about 5 miles to go to get back to his hotel and he was trying to get a cab or have the hotel send a shuttle. JL wasn't 100% comfortable just picking him up and giving him a lift by herself (smart girl) and he said he understood. She told him that she'd tell me what was going on.
I grabbed my keys, jumped in the car, and found him about a mile further on. He was really moving, He had his cell phone to his ear (still trying to arrange a car or pickup) and looked to be almost in full stride. I honked, pulled over, and when I looked in the rear view mirror the look of relief on his face was apparent.
The car must have looked like a safe haven for him. He was wearing tri-shorts, Fuel Belt and a tri top. Our car has USA Triathlon stickers and Giant Bikes stickers in the back window, and my time trial bike was mounted on the bike rack for our weekend away.
He was very thankful, but was apprehensive of getting in the car as he was pretty sweaty, (it was pretty humid). I told him to just jump in and not worry about it, this car has seen much worse on race weekends. Turns out Alex is a pilot for private clients, and the client du jour was looking to leave about 3 hours earlier that they originally planned. He was in a jam and as he usually doesn't stay down this far away from the Westchester County airport he didn't know the area well enough to know cab companies, etc.
He was 6 miles into a 12 mile run - training for Ironman 70.3 Branson - and with his flight schedule (7 days on, 7 days off) he does what he can while on the road. He asked about a couple local races - including the Toughman Half Iron triathlon. As my friend Rich is the race director for this race I gave him my best marketing pitch for him to do it next year.
Anyway, I got him to the hotel as quickly as possible. Nothing really exciting about this morning except that it made me remember that it's important to give a little good karma back when you can.
When JL (my wife) got home, she said that there's a guy in running gear on the side of the main road a few blocks away. He's on his mobile phone and had his thumb out while he was running trying to hitch a ride.
JL said that she stopped and asked him if he was okay.... His response was that he was a pilot, staying a couple of towns away, and got a call that he was to depart earlier than anticipated. He had about 5 miles to go to get back to his hotel and he was trying to get a cab or have the hotel send a shuttle. JL wasn't 100% comfortable just picking him up and giving him a lift by herself (smart girl) and he said he understood. She told him that she'd tell me what was going on.
I grabbed my keys, jumped in the car, and found him about a mile further on. He was really moving, He had his cell phone to his ear (still trying to arrange a car or pickup) and looked to be almost in full stride. I honked, pulled over, and when I looked in the rear view mirror the look of relief on his face was apparent.
The car must have looked like a safe haven for him. He was wearing tri-shorts, Fuel Belt and a tri top. Our car has USA Triathlon stickers and Giant Bikes stickers in the back window, and my time trial bike was mounted on the bike rack for our weekend away.
He was very thankful, but was apprehensive of getting in the car as he was pretty sweaty, (it was pretty humid). I told him to just jump in and not worry about it, this car has seen much worse on race weekends. Turns out Alex is a pilot for private clients, and the client du jour was looking to leave about 3 hours earlier that they originally planned. He was in a jam and as he usually doesn't stay down this far away from the Westchester County airport he didn't know the area well enough to know cab companies, etc.
He was 6 miles into a 12 mile run - training for Ironman 70.3 Branson - and with his flight schedule (7 days on, 7 days off) he does what he can while on the road. He asked about a couple local races - including the Toughman Half Iron triathlon. As my friend Rich is the race director for this race I gave him my best marketing pitch for him to do it next year.
Anyway, I got him to the hotel as quickly as possible. Nothing really exciting about this morning except that it made me remember that it's important to give a little good karma back when you can.