Connections
Running life = okay. Taper is driving me bonkers because I can't stop eating and my butt is growing to be the size of a Buick. Even if I thought I could break four hours, the added girth produced by my gluttony won't help on Knoxville's hills.
Regardless, I'm a bit flustered in regular non-running life. As was plastered on the news, there was a horrible act of violence committed in Atlanta by a man facing rape charges. The man murdered four individuals, injured a few more, and emotionally scarred many. By some odd set of coincidences, there are many elements in my life which intersect the path of this man's fury.
It so happens that I work in downtown Atlanta not far from the courthouse where these senseless acts occurred. That Friday I heard the sirens and the helicopters covering the scene. Additionally, my husband has some close ties to this courthouse and met a few of the folks who died on Friday. Had we not gone to Las Vegas earlier in the week, the likelihood was fairly great that my husband would have been volunteering at the courthouse on that day within earshot of the gunshots. Brian Nichols managed to elude police using the public form of transport I happen to frequent many times per week. The U.S. Customs Agent was murdered within running distance (and not just for marathon runners) from the area I consider "home." Not only did we once live in the apartment complex where Nichols was finally captured, we in fact lived in the same building, on the same floor (but a different unit). Finally, the Customs Agent is being honored prior to burial on the campus of my beloved alma mater. I've met many people with whom I've unknowingly crossed paths in a similar nature. However, this situation was by far the most unfortunate, strange and unsettling. I'm still trying to interpret these events. While this tragedy has no true personal relevance to me, I think hidden somewhere in these points is the fact that I need to take stock - of my own fortune in life.
Regardless, I'm a bit flustered in regular non-running life. As was plastered on the news, there was a horrible act of violence committed in Atlanta by a man facing rape charges. The man murdered four individuals, injured a few more, and emotionally scarred many. By some odd set of coincidences, there are many elements in my life which intersect the path of this man's fury.
It so happens that I work in downtown Atlanta not far from the courthouse where these senseless acts occurred. That Friday I heard the sirens and the helicopters covering the scene. Additionally, my husband has some close ties to this courthouse and met a few of the folks who died on Friday. Had we not gone to Las Vegas earlier in the week, the likelihood was fairly great that my husband would have been volunteering at the courthouse on that day within earshot of the gunshots. Brian Nichols managed to elude police using the public form of transport I happen to frequent many times per week. The U.S. Customs Agent was murdered within running distance (and not just for marathon runners) from the area I consider "home." Not only did we once live in the apartment complex where Nichols was finally captured, we in fact lived in the same building, on the same floor (but a different unit). Finally, the Customs Agent is being honored prior to burial on the campus of my beloved alma mater. I've met many people with whom I've unknowingly crossed paths in a similar nature. However, this situation was by far the most unfortunate, strange and unsettling. I'm still trying to interpret these events. While this tragedy has no true personal relevance to me, I think hidden somewhere in these points is the fact that I need to take stock - of my own fortune in life.
posted by runninchick at 8:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home