MY FAN, THE BUS DRIVER

I run the same route almost everyday. It should become boring but it usually doesn't. I could change it up and add in a couple of different streets, but I often lose my motivation and it makes running seem like a chore when I do so. Because I often run the same places over and over, I start to recognize people. There's the guy who only seems to be outside when he's clearing his driveway because of the snow. He likes to shout at me that I'm crazy. There's a guy who asked me how many miles I do a day and one time a mailman waved at me instead of running me over. It wasn't the creepy mailman either who likes to sit outside houses for 10 minutes doing what looks like nothing.

It seems like when you are running by yourself, it compels people to wave, or honk, or yell at you. A couple of days ago, a seemingly random person waved at me while driving by, although he later turned out to be one of my friends back from college. I've had a kid around my age stand in the street and stare at me (probably because of my knee socks) while getting dropped off. Those same people who dropped him off later drove by me and yelled something. I've had a car full of teenagers yell something at me towards the end of my run, but again, I couldn't understand them. And then there was the furniture store truck that drove by me and honked, completely freaking me out. I actually enjoy when people somehow let me know that they've seen me (most of the time) because it feels like they are cheering me on. But out of all the random people who do this, or all my neighbors who like to talk about seeing me, there is one guy who stands out above them all. And that is my friend, the bus driver.

My basic route is 5.65 miles, although it can be increased by running some parts again. Most of this route is also the bus driver's route. Depending on what time I start at, how fast I run, and how many miles I am doing, I see him at different parts during the week. It's somewhere between 4:15 and 4:35 when I see him because he drives one of the Catholic school buses. Most of the time there's no kids on the bus, and he's just driving it back to drop it off. Whenever I see him though, no matter where along my route I am, he acknowledges me in some way. It started out with just waving, but lately he's been honking at me too. He's always smiling at me and it always feels like he's cheering me on. On the hardest days and in the worst weather, when he honks he seems to say that even if you feel like nobody is watching, that no one cares, and everyone thinks you're crazy, I support you. And so I want to thank my fan, the bus driver, for making me feel like someone who doesn't even know me thinks I can run fast and complete all my miles, even if I don't always feel I can.