Proud Running Moment. . .

About a month ago, I got an email from a new American ex-pat here. We had talked about running in a previous conversation so he knew I liked to run. In his email, he was asking me to go running with him and a Brazilian man he had never met. I immediately panicked because the guy he was talking about isn't just any runner. I had heard rumors that he was once an Olympian and had run multiple marathons in his lifetime. I had seen him running through the streets of Horizontina, looking like a gazelle with his long, effortless strides. No way was I going to go running with that man! Maybe I could keep up with him if I biked, but running? Not a chance. I emailed my friend Mollie, who used to live here and who knows the Gazelle. She encouraged me to go, saying that for the rest of my life, I could tell people I once ran with an Olympian. I made up my mind. I emailed the American back and reluctantly said yes, knowing that I couldn't make the 6 miles they were planning to run. I had recently taken two months off of running and had only started again that week. I knew I couldn't possibly do more than 4. Better to be honest, right?
Well, Saturday morning came and I laced up my running shoes, grabbed my Garmin and drove downtown to meet the guys. After a quick, "Tudo bem?" and "G' Morning Steve," we were on our way. This guy didn't waste any time. No chit-chatting while standing still! We took off towards the cemetery and got to know each other on the run. Turns out the Gazelle has a name: Volmir. I had met him one other time, in Emma's school. He owns one of the fitness centers here in town, but he also teaches some gym classes at the school a few afternoons a week. I'm not sure how old he is, but I'm guessing late 30s, early 40s. I started drilling him with questions, curious about his past, his running, his life. What an interesting man! He's been a runner most of his life. When he was a teenager, he lived in the country, about 15 kilometers from school. Every day he would run to school and every day he would run home from school. Thirty kilometers most days of the year! (That's 18.64 miles per day!!) I was impressed. He was a professional runner for a while. In 1993, he won the Barcelona Marathon with a time of 2:13:25. (He told me that, but I just looked it up on Google, too). The following year he ran the same race one second slower! He placed sixth in the NYC Marathon one year (1990, I think). Because of the rumors, I asked him about the Olympics. He was invited to participate twice, but both times, he was injured and had to decline. I had so much fun asking him questions that the first few miles flew by without a lot of pain. Then again, our pace was slow enough that I shouldn't have been hurting much! When we hit three miles, I needed a break. I knew the route the guys were going to take, so I told them I'd meet back up with them for the last mile. I stretched and walked while they went out past John Deere to the round-a-bout and back. They picked up the pace for the last mile, so I kept my questions to myself. I didn't have enough air in my lungs to get a question out anyway! Four miles about killed me, but I was so happy that I went out for the run!! Volmir was such a neat man. I realized as I drove home that I was more impressed with his personality than his stats. If I had run a 2:13 marathon, I would have been boasting to the world about it. The way he shared his story wasn't prideful at all. He was excited to talk and proud of his accomplishments, but he was humble about how he shared. It didn't seem to bother him that we were running so slow. He was just happy to be running with people. He talked about wanting to start a running club and we agreed that we should plan a race here in Horizontina! He said Brazil is very behind in the area of health and fitness. In general, people here care more about how their bodies look physically, but not necessarily about how healthy they are on the inside. He has a son and a daughter who are in school and he wants them to learn the value of physical fitness. I really enjoyed my time with him. I'm so glad I chose to go for a run that morning. I met a new person, got a good run in, and did something new here in Brazil. Then I went home with a smile on my face.