Last weekend I participated in the Mt Si Relay Race with Steve Payne and three other CHS graduates. We ran a 59 mile course and each participant ran two legs out of ten total legs. The legs varied in length and elevation gain/loss. We had a great time despite intermittent rain showers throughout the day.
We got our results a few days later and while we weren't competitive we did pretty well. Aside from the running, the best part of the day for me was spent catching up with the other runners; I hadn't seen a couple of the people in a few years and we had some catching up to do.
I'm not a real social person. As an introvert I suck at making small talk and I love to spend time alone, but I find I really enjoy spending time talking with fellow runners and hikers. The time just seems to fly when I'm running down the road or hiking up a trail with others. Sharing an activity together, it's easy to find things to talk about whether it's the scenery, the weather, how we're feeling, or some other topic that pops up. Steep switchbacks don't seem so bad when I've got something interesting to talk about. Plus it makes me moderate my pace a bit so I'm not hiking up the hill too fast and huffing and puffing.
Even if you're not the most social person in the world, I hope that as the summer progresses you will also enjoy hiking and talking with other folks who share your hiking interest. So here's a challenge I'm issuing to everyone reading this: Try to talk to everyone on your hike for at least a few minutes. You might find that you have something in common. At the very least, you'll get to know a little bit more about your fellow hikers.
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