Be safe. Be grateful.

 (this was) originally posted on my Substack blog (petecolaizzo.substack.com)

It started out like so many other beautifully awesome cross country practices.
 
--A jovial, free-spirited van ride, filled with music, conversation, laughter.
--Arrive at a cherished, mid-Hudson Valley running venue – miles and miles of forgiving dirt trails.
--Lovely early-autumn weather – partial sunshine, warm but not too hot, light breeze.
--Quick bathroom stops, pre-run drills and instructions, and away we go.
 
Very fit young ladies head out for a steady-state run on a traffic-free rail trail. All is well with the world.
 
Until it isn’t.
 
Until a dangerous road crossing, where a car was driving too fast around a sharp curve and not noticing the fast runners going from one part of the dirt to the other. Tires screech. Voices screech. The dream afternoon turns into a nightmare.
 
“It happened so fast” was the common refrain from the ladies in the lead group, one of whom got clipped in the heel by the car. Police and rescue vehicles arrive. An ambulance trip to the hospital. An X-ray shows no fracture, just some bruises.
 
The x-ray cannot reveal the emotional bruises of such an occurrence.
 
This rendezvous has a happier ending than most car-runner encounters.
 
The van ride home was far more somber. The runners were stunned silent, what-ifs furiously channeling through their brains. Wise coaches reminded them: “No one did anything wrong. It was an accident. Accidents happen.”
 
Aside from being a dodged disaster, of which we are grateful, this practice – and now, this post – serves as stark reminders of the following:
 
--The danger lurking out there every time we run in areas shared with cars. This describes most runs by most readers of this space.
--How every day and every run is a gift to be cherished. “It happened so fast” happens so fast – when we least expect it.
 
Long after the memory of an afternoon gone sideways fades, we hope – for our team and for you readers – that these reminders linger for a long time to come.
 
Be safe. And be grateful. Two things we strive to do. Every day.