Once upon a time, in 2007 to be exact, there were only several hundred runners joining races, which were more like mini weekly reunions.  There were no timing chips, lootbags, or even clean water to drink sometimes, but, for some reason, everyone always came home happy and fulfilled.

Once upon a time, all runners were friends.  If you didn’t know one’s name, you at least knew them by face…or by their shoes.  You saw the same runners at every race.  You would get chased down by the same guy who attempted to outrun you the last time, and again, you would cross the finish line first and give him a charming smile as consolation. Haha!

Once upon a time, there was only a small group of running bloggers.  And, we spent hours each day, exchanging stories on our newest adventures and commenting on each others’ posts, while building strong friendships along the way.  The closest virtual friends I had at that time were Banggi, HitMe, and U.S. based ultramarathoner, E-rod.

Recently, E-rod came home to visit.  For the first time, we met face-to-face and, not surprisingly, it felt like seeing an old friend.

– with E-rod (Habang Tumatakbo) -

– with my favorite Happy Feet people (L to R): Joms, E-rod, Banggi, me, Smith, Mon, and Renz -

E-rod was the guy who started our Virtual Runs, where running-bloggers from all over the world—from Newport Beach to Quezon City—would run together all at the same time.  I remember waking up at 4 a.m. just to run solo but with all of them at the same time.  E-rod was also the guy who teased us with his beautiful photos of his runs in the U.S…and all the super-sized food he’d eat after.  Of course, I’ll always remember him for his bird’s-eye view shots of his running shoes wherever he was in the world.

Meeting E-rod that evening was a nice way to reminisce about the good ol’ days.  Good thing, all these good ol’ friends are always just a blog post away.

Read archived posts of my Virtual Runs:

Virtual Run No. 5 – A Horror Story
Virtual Run No. 2

Posted on 06.09.10 to 01 Bullish Insights. Tags: Friends. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 7 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.