running with friends for a cause and spending time with a friend, just because

It was such a great time today supporting my friends Liza and Amanda in their effort to raise funds for the wounded warrior program. L and A were running 12 hours at a high school track. Not just any track. This was held at St. Mary's Hall Preparatory school in San Antonio. The track around the lush, grassy football field is a top notch soft surface. Still, running 12 hours is nothing to sneeze at. After learning John would be running with the Ladies at the start, I decided I'd show up mid day to keep them company. I thought I'd stay about 2 hours. I had so much fun, I stayed almost 4! upon arriving, I found John S. running with the girls. J.S. is a colorful guy to say the least. Never short on conversation and punctuates his points well and loud. He's fun and keeps things interesting and lively. We ran barefoot when I arrived, alternating between the grass and the track. This felt good and was good for the Plantar Fasciitis I've been suffering from. the conversation was good and we were having fun. it was amazing to me that L and A were still in such good spirits and smiling,laughing and looking good after running over 6 hours. Then Chris arrived! C is also never short on words! we were alternating between running barefoot and wearing shoes. Some kids from UTSA ROTC showed up and ran with us also. As did several other folks. After a few laps, one of the UTSA kids remarked, "God, I feel old" They hung around, ran a bit, threw a football around for awhile and left after an hour or two. We also met Norma. A woman who read the article on Liza in the Newspaper a few weeks ago. "I followed her blog after reading the article" she said, "and I felt she was a really nice person, so I came out to support her, and it's a good cause".
Yes, Liza and Amanda are great! And fun to be around.
Chris said he'd stay late to keep L and A company, while I had to leave. A childhood friend had asked me to visit him last weekend and I was unable to. "I'll be there this weekend" I told Him. I headed out to Ernest's house at about 4 PM. We reminisced about our days growing up, discussed the paths our neighborhood friends had taken, and where we are at in life now. All the while, E's grandson wanted someone to play baseball with him. E was a great Baseball player back in High School. The "Glory Days" And, "no", I said to E. You can't play softball anymore. At our age, the muscles and ligaments don't respond to stopping and turning "on a dime."
I pitched to E's grandson and E played the outfield. He scooped the ball off the dirt on a ground ball, but He couldn't get to a fly ball in time.
Today was a good day.