#294 Sic 'em!

It's been a crazy few days, so I'm just going to tell a story this week: my favorite story from days running cross country in college. Toward the end of my senior season, I was out running with my friends Kyle, Andy, and Chris. We high-mileage guys were putting in something like eight miles that day, a pretty typical run for us. The first three-quarters of the run went by smoothly. We took a pretty unique route, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. The air was crisp and cool, the leaves were falling, and we cruised along. As we headed back toward campus, we cut through a sort of gated community, racing through backyards. On our left was a high chain-link fence (think little league backstop). Houses were on our right. The end of the community was drawing close: just past a regular wooden privacy fence was the city water tower. With only a few backyards left to go, we heard a voice boom out of one of the houses, "Fido (I have no idea if that's the correct name—it's not important), get 'em!" Adrenaline pumping, we kicked into high gear. Kyle went over the fence. Chris went over the fence. I sprinted up to the fence—and didn't make it over. Andy started freaking out behind me: "HOFMAN!" I cleared the fence with my second attempt. As Andy came over we heard the dog barking. It was some tiny little ankle-biter. All four of us cracked up, practically rolling on the ground. I don't know who that guy was, but he got us. He got us good.

Grace and peace,

BMH