Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.
February 27, 2024 – one of the most pivotal moments of a positive impact with a stranger.
I was running Swammie shuffle 220 miler
The race started Sunday morning on February 25.
I’ve been running for 2.5 days straight and just got to the turnaround point 110 miles away.
I was destroyed, physically and mentally. Tattered. Beaten down BAD.
My shins hurt the most, then my mind. I was ready to drop
Let me get to the half way point to save my dignity – that was the fuel that kept me going
Well I got to the turn around point, and this older gentlemen Dave was there.
He was running the race too and I haven’t ever met him. We chatted a bit in the beginning but still a total stranger.
“Well, I’m gonna head back out and start making my way back – I’ll see you out there”
Such a simple sentence, but is just what I needed.
I knew I would finish that race and once I got squared up, I started the 110 mile trek back and finished in just over 100 hours total.
Dave didn’t know it at the time, but that little encounter gave my extinguished flame just the right amount of oxygen to catch fire.
And the rest – as they say- was history.
Check out my swammie 200 race report
Joe DiAndrea 