Mitchell and His Dog

I have been running at various places all summer, but there is a particular route near my house that I have run more frequently than others.

Every time I go down this route, whether it is 6:30am or 9:00pm, I see this same little man riding around on a motorized wheel chair with a little dog in his lap. He always smiles and encourages me on as I run. He often times tries to get his chair out of my way, but I just run wide around him. I speak to him every time I pass....usually something about the weather or his dog, that is usually growling and snarling at me!!! He just smiles and laughs and it seems to be something he looked forward to. Not necessarily seeing me, but just the interaction.

This past Monday when I was running at 6:45am I saw him and since I wasn't in a huge hurry to get done I stopped to chat. I told him if I was gonna be seeing him all the time I needed to know who he was. His name was Mitchell. He spoke with a bit of a lisp and was a much smaller man than I realized. Boy did it make his day when I stopped. We chatted for a bit about how hot it had been, and he pointed out where he lived. It was fun.. His cheering me on has been a huge encouragement to me, so hopefully I can return the favor! See ya next time Mitchell!