Last Thursday was the first day this year warm enough to wear a short sleeve shirt to the Flying Irish run. The largest social running group in the United States, with thousands of members, several hundred show up every Thursday at 6:00 for a 3 to 4 mile run.

Members above are enjoying a beer and socializing. but it wasn’t always like this. When the Flying Irish first formed, it was decided the post-run activity should be a philanthropic one that helped others and the community. This led to some late nights, demanding workloads, and stress. Below is a history of the Flying Irish’s activities:

• Mar. 2006 to Aug. 2008 – Members repaired, washed, and ironed donated running shirts, running pants and other clothing to be distributed to needy runners.
• Sept. 2008 to Sept. 2010- Sick and tired of working on laundry so many hours a week, the Flying Irish worked on a routine involving marching in formation, twirling flags, and doing synchronized leaps and spins to perform at events.
• Sept. 2010 to Oct. 2010- Long nights of practices wore everyone out. A less demanding enterprise that provided two services was started. However, the homework help center for elementary students and an infectious disease quarantine unit, housed in the same building was a short-lived fiasco.
• Oct. 2010 – Fed up members said, “Let’s just do something fun.” The change to post-run beer drinking and socializing led to increased enjoyment.

As I’ve mentioned, I discovered the woman I’m so enthralled by, Her Wonderfulness, Petra, has a boyfriend. I’m glad my female friend at the National Institute of Running Sciences, I.P. Aard, is flying in for a visit. I’ve been hoping she’ll help me out of my funk.

At the Manito Runners Club on Saturday, Petra showed up for the third week in a row. I talked very little to her, but as usual, she was extremely popular with the other guys.

After the post-run coffee, I went to the counter to return my cup and glanced back just as Petra exited. She looked back and in the meeting of our eyes, there was instant mutual happiness and interest. I’ve never had such an emotional impact with a simple exchange of glances. While driving home, I was amazed at the sudden turn in my mood. I was so happy.