Running in the Rain

After an entire week of utterly perfect weather, we have been rewarded in DC with the most consistent rain we've had in several years. It just... Keeps... Coming... Never fear. Running in the rain can be awesome. First and foremost, it keeps you cool. It's ready-made sweat in cool refreshing form. The other cool thing about running in the rain is the paring down of company on the streets. Those who normally walk to work take Metro or drive in. Dog walks are cut short. Leisure strollers take the morning off. And so do the non-interested runners. The National Mall at 6:15am on a rainy day is like a ghost town. Normally blanketed with tourists and locals alike, a rainy day Mall sees only a few visitors. And those visitors are the best. Lemme 'splain. There are only a few types of people that tread the gravel on the Mall. 1) the awed and curious tourist 2) the harried and combative tourist 3) the hurried and preoccupied fed. 4) the I'm-gonna-get-in-shape-this-year runner and 5) the runner. That's it. Everyone, to some degree, fits into one of these 5 types when it comes to the Mall. Of course, you have the homeless and the scant others... but in general, just those 5. On a typical morning, I see somewhere in the neighborhood of 200-300 people on the Mall. Few allow eye contact. Fewer will be receptive to a "Good Morning." Even fewer will offer one. The only smiles you see are on the faces of the Type 1's but, this early in the morning (before the Museums open their doors), there are very few of those.

Ohhh, but the rainy days...

It's just the runners. Just the #5's. The #4's see the rain as an excuse not to have to torture themselves again. The 1's, 2's, and 3's all find other ways of getting around (and who can blame them?). During the time I spent on the Mall yesterday, I saw only 4 other people. 4! Down from 200-300! Each and every one gave an enormous knowing smile and a verbal greeting. Each "Morning!" or "Howyadoin?!" sounded like the vernacular greeting but, in reality, each was dripping with subtext. "Hey! You're a fellow #5! Isn't it awesome to run in the rain!? I know our shoes will be soaking wet tomorrow when we lace 'em up for another run, but it's sooo worth it! It's awesome to be out here, isn't it?! Just enjoying what we do, no matter the circumstances?" Those awesome bursts of energy from interactions with fellow runners get punctuated with quiet serene intervals when nothing is heard but the sound of infinite drops of perfect clear water hitting leaves and blades of grass and the sound of my solitary footfalls. The muted light and matted palette leaving nothing for the eye to focus on.
...until another #5 comes along. I love running in the rain.