Anyone who knows me knows two things about me -- I love to run and I am a talker. (Which is really pretty ironic because it's the exact opposite of who I was before I got fit -- but that's a whole 'nother story).

So, combine running with other people I can talk to for umpteen miles (or, 18 to be exact) and I'm in my glory. Why it took me 10 years of running to discover this, I don't know.

Seriously, if you've never run with other people before, you have no idea what you are missing. 18 miles -- 3+ hours of running -- literally flew by on Saturday morning when I met up with two friends at 7:30 a.m.

We ran from Lawrence Park to North East and back. We covered everything from the birth of our children (hey, you put two mom's together, you'd better be prepared to hear labor stories) to childhood memories to in-laws to heart rates. And, oh...yeah, we covered 18 miles, too.

Now...I know what you're thinking -- how do you find people to run with? My best advice for that is to come to some ERC events -- races, meetings, etc. and just start chatting up the person next to you. Get to know some of the members and you'll find hundreds of potential running partners.

There are a groups that meet on Saturday and Sunday mornings at Presque Isle. Some that meet as Asbury Woods. I hope to start one that meets on the East side (mabye meet at Penn State Behrend) once I'm done training for Cleveland.

If you're new to running, plan to take part in Barb Filutze's Beginning Runner Training Program this summer - starting in early June at Presque Isle on Monday evenings. You'll meet all kinds of people there -- from new runners to old race horses like me.

I'll post more info. about Barb's program as it becomes available.