Greetings! The seventeenth
anniversary of The Streak has arrived. 17, what an interesting
number? For most this is not a significant birthday or anniversary. When
I was seventeen, my world changed forever. I was the textbook young punk who
thought everyone else didn’t know nearly as much as I did. I changed my program
at school to study half time and work full time. I had a job as a stocker
at a drug store, big time! I made my first attempt to take my HUGE paycheck and
live on my own. When that failed after a few months, I lived in my van until
winter. Then I went crawling to my brother, Tim, who bless his soul had mercy
on me.
The year I was 17 proved to be one
of interesting pop culture history. We watched Live Aid on MTV, Coca~Cola
introduced New Coke, Madonna appeared on the cover of Playboy and Penthouse,
and I decided to let my hair grow way down my back. In the last 17 years
of The Streak MTV rarely broadcasts music, Madonna continued
to raise eyebrows, Coke long since ditched New Coke, but has introduced a bevy
of new products, and it would take me 17 more years to grow even a handful of
strands of hair down my back.
Since
my brazen teenage years, I did go back to school fulltime, and I seem to keep
going back to school. The only sleeping in vans happens on camping trips, thank
goodness. Seventeen years ago I ran my first half marathon full
out and thought I was going to die. That same year I ran my first marathon,
and at the end was hallucinating as if I was having an after death
experience. The years of The Streak have seen many great physical accomplishments as
well as some setbacks. Like when my brother, Tim, passed away four years ago. At his
funeral I announced to friends and family that he saved my life when I was a
young punk. That’s the truth, and I remain deeply grateful.
In my eyes 17 is a fairly
interesting number. I am thankful for the year I was seventeen. It was a
rude awakening to the realities of life, but that year prepared me for the road
ahead. The last 17 years have been a journey of incredible learning,
exploration, fabulous travels, extraordinary runs, many laughs, and filled with
much love and happiness. Would I go back to being 17 years old again? Not
on a bet. Do I want to live the next 17 years on a wide open path like the
last? Absolutely yes! I’d gratefully accept 17 times 17 more years of life as
it has been since The Streak.
Enjoy the odd numbers. Run.
Tom
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