Today was supposed to be my day off...
As rare as snow is in the
South, a conundrum always presents itself whenever we are graced with
the wintry precipitation, however light or brief. How should I most
effectively go about enjoying an event of such rarity? On my trek into
my office for a brief check on some research, I noticed that quite a
few people were out and about making snowmen, having little snowball
fights, and generally frolicking around in our all too fleeting winter
wonderland. It was nice to see everyone enjoying the day, but I had
already hatched something of an eccentric plan...
I had called
Marcus Farris, a sophomore here at Auburn and running buddy of mine,
and posed the question, "Are you up for doing something stupid?"
Without hesitation, he indicated that he was ready and willing to try
something out, so I posed to him the idea of going for a little run in
the still-falling snow. In shorts and shoes.
Marcus
wholeheartedly agreed to come along, so a couple of hours later, when
the snow had actually accumulated a little and picked up in intensity,
we set out in the least amount of clothing with which we could legally
get away.
Our route was relatively short; it consisted of a lap
around campus and back to my apartment, which amounted to approximately
3 miles. Within a couple of minutes of departing, we had been captured
on both digital cameras and video, which seemed to be a recurring theme
of the run. Whenever a new group of people saw us, they immediately
began cheering us on and taking pictures, and with the excitement of
the snow, quite a few people were out to observe the oddity of two
mostly-naked guys running through the streets.
When we had made
most of the campus circuit, Marcus and I turned down College Street to
make a pass in front of Samford Hall, where many students, enjoying
their snow day off from classes, had come to enjoy the scenery and take
part in the aforementioned frolicking. That being the case, before
long, we were having to dodge people, often catching them by surprise,
and weave through the crowds in front of the campus landmark. After
dodging a few snowballs thrown our way (and getting pegged by one or
two...), we turned back home, and in short order were
back in my nicely heated apartment.
I think Marcus summed it up
best in the subject line of the email he sent with a couple of pictures
we took, simply saying "The most epic 3 miles in a while."
It was supposed to be my day off, but sometimes you've just got to go out and play in the snow... 
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