Stories from the south, ep. 2: The Man at the Wedding.

After Friday's fun in Fredericksburg, we were ready for the centerpiece of our southern swing: The wedding in Richmond, VA. Fear not! This post is actually somewhat running related!

See, Owen's cousin, Chris, is a runner. In fact, she and her (now) husband met after the Richmond HM a few years ago and they remain active in the Richmond running community today. Oh, and, yeah. One little thing: Chris' husband is an Ironman. So, yup. They're runners.

And as runners, who met after running, they went with a running theme for the wedding. The priest spoke about running in his sermon. And at the reception, the place cards had an image of running shoes on them, as did the table numbers. Everything looked great!

So, the background to today's story is that the bride and groom were runners. And now on with the second story from the south: The Man at the Wedding.

I was standing in line at the bar and heard the two men behind me talking about running. One was saying that he didn't know that the bride and groom were such serious runners. The other was joking about how he only runs when chased. He gestured to his large belly and said something about how you don't get a body like his by running. The first man laughed. Then the man with the large belly gave me a flick on the arm. To get my attention, I guessed.

So, I turned around and he said something like, "You're a runner, right?"

"Yes," I replied.

"See, that's what you get when you're a runner," he said, turning to the first guy. Then I KID YOU NOT he made an up-and-down movement with his hands, in my direction and said, "You get to look like this."

Um, I didn't even know what to do. Or say. Luckily, it was my turn at the bar so I ordered my drink and tried to get away as quickly as possible. The man was yammering on and I was really trying not to listen but as I walked away and thanked the bartender for my drink, the man with the large belly said, "And thank you for letting us watch."

Watch?!?! Watch?!?!? What the -- ?

Well, that was annoying/creepy in itself but oh, it got creepier.

The reception ended around 5:00 so the bride's father hosted a little after-party for family and friends at private room at a restaurant. Owen and I went to our hotel room, relieved our babysitter (niece), changed clothes, and walked over to the restaurant with Conal. We settled in at a table with one of Owen's sisters and other guests. We had some snacks. Great.

Then the man from the wedding, the Creepy Man, walked over and stood by our table. I guess he talked to us but I don't recall what he said. I do know that he did a very disturbing imitation of an orangutan that involved having people clear out of his way so he could take large steps and flail his arms around. Very disturbing.

So, anyway, after the orangutan imitation, he stood there, talking to people and I left the table soon after. I was pretty creeped by him. I mingled with family, eventually making my way back to the table to talk to my sister-in-law. It seemed safe. Creepy Man was talking to other people.

I sat down, put Conal on my lap and fed him some fruit. As I was doing so, Creepy Man walked over, pointed at me and said, "You're the one from the wedding. The cute one in the pink dress."

Now, folks, I can take a compliment. Really, I can. But this was not one. This was not a compliment at all. This was just creepy. The whole entire thing -- from the comments at the reception to the last one at the restaurant. Just creepy.

So what did I do? Well, I said, "Yes. I was wearing a pink dress. And, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my husband." Which is what I did and then Conal and I headed back to our hotel room shortly thereafter so I didn't have to see Creepy Man again.

The End of the Man at the Wedding.

My running is finally back on track! After two weeks of travel, I'm feeling good about my runs again. I ran a comfortable 5.25 miles on Tuesday and a strong tempo run yesterday. I'm hoping to keep this momentum for a while!

~ Felice