Night Run

Last night, I did something different for the scheduled Los Angeles Marathon training run; I ran at night. Running in the dark was nothing new since I have been doing most pre-dawn. I did it for two reasons: one easy one of wanting an extra hour of sleep in the morning and one not so easy ... there was yet another fatal shooting in my neighborhood Tuesday night at about the same time as I headed out Thursday night.

My neighborhood in Santa Monica has seen a lot of violence in the 10 years I have lived there. Teens and young men being killed, four being very, very close (as in within a block). I have basically become accustomed to vigil candles and stunned teenagers. It is not pleasant obviously. Murders are not.

So, I decided to run because I needed to and also because I wanted to. I wanted to show that the vermin who cause this mayhem and tragedy can not rule the streets.

Off I went past the basically and eerily deserted Virginia Avenue Park. Normally there would be basketball games and such; but, not Thursday night. It was noticeable how many police cars were patrolling the area.

I headed down the side streets, trusting my Garmin electronic conscience to keep me on pace or close to it. I then headed south to Ocean Park Avenue and a niceish commercial area, even with a lot of empty offices. I ran down a sidestreet and towards Santa Monica Airport.

While running past I noticed the business jets, including a Gulfstream G-IV which costs well in excess of $20 million.

It was just a strange run. I felt a bit sluggish, perhaps because it has been a hard week on many fronts. Still, it felt good to be on the Night Run.