I know, it’s silly. But think about how deep your conversations are with your running partners. You GO there. And with people you really only know from running. My theory: It’s hard to bullshit with someone after 8 miles. The small talk no longer flies and you’re too tired to put on your “everything is fine” back pocket conversations. This is reason 1,023 why I love running. Cause I really hate small talk. So, here is MY top 5 people who I would take for a run and shoot the shit with. 
1. Tom Waits. I know he’s not a runner, but I really want to meet him and so many of my friends have. When I was running in the town he lives in during Ragnar, I scoped out for his house. I didn’t see him. One day Tom.
2. Steve Prefontaine. Mostly cause he was cute. Ima sucker for the cute boys. And he was fast.
3. My dad. He’s still runs at 69, and he’s got prostate cancer. I love running with him as much as I loved riding my bike next to him when he ran when I was 8. He trots and doesn’t care how fast or slow he is. And he doesn’t take running advice from me, which cracks me up. It breaks my heart open wide to think about how limited our time is together.
My Dad & Riley
4. My first marathon team. Kristel, Kim and Gina. We had a wild adventure on what the heck I was doing, and we sure got to know each other very well. We’d start off a 17 miler, “so, tell me about when you lost your virginity”. It helps getting through the miles.
5. My sister in law, Rena! She IS the one who got me running. We have been trying to find a race to together for the last 10 years. C’mon Rena! Let’s make this happen!!