Grivet Outdoors

So, I began to think of a new way to tell a story. I wanted it to be very different from anything I’d written before. I wanted to keep the adventures but cast the tale anew. But how?

Then it came to me. I would keep my first-person writing viewpoint, but I would introduce a whole new protagonist. The new perspective would relate a tale of becoming a runner and tell the familiar tale of the profound impact that a first-time race had upon them.

And I would tell it through the eyes of my dog.

At first, the idea seemed absurd. Who can really understand what another person is thinking, much less a member of another species? Still, a dog would have a novel perspective, and it would be easy to illustrate the quirkiness of our sport and the people who run in it, especially within my own family.

I could keep things light because I think our dog has a very different view of her place in the family and her place in the wider world, than we humans do. A dog would no doubt see itself as the center of all things, and the potential for misunderstandings between humans and canines would be great, and, I hoped, a little entertaining.

Anyway, I find my dog hysterical. She has boundless enthusiasm for the sport (and almost everything else) and experiences nothing but sheer joy whenever she runs.

Thus was born a story about my dog becoming a

runner. The writing was easy, and I kept myself entertained paragraph after paragraph, often chuckling as I was writing. Whenever I needed inspiration, I just looked over at the dog and she generously supplied me with a fresh idea.

When I was finally done, I showed my wife the finished product. She made a quick judgement

“I’m not so sure about this one,” she proclaimed. “It’s really weird.”

“Isn’t it different from everything else I’ve written? Isn’t that what you wanted?” I countered.

“This is just soooo out there,” she continued. “Do you have time to write something else?”

I didn’t, and I didn’t want to. Maybe everyone would hate my story. Maybe it wouldn’t be published, but it was a running story about a freshly minted runner. I submitted the piece and half expected a notice informing me that it wouldn’t be used. I didn’t even submit photos with my article as I usually do. I didn’t want to waste the editor’s time on a piece he probably would never publish.

The expected rejection notice never came and soon I saw my article in the pages of the Roadrunner with a photo of a bright-eyed dog that I assume is a stock shot of my dog’s mixed breed.

I apologized to Mia (my dog) for ruining her 20 minutes of fame with a false photo, but she didn’t seem to mind. She just licked my face and begged to be let outside. She was handling things very well indeed.

And I thought that was the end of it. One person did make a comment at a local race start line how much he enjoyed the dog article, but overall no one made any kind of fuss about the piece, good or bad.

Months passed and the evening of the MRTC banquet arrived. Unfortunately, this year I was forced to work a night shift on the banquet night, so I knew I would miss the event. That was especially unfortunate because I knew Christopher, my speed-demon son, had won the road race series and was to be honored at the event for that.

Chris was on the other side of the state, in college, with a test the following Monday he had to study for, so I did not expect him to attend the party. I felt terrible that nobody would be there to collect his award, but it seemed unavoidable.

As fate would have it, Chris’ test date was changed, and he came to Memphis to run in a few races over that weekend. It was an unexpected pleasure to see him, but by that time I had completely forgotten about the award ceremony. I heard it was a fantastic affair (as usual), but no one from the Rayder clan was in attendance.

The next day I received a text from a friend congratulating me on winning the writing award. I was stunned. Could it be that I finally wrote something good enough to receive recognition as a top MRTC writer? If so, what article was it? I immediately texted Rachel Ragan (the tireless organizer of the award) and the editor to verify what I had heard.

It was true. I had edged out the competition by the smallest of margins in the member voting and captured the first-place honor.

The most amazing thing of all, however, was that the winning story was about my dog, the same story my wife had so many concerns over and didn’t even want me to submit.

Who says life isn’t filled with irony? And remember, if at first you don’t succeed, just let things go to the dogs. You never know where they will take you. It was an unexpected pleasure to see him ...

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of the Gerald Holbrook Spirit of MRTC Award. This recognition is awarded by the MRTC President to the MRTC member whose words and actions embody the spirit of the running club. Good job! We were so honored to present an award of thanks to the Memphis Police Department for their dedicated support of MRTC. There to receive the award was our friend

Renew your MRTC membership at www.memphisrunners.com

21 Lieutenant Joe Smith.

Also, a huge thank you to everyone who participated in the 2019 Road Race Series. We might, maybe, it could happen, have a little surprise for the 2020 RRS but more to come later.

Finally, a big thanks to the participants and volunteers at the Winter Off-Road Series 5K. We had 527 muddy finishers and as many smiles. Finally, a big thanks to Outdoors, Inc. for continually being the title sponsor.

A very good 2020 start for the Memphis Runners Track Club! See next month’s issue for 2019 RRS results.