Carl Lewis again, and again

I have seen Carl Lewis twice now. The first time was at the 2006 Nike Run Hit Remix in L.A. I was a volunteer who was supposed to stand at the finish line to escort the winners to the special 'winners area', and he was at the finish line to congratulate the winners and all of that. He is one man who is as tall and big, if not bigger, than I imagined from seeing him on television. And he was flirting with the young and cute girls who were standing at the finish line (holding the finish line tape for the winners).

I saw him again at the Will Rogers 5K/10K in the Pacific Palisades on July 4th. This time I was a runner, and he was standing around taking pictures with people and being like people usually expect of a multiple olympic gold medal winner. He was cooooool.

These two sightings have given me the distinct impression that he shows up at local charity runs a lot. In a way it is cool for 'regular folk' like me to get to see Olympians like him. But in a way his regular appearances sort of dilute my enthusiasm for seeing him. I still think he is an awesome athlete, but I feel like I will probably see him a lot more if I run or hang-out at a lot more running races in Los Angeles.

I guess familiarity extinguishes the novelty. Next time I go to a race, I'll bring a camera and ask Carl Lewis for a picture.