The Random Stuff You See While Running

Never expected I'd see musicians while running today.

Lately my Wednesday runs have been more entertaining than I'd expect them to be. It's not like I'm running at a set time and see the same people, but it's more that my helter-skelter schedule is about as varied as the people and things I see on the lakefront. Take last week...or the week before...or the week before that. Every Wednesday I've had to run. Yet every Wednesday I've been on the path at a different time, running different mileage, and noticing different things that make me feel like I've escaped into a virtual Highlights for Children puzzle where you have to select the items that are out of place. What I spied may not have been out of place--after seeing Speedo guy time and again I'm convinced that anything goes on the Lakefront--but it was enough for me to remember it an hour later and forget about the distance I had to run. Here's what I saw:

• A fire truck and a Univision news truck at North Ave. Beach. I've heard that fire trucks and police vehicles patrol this beach area, especially on summer's hottest holidays, but I never expected it tonight.
• Don't people work? It was 4:30 p.m.--in my defense, my self-employed schedule let me skip out early today only to be back online later--and there were tons of people on the beach. And they weren't there to play volleyball in one of the summer leagues.
• A very convincing ultramarathon trainee. If he wasn't training for an ultra, he sure looked the part with his hydration pack, compression socks and very focused expression.
• A singing duo. Oh yes, north of the boathouse, south of the bridge, two musicians were singing and strumming their guitars.
  
• Someone who looked exactly like an editor that I know...who knows, maybe it was her?
• The freshly paved portion of the path just north of Fullerton. I should have photographed the fresh blacktop that covered what was a twisted ankle waiting to happen, but I was too excited to be running on it.
• What's with all of the backpacked runners? I spied a girl running with a backpack, the drawstring type you get at races, and then right after that I spotted a guy who looked like he was sprinting to meet someone and just happened to be toting a backpack, too.
• A guy who was wearing one of the most unconventional-looking running outfits I've seen in a while. His outfit: what looked like swim trunks and a striped, loose-fitting tank (but not at all like a singlet). I can only assume that he planned this run because he had Newtons on his feet. 

I know I'm not alone in watching people on the trail during the run--I remember Runner's World tweeting about stuff seen on the run. What have you seen while running?