Celebrating 75
Three things I love arrived in 2000: marathon running, coming out, and my friend Frankie, with San Diego as the setting. While my running group, the Miami Renegades, traveled the world in 26.2-mile increments, I met Frankie in an LGBTQ+ chatroom. Both fed my soul as I wrangled introducing my whole self to the world. Frankie's sense of humor and stories of life in San Diego hooked me, and two decades of correspondence began. Work and running killed time between emails. During a Renegades training run, we discussed our next marathon location. “Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon!” I yelled. The lure of the Pacific did the rest. San Diego spread out below us when we landed at Lindbergh, then surrounded the cab ride through Balboa Park into the Gaslamp. The Renegades were charmed by green hills, the breeze, and the fact that we didn’t have to run over the Coronado Bridge. Later, I met Frankie. A beautiful sunset rose behind him and dwarfed his smile. The race included cover band serenades and classy San Diegans spraying us with their lawn hoses. Marines welcomed us across the finish with warm beer, then we were bused to Kansas City Barbeque.
I got that loving feeling for San Diego.
– Bill, 60, Hillcrest
64 AUGUST 2023
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