Running by the numbers

Mike Flores is a respected medical doctor in town. Well, OK, he's a medical doctor in town.

Some of the things that come out of Mike's brain are, well, interesting. Put it this way: If his imagination could be turned around into fighting disease, he'd have cured cancer by now. But the same could be said about a lot of us.

Mike's also a longtime runner who's logged in the neighborhood of 45,000 miles. But not in one year. That would be like a record or something. He's got numerous marathons to his credit, including earlier this year, the Paris Marathon.

Now comes the latest from Mike, which, for once, doesn't involve a bar run or a run in the Congo or Greenland. He wants any and everyone to meet him at the Amarillo High track just before 5 a.m. Wednesday for a little three-mile jog. You see, there's some significance there.

I'll let him explain:

"I was thinking about running 3 miles at 4:56AM on 7/8/9 (3-4-5-6-7-8-9). Our other option would be to do a 10k training run, which would make it 4:56AM on 7/8/9, for a 10K (4-5-6-7-8-9-10). Yes, I know it is goofy, but it would also be something noteworthy.

"Who's up for some silliness? Let's plan to meet at Amarillo High school, near the track. We should to go for breakfast afterward."

The thing is, I'm thinking about doing it. My only concern, and it's a big one, is Dr. Flores is not exactly the most punctual person in the world. To be late for this run would probably defeat the whole purpose of it.