A photo from three years ago of me with legendary ultramarathon runner Scott Jurek popped up on my phone recently. I was speaking at an event in Boulder, Colorado that day when I happened to bump into Scott in a hotel lobby. He also had a speaking engagement, of which I’m certain his presentation was far more entertaining and insightful than the capital market outlook I was scheduled to deliver.
For those that may not know, Scott Jurek is a legend in the ultra running community. Someone who not only has a collection of dominant race results from the world’s toughest courses, but a person who is a true ambassador of the sport. He also gained notoriety and helped grow the sport’s popularity as one of the key characters in the popular book Born to Run.
At the time of our encounter, I was training for a series of upcoming ultramarathons. Given how much his story had motivated me, I felt compelled to say hello and simply thank him for being such a source of inspiration. Scott was incredibly gracious and spent a few minutes with me swapping running stories. As I look back, our conversation would be the equivalent of a third string high school quarterback meeting Tom Brady and wanting to talk about how to run an offense. Nonetheless, it was a very cool experience and one that I remember fondly.
Over the years, one of the upsides of a relentless work travel schedule is that you have the chance to meet and bump into lots of different people. But strangely, despite having spoken at over 200 conferences, events and group meetings in front of thousands of people collectively over the past 18 months, I haven’t bumped into a single person beyond either my wife or one of our four kids who occasionally wander into my home office.
And while working remotely throughout the pandemic has allowed me to be home more and spend a few precious minutes in between virtual meetings with those I love most, the expression “you never know who you might bump into” has lost some of its luster over the past 18 months.
Sure, you can connect with people virtually and I do my best to stay engaged, but I do miss the chance of a chance encounter with people in person. Locking eyes with a college classmate in a crowded airport who you haven’t seen in 20 years. Or reconnecting with an old colleague you bump into at a coffee shop. What about the person you see, who you know you know, but can’t for the life of you remember how? And while the “how do we know each other” game can be awkward, I miss playing it.
As the world begins to reopen and we emerge from our COVID-19 hibernation, we will once again be afforded the chance of having in person chance encounters. And in some ways, it’s the underlying chance of the encounter that we may miss as much as the encounters themselves. The idea that on any given day you never really do know who you might potentially run into and all of the great memories and stories that come from it.
If you’re reading this and our paths have ever crossed, my sincere hope is that we bump into each other soon. But until then, please use this as an invitation to “by chance” drop me a note, say hello and let me know how you’re doing. And if we’ve never met and you happen to one day bump into me, please stop, say hello and let’s swap a few stories.