Inspiration can go both ways

Last night I ran despite the crazy heat and humidity we're experiencing in Ottawa. I did my scheduled 3K.

As I ran, I noticed a lot of little girls out with their parents. Two tandem bicycles passed me on the path, with a little girl of maybe 5 or 6 riding on the back part of the bike. Each girl looked back at me with a very peculiar look on their face.
Then on the way home I saw a little girl walking with her Dad, again staring at me. Then I saw another little girl with her Dad as I did my cooldown, and I heard her Dad say, "Yes, that lady is going jogging." I wanted to correct him and say that I don't jog, I RUN!

The interest of these little girls in my running was strangely inspirational. Like it was almost strange for them to see a woman out alone exercising. Maybe it was the running skirt? Now everytime I'm out on a run I'm going to think about the looks the girls gave me and that hopefully I inspired them to start running someday, too.