The more I think about this, the stranger it seems to me. About two weeks ago, mid- February, 2015 in Provo, Utah, I was driving to the university where I teach from my home in the canyon. It was just getting light out and I could see the secluded canyon road clearly.

From the left I saw what I assumed to be a small child, maybe two years old, running toward my car from a side street, crossing in front of me through my headlights.

I noted that this "child" was about two feet tall, dressed in a perfectly form- fitted track suit of a light blue satin-like fabric. He had longish blond hair and was running in perfect runners' form.

I thought It strange that such a young child would be running alone on a street so far from any homes. The small runner turned and ran down the canyon road in the opposite direction I was driving. I stopped my car and decided to follow him and call the police to report an unattended child.

When I got turned around, I could see that he was several hundred yards down the road where he made a sharp right turn and ran into the forest. It finally dawned on me that this 24-inch-tall person was running at an impossible rate of speed.

The next day I brought a physics professor friend of mine to the spot. He measured the distance and my best estimate of elapsed time, and he calculated the "child" was running at approximately 37 mph. Silly, I guess, but I can't stop thinking about this tiny, impossible runner.

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