Kurt Able sees it all the time, and he still doesn't understand it.
"I've seen some meets where some of the athletes, they don't really socialize after the meet," said the Wesley Chapel senior runner.
Why would they? Competitors, reaching out to each other to form their own social club? In Pasco County, the top distance runners have done just that.
It is an elite group, one four years in the making, that requires top times in the mile, two-mile and three-mile races to enter. But membership has its privileges: runners never lack for support, advice, friendly banter or a quality rival to test themselves against without having to drive across the state.
"What I really like about our county, at least in my sport, is that we really come together after a race," Able said. "We all go out for cool down (runs) together. We'll hang out as friends.
"Even though running against each other is a big part of our lives, we'll just go out and eat and just talk about anything, just like normal people do."
It's a group that includes names such as, but is hardly limited too, Wesley Chapel's Able, Stephanie Amerman and David Forry, Land O'Lakes' Dani Shimer, Steven Bell and Steven Lang, River Ridge's Danielle Coyle and Samantha Jacobsen, Gulf's Melissa Dattoli and Danielle Florey, and Mitchell's Jeff Masterson and John Tuccio.
"Before track events, sometimes we just all hang out," said Shimer, "and we just chat, see how things are going, and how we hope to be running. It's like a social hour at school, just geared toward running.
"We've all become friends to some degrees and we all get together and cheer for each other at different races. We're just like a big running community."
A community that evolved through countless meets and races.
"I see them talking and shaking hands before a race," said Wesley Chapel boys track coach Brian Colding, "and then it seems when they're out racing it's all business, and when they get done they all congratulate each other.
"Even though they represent other schools, it's like a fraternity."
It is a fraternity whose time has almost come. The majority are seniors, and Friday's Sunshine Athletic Conference meet signals the start of track's postseason and their last meets together.
They're sure going to miss each other.
When they're not trying to beat the pants off each other, that is.
"Even though we all compete against each other week in and week out, we always remain friends to some degree," Shimer said.
"We wish each other good luck and we talk to each other and then when the gun goes off it's a different mode. You just kind of go, and when the race is over you just go back to being friends again.
"It's kind of sad, because we've all been together for four years and we're all going to be going off to different places."
Competing in a county with so much talent is a blessing and a curse. Competition helps runners make significant improvements - and makes it harder to win.
"It's nerve-racking," Coyle said. "Because you want to do your best and everyone wants to win. You could get second in a race and still get a (personal best.)
"But it's all good because we all get along."
Track is one of the friendliest prep sports. But Colding said these runners have a camaraderie he doesn't see in other athletes in other events.
"I think it's a bond that, for whatever reason, I don't see a lot of other athletes share," he said. "I don't see a lot of sprinters going up to each other before a race and wishing each other luck."
Watching the runners socialize after a meet, it is hard to remember they're all competing against each other. Sometimes, even they have a hard time realizing they're not on the same team.
"It's cool that we can train with each other rather than just view each other as opponents," Able said. "We all have a good friendship in this community. We all train together even though we're from different schools and I think it's really refreshing that we as a team - sorry, we as a county - can do that."
