I'll have to start by saying, DeadlyHippos has changed the way I view the world. I run Cross Country and Track for a small D3 school in McMinnville, Oregon, named Linfield College. Right now the comment is probably going around "Didn't they win the D3 National Championship last year and have 50 some straight winning seasons?" Yes, that Linfield College is the same one that I attend.

In D3 Cross Country and Track, there are lots of great runners, but only a few stand out as great runners and great people. Even fewer stand out as great runners, great people, and attractive even to men. Nick "Smith" is the only one of those in D3. He attends Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and has been National Champion in the 1500 and 800 multiple times. He won Conference in Cross Country this last year, even though he's only a middle distance runner. Since the beginning of the Cross Country season this year, I had been wondering what my feelings for Nick were. I'm definitely not gay, I had a girlfriend of over 2 years, and have messed around with multiple girls at Linfield since then. Yet, I admired Nick greatly, and thought he was attractive (who doesn't?), and if I could choose anyone to be in the world, it would be Nick. He has to fight off all the girls who want to have sex with him, he's national champ in multiple events, and he's just an all star person in general. Then I read the first non-sexual crush column. It immediately hit home. This was what I felt for Nick!

I crushed all my thoughts of myself being gay, and then came out of the closet to everyone on my team about my non-sexual crush on Nick "Smith". One of my fellow teammates agreed with me on every principle, and later identified himself as having a non-sexual crush on Nick also. Various times through the year I've had contact with Nick at Cross Country and Track meets. At Conference this year, we made eye contact when I was warming up, and he's in the background of a picture my mom took of me. I thought that'd be the end of my interactions with him.

That was before the idea of the Beer Mile Invitational was born.

Another guy on the team and I decided we wanted to organize a Beer Mile with various teams throughout our league. I don't know if you've heard of it before, but a Beer Mile involves drinking a beer, then running a lap, times 4. We invited Willamette and the University of Puget Sound to our Beer Mile, which happened last night. I was expecting to at least get a picture of Nick and I after the beer mile, or at the post Beer Mile party we were hosting. Everyone showed up on time, but when Willamette arrived at the apartment we were meeting at, they didn't have Nick "Smith"! They said he was just going to show up late, so I didn't worry. He proceeded to show up right before the race started, and win by an impressive margin. He ran 5:31 (time includes chugging the beer). I was happy to see Nick put on a show, even though I was too busy puking to watch most of it. I ran 9:57, so he lapped me at least once, and after he was finished Nick walked by me and gave me a pat on the shoulder and said "Come on man, chug that shit!" while I was drinking my last beer. (I'd like to take this time to point out that this ranks up there with the greatest moments in my life.)

I was expecting it to be awesome to hang out with Nick at the after party, but he wasn't there! I asked various Willamette guys where he went, and they said he took off. Upon further review, various people had seen the guy that was handing out the beers to Nick drinking half of them before he handed them to him. I was apalled! If anything, Nick is honest. I wouldn't expect that from him! This greatly disturbed me. Was Nick not as cool as I thought he was? First he shows up late and leaves early from the Beer Mile, and then he doesn't even take the time out to make an appearance at the after party. Then I find out he cheats? I guess my question is, does this warrant me breaking off my non-sexual crush with Nick? Any input would be greatly appreciated, because as Clay knows, breaking off a non-sexual crush is not easy.

Thanks for your time, and I eagerly wait to read DeadlyHippos every day, you guys do an awesome job with the site. I also might add, I attached two pictures. One is of Nick with one of his National Championship trophies, and the other is of me and Nick (my genius roommate photoshopped me into the picture, he was previously with a ridiculously good looking girl).

  

--Harrison

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