Over the years I have had several wonderful running partners, only to be disappointed when they fell away from injury or they literally moved out-of-town and out of my running life.

Cindy was my last running partner. We had been co-workers and friends for years and enjoyed each other's company. When Cindy started to run, our friendship was cemented as we woke early most weekdays to meet each other on the road, spending Saturday and Sunday's going further and then for coffee/lattes. We found an easy pace together with our footfalls finding a steady rhythm through rain, snow, wind and cold that only a Northern Canadian can understand.

I soon learned that the running was peripheral, the conversation was the essential that got me up day after day. We laughed, we cried, we debated, we listened (well mostly Cindy listened), we felt, we reflected -- we bonded with every step.

When I learned that Cindy was moving far away, I desperately grasped onto those last runs trying to cram in every topic, every crisis, every moment. While I bravely said all the things that would make the move easier - "we will stay in touch, we will keep connected" - I knew that all those things would be more challenging. Our daily contact would become brief exchanges via email and the occasional phone call as our busy lives would interfere with "being together". I grieved my loss and went back to mostly solo runs, spiralling in my own self-talk.

We tried to re-connect via cell phones and blue tooth a year ago. Both of us missed our morning breathless talks and wanted to try to create a "virtual" run together. The experiment was a flop - the technology we had couldn't replicate the side-by-side runs we had so often enjoyed.

And then two months ago we (me and my husband Pat) bought an i-phone 5. Pat and I learned how to use this new toy and I found that this cell phone was just what I had been waiting for. It had all the features I would have created had I been the developer - I didn't have to "type" my texts, I could ask Siri or even easier, dictate the message and correct the few little errors. I could "record" a message knowing that people open texts but don't often check voicemail. I could take pictures and send them via text. I could download audiobooks and listen while travelling. And then came the ultimate discovery...

I could re-connect to Cindy and once again run with her by my side (quantum physics - I get it now!). Last Sunday was our first test and it was fabulous. We both have unlimited long distance in Canada, both have i-phones, have the earphones with microphone that we can plug in and so we headed out together. BLISS! We had a few hiccups - wind that came across the cellphone waves too loudly, the microphone banging against jacket zippers - but overall, it was like Cindy was right next to me.

Me at the end of my run - thank you i-phone for giving me Cindy back!

Yes, I will be running around town "talking to myself". But mostly I will be absorbed by the steady rhythm of our friendship. A friendship that has kept me centred, heard, understood, entertained, challenged and open to life. Our runs always made me feel lighter - not in weight, but in spirit. Cindy makes me "want to be a better person" and those are the best friends to have.

Thanks i-phone 5 and thanks Cindy - your friendship is what the best of technology can do - connect us to each other.

Happy Trails Everyone.