Here’s mine:
I don’t think I had ever run that fast before in my life. It was Christmastime and all the runners were given jingle bells. At the time, I was still a beginner and I was used to stopping frequently throughout my runs. So I’m jogging, lots of people passing me, I’m also passing others. It’s pretty cool. Then a kid passes me. Then another. And some more.
That’s cool too, I expected that. There are bound to be elementary school children faster than I am. What I didn’t anticipate was how many would keep pace with me.
I was tired and wanted to stop running. Then I looked down to find myself adrift in a sea of babies. I remember kids falling during laps in my formative years. Stampedes! Pile-ups! Only disaster could follow my stopping. They’d trample me, they’d trip, and we’d all fall down. Other races would have to avoid a tumbleweed made of a 4th grade classroom and what they assumed was the teacher, all going jingle-jingle-jingle. I dare not trust the coordination of myself and these cookie-fueled chaos factories. I had to keep running!
Anyway, eventually they split away from me and the rest of the race is a blurry lung-burn-y memory. I got a cookie and a finisher though.
So, what’s your 1st race story?
My first half marathon was in Taipei. The full lenght of the race was on highways, and it was drizzling a bit. I saw a racer wore flip-flops, and later saw another one too!
The most memorable part was…I had to pee, it was around in between 10 to 15K. There were porta potties along the way, and I went to the closest one I could get to. So I jog across the empty highway, opened the door, and was welcomed by the horrid smell of human excrement. The floor was completely covered by the yellowish waste, but I had no other choice. I stepped in and relieved myself, while imagined how bad this guy must have felt.
Anyway, I ran a decent pace, then walk funny the days after.