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Current mood:  pensive
I like running longish distances. It makes me feel good. I also like healthy competition. It also makes me feel good. The upshot of those two facts is that I like to run in distance races. Running plus competition--the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup of sport for me. But I also try to be a Good Sport. (Those who knew me growing up know that has not always been the case. But I'm trying.) So when I get toward the last stretch of a race, and I see someone ahead of me busting his or her butt who has been ahead of me pretty much the entire race, I consider it bad form to blow by that person right before entering the chute at the end of the run. To me, that person earned the better finishing position. Being a Bad Sport does not make me feel good. However, Not everyone seems to take that stance. Three different times this year, I have held back and not passed someone right in front of me at the finish of a race And then have watched as someone else makes a mad dash and passes me right before I reach the finish line-- Even as I'm consciously NOT passing the person in front of ME. The Good Sport part of me knows I should just let it go And I think the Good Sport part would win out easily Except for the fact that the dude that passes me at the end Is inevitably running Shirtless. On paper, that may not be a big deal, But when one runs one's first half marathon, Like I did last spring, And finally gets to view one's Official Race Photo And then finds that one is barely visible in said photo because a 45-year-old Shirtless man is (1) Eclipsing one photo-wise and (2) Passing one at the finish Well, let's just say one decides NOT to shell out the twenty bucks For said Official Race Photo. It should go without saying that That did not make me feel good. Anyway, to add insult to injury today (figurately--I was not injured, thankfully) Not only was I once again passed by a Shirtless Dude Right at the finish of a race, But the man in front of me from whom I respectfully kept my distance at the end Was also Shirtless And the Passing Shirtless Dude passed me But did not pass In-Front-of-Me-Shirtless-Dude. And then when we were standing around right after the finish-- Me breathing easily, but the Shirtless Duo gasping for air-- I heard Passing Shirtless-Dude say to the volunteer Who was handing out the finishing-order cards, "Be sure my card reflects the fact that I finished in front of those two guys"-- Meaning me and In-Front-of-Me Shirtless Dude. I still think I made the right call And was a Good Sport In not passing In-Front-of-Me-Shirtless-Dude, And I'll most likely make a similar decision The next time I approach the finish line Just behind someone I believe has run a great race. That would still make me feel good. Except if that someone is Shirtless, In which case He's gonna be wiping my dust Out of his chest hair If he has any. And that would most likely make me feel Great.
9:30 AM
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