Monday, April 19, 2004
Human race
Was in town to watch the Flora London Marathon yesterday. The day started out dry but ominously grey, and it just went downhill from there, weather-wise anyway.
Anj had to man a post for AddAction (the charity she works for) and so I tagged along. They actually had a good spot on a boat - the Hispaniola, a floating restaurant along the Embankment - and we got there just after the elite runners swooshed past.
I can understand people who are inspired by marathon runners. We were on the 25th mile and what the crowds lacked in numbers, they made up for in volume. Strangers and loved ones were cheered on with equal enthusiasm by the people who lined the streets, soaked to the skin by the driving rain. I kept my eyes out for the comedy costumes (Captain Lovely, making the world a lovelier place!) and occasionally the Addaction folks would cheer a sponsored runner on.
The rain just kept on coming down though. Pretty soon I was soaked to the skin. I was never a creature of the weather - I could hold my own even in the most depressing conditions - but somehow the cold, the wet, the wind dampened even the cheerful mood of the Marathon for me.
It's a nice sunny day today, but I don't quite feel recovered. The cold stayed in my bones pretty much until the morning. And something else as well, a feeling of disconnectedness that is not unlike watching everyone I know running past, running their own personal races, while I stay on the sidelines. Is this what being away for so long does to you? Am I just in a blue funk from yesterday?
Anj had to man a post for AddAction (the charity she works for) and so I tagged along. They actually had a good spot on a boat - the Hispaniola, a floating restaurant along the Embankment - and we got there just after the elite runners swooshed past.
I can understand people who are inspired by marathon runners. We were on the 25th mile and what the crowds lacked in numbers, they made up for in volume. Strangers and loved ones were cheered on with equal enthusiasm by the people who lined the streets, soaked to the skin by the driving rain. I kept my eyes out for the comedy costumes (Captain Lovely, making the world a lovelier place!) and occasionally the Addaction folks would cheer a sponsored runner on.
The rain just kept on coming down though. Pretty soon I was soaked to the skin. I was never a creature of the weather - I could hold my own even in the most depressing conditions - but somehow the cold, the wet, the wind dampened even the cheerful mood of the Marathon for me.
It's a nice sunny day today, but I don't quite feel recovered. The cold stayed in my bones pretty much until the morning. And something else as well, a feeling of disconnectedness that is not unlike watching everyone I know running past, running their own personal races, while I stay on the sidelines. Is this what being away for so long does to you? Am I just in a blue funk from yesterday?
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