As the horn blared the announcment that the race was beginning, Dan wondered what the hell he was thinking. He actually paid somebody $30 for the chance to drive 2 hours south, wake up at 4:30 in the morning, and run 3 miles. What a moron I am, Dan thought.
It wouldn't have been so bad, if it weren't for the nagging head cold. The pressure headache was really getting to him, and his lungs were suffering a little from a cough as well. Just take it one mile at a time, he told himself. Just make it to the first mile marker, and...
Dan was startled as he already passed the first mile marker. He glanced at his watch. Seven minutes and thirty seconds. Not bad. On pace to meet his goal.
From here, things begin to all run together. He breaks free of the massive pack of slow-pokes at the rear, and begins to make his way into some open space. He passes this lady, and that guy, and that kid. Kid? Wow. Good for him. And now he can eat my dust.
Somewhere in the last mile Dan's calves begin to ache. Little by little it begins to feel as though he doesn't have muscle on the backs of his lower legs, but bricks. Stopping to walk sounds so inviting. Just for a little bit. His friends were both way back among the slower people. Nobody would know. Maybe for a sec--
Just then Dan rounded the last bend and there was the finish line, about a 100 yards away. Where most of the course was barren, here there were screaming people, cheering for everyone. All calf pain vanished. The world vanished. All that existed was Dan and the handful of people that stood between him and the finish. A final kick of speed that Dan didn't even know he had took over, and he sprinted all out, straight through to the end.
"Look at that guy go! Wooo!" Dan could hear somebody excited and cheering for his tiny moment of glory, and it spurred him faster. They roared over the top of the Prodigy song in his earbuds.
Maybe this event offered no medals, but Dan grinned the grin of a champion nonetheless. He was feeling more like an Olympic hero, than a weekend warrior, and nobody could take that away from him.
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