“You cannot achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd.”
A runner in front of me for a bit at today’s Around the Bay Road Race had that quotation on the back of her shirt. It really struck me in that moment how meaningful to me it was.
To run a 30 km relay had been a rather absurd idea for me up until the moment I started to run. I don’t think I was really prepared for what an impact running a relay would have on me. I was glad that it was raining this morning. It’s a little easier to hide the fact that you are crying from other people running.
Before you think I was crying from sadness, let me tell you that wasn’t the fact. I had a moment of pure joy when that gun went off. I was surrounded by so many other people who all felt the same way as me. I could feel the joy, the comraderie.
There was laughter and high fives as runners went off to run in either a relay or the full Bay. What made it special was those small moments. The guy who walked with me in the pouring rain to the start line and made small talk.
The guy who when I was calling Dave while several thousand people talked at the same time, calling to Dave and making sure that I had someone to run with across the start line.
To watching all those wonderful people who turned up in the pouring rain to make sure that the runners had someone cheering for them.
To the moment when the Gazelle crossed the finish line in his very first Around the Bay entry. Absurd for me, yes. But worth every minute knowing I had helped achieve something so special, so worthwhile.
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