I usually run early in the morning to beat the heat, but yesterday was my "recovery" day from night duty, so I slept until lunchtime and did my run at about 5pm, when it had cooled down a bit. Apparently Tuesday is Little Athletics day, so as they were using half of the track I modified a bit.
There were a group of early teens standing near the kids, stirring them up and having a bit of a go. Loud enough for the kids to hear, but quiet enough so their parents and coach couldn't. But I heard them, and glared as I ran past.
Then I heard "Jesus Christ! Check her out - she's way too fat to run!" I turned around and asked him to repeat what he'd said, so he did.
At which point the conversation went something like this:
Me: Fancy yourself as a bit of an expert on running, do you?
Kid (puffing chest up): Yep.
Me: Reckon you can run a mile?
Kid: Easy!
Me: Wanna race?
Kid (laughing): Sure!
Me: Ok then. A mile is four laps. And just to make it interesting, you can have a head start. Say, the length of the sprint track? (100m).
So he's off. And sprinting. And as he hits the end of the straight I can see him starting to falter.
I took off after him, but pacing myself at a nice easy jog. By the end of the 2nd lap I'd caught him. By the end of the 3rd lap I'd lapped him! I felt a bit sorry for him at this stage, as he looked like he was going to throw up. But to his credit he finished the whole 4 laps, even though I'd been sitting around drinking from my water bottle for an entire lap.
I patted him on the shoulder when he got back and said "maybe you should be joining those kids instead of teasing them!" The look on his face as I started jogging again was priceless.
Yes, I did more jogging than the program said. And yes, it nearly killed me! But I had to, to save face and to prove a point.
Too fat to run? Not this little black duck!
way to go!! thats awesome!
That is awesome!
