Took the kids out to watch the Prague 1/2 Marathon today. Helena was running a 5 k, one leg of a relay, as she has done for a few years now.
As a spectator, I really enjoy it. I ran a couple of marathons, but that was over 15 years ago, and I have no desire to do it again. But I think it’s wicked cool that there are thousands and thousands of people – some wearing clown wigs or bizarre costumes – who do.
12,000 hearts that are beating as one. 12,000 minds focused on the same thing, the road at their feet and moving along it as fast as possible, running as a pack as well as individuals. 24,000 arms pumping, 24,000 knees rising and falling, rising and falling, 24,000 feet slapping the pavement silly, 24,000 lungs inhaling and exhaling the same air, creating an atmosphere, literally, not just an ambiance.
12,000 people. Not just any people. Not the zhlubs you see shlepping around and moaning all day, every day, blocking the path, slowing things down, and just by their very existence bringing everybody down. People who are out to run. People with energy. People with dedication.
It’s a beautiful sight. It’s cool to see a lot of people working together. Saw a video this afternoon of a flash mob and in the beginning I thought, can this even be considered a flashmob because it was obviously a promotion put on by the shopping center, and it was seriously professional, but it was good enough, especially the capper moment when the frame dropped down from the ceiling and everybody froze the pose, that by the end I’d stopped worrying about the commercialization of the flashmob phenomenon and was just marveling at the choreography, and the beauty of the idea of all those people’s movements co-ordinated in one happening.
Then, just a few minutes ago, while standing out on the balcony smoking a big, fat doober, I was watching the Prague 1/2 Marathon on TV, hoping we could either see Helena running or us in the crowd, but it was not to be, and I got an idea. Wouldn’t it be awesome if they could organize a marathon relay, a megathon, one marathon’s end being the next one’s beginning, each local area organizing a leg, moving day and night, say, from Athens to Edinburgh. Just as a quick and dirty calculation, I figure that’s about 60 back to back marathon’s (but you’re not expecting 12,000 participants everywhere – as long as each local area can find a hundred runners or so, it would work) and would take about 10 days.
Anyway, I’d like to see that.
www.gurukalehuru.com 