FUN RUN

by

Ernest Bywater
All rights reserved © 2011

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
Copyright © 2011 by Ernest Bywater

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Table of Contents
City Paper
The Finish Line
The Finish

City Paper
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City Paper

For the first time in its existence the daily column by the local ghost reporter is on the front page and not page three. This column is about the people events around the city, not the major news events. The column covers the interesting things that don't make the local gossip reports or the usual news reports. Today it's very different to usual:

About Town with Al

It's another Monday and start of the week again. This year I'm breaking with an eight year old tradition and am going to talk about yesterday's City Fun Run. In past years I've not mentioned this twenty kilometre run as every editor and reporter in the city covers it, in detail. But this year I witnessed something I think they all missed. I was at the finish line as they were setting up before the start of the race. Get there early and you can park close to the line. I was parking my van close, to pick up my usual running friends, when I saw an old woman sitting in a chair not quite opposite the sign-in desk. She looked ancient, had on a large floppy hat against the sun, and in her left hand was the handle of a guide dog frame. The dog was the most perfect example of a black Labrador I've ever seen. I went over to talk to her. She told me ....

All other reports on the fun run are on pages two and three. The rest of the front page is taken up with the other happy people news from around the region during the weekend, births, weddings, and the like.

The Finish Line

I don't run, can't with my knee, so I always get asked to take my van to the finish line so I can drive a bunch of friends who run back to the start line and their cars. I like to arrive early, so I can park right beside the finish line. Most years I'm the first to arrive after the volunteers get there to set it up. This year I'm the second non volunteer to arrive, and the person who beat me looks interesting.

Setting up my folding chair, I sit down on the right hand of the old lady in the large floppy hat, and say, "Morning, ma'am. Looks like a nice day for the run!"

She turns her head and smiles at me, saying, "It sure feels warm. And Sarah's coat feels so warm after only a few minutes lying here." I grin as she rubs the head of the dog under her left hand. "At ninety-two I'm way too old to be out in this sort of mess. But I've outlived most of my kin, and am here to drive my great grandson home. He's been living with me since his parents got killed in a car accident two years back. They were on their way to run in this when they died, and had run in it every year since it started. Two of the few originals to keep running. They don't let you run until you're fourteen and Barry turned fourteen five weeks back, so he just 'had' to run this the first year he could. I think this will allow him to put closure on his parent's deaths."

I can tell she's not happy with the subject, but feels she needs to tell about her great grandson, as I can also tell she's very proud of him for running in memory of his parents. We sit and chat as we wait.

The Finish

Just over an hour later the first runner crosses the line. The next hour sees a whole lot of the serious runners arrive, but not my friends. Most of the nearly five thousand entrants are serious runners who do the twenty kilometres in under two hours. In the past the longest time has been four hours. Once they start to arrive there's a steady stream of runners until the last one.

For some reason traffic is busy until the two hour mark with most of the runners finishing. Then the road's empty. I lean out and look down the last kilometre of the road, it's a nice straight stretch to a curve. I say, "That's odd, Missus Malcolm, there's no one in sight." I look up at the sign-in desk, and call out, "Hey, Jenny, how many left to sign-in?" The group I'm collecting have times in the one and a half to two hours mark, they should be here by now. I'm getting worried about them.

The supervisor of the sign-in desk looks up, and calls back, "We've got just over seven hundred still out there. The marshals say we've a block about twenty-five minutes out." I wave my thanks for the info.

Mrs Malcolm says, "From his times in training, I expect Barry is with this bunch. One of his class mates is almost a year older and won her age group last year. May has been such a good help to Barry with his training, and she promised to stay with him for the run, to make sure he has no trouble. I like May, she's a nice girl." I smile, as it's clear she'd like to see that friendship become something more.

Ten minutes later I look down the road again, and see a block of runners come around the curve as if in formation. They look a lot like the groups of runners from the army camp just outside of town I often see out running beside the road. The group are making a fair time, but not a fast time. On my next check I see they're only a couple of hundred metres out and there's a young girl in the front wave with a small space around her, and tears are streaming down her face. I wonder what that's about.

They arrive at the finish line. A mid teen girl followed by a mid teen boy, and then a very solid block of runners stretching across the road and packed deep. It takes the pack several minutes to cross the line. The marshal's car follows them, showing this is the last of the runners.

After signing-in and getting a medallion for finishing, the girl leads the boy over. Apart from the tear streaks, she looks fresh and able to go a lot further. While the boy looks tired as he limps across the road to us. As they approach us the dog stands and wags her tail. Mrs Malcolm says, "Sarah, stay." The dog stands still. While they walk over, the girl slips off a small back pack she's wearing and turns off a music player with a speaker tied to the shoulder strap.

They stop in front of Mrs Malcolm, and she says, "Well, Barry, I see you finished the run! And you didn't finish last, like you thought you would."

The boy has a huge grin, as he replies, "Yes, Gran. I did it. I can't believe I beat all those other runners. The hospital staff didn't believe me when I told them last year I'd do the run. But I did it."

She turns to me, "Barry spent two months in hospital after the car accident with his parents. He was in it too. He has a bad leg, and limps as a result of his injuries, amongst other things." I nod as I think on the determination the boy has shown to do this within two years of the injury. I also think of the support he's received to get here today.

I look up, and see my friends are standing there grinning. I wonder what at, as I think on how hard doing this run must have been for the boy. Then Barry does something that helps me to understand how understated Mrs Malcolm's pride is in her great grandson.

The act is so simple and common place for many, but today it speaks volumes. I start to cry as Barry reaches out with his left hand, and says, "Sarah, come take me to the car." The dog moves around behind Barry and walks under his hand, waits until he grips the guide handle and gives a little push, then leads him off towards an old car parked nearby.

My friends gather round and we head for my van. We load up and leave. On the drive back to the start, Peter says, "When we came up level with Barry and May, Paula recognised him from when she worked the kids' ward last year. She told us about his history and aim. We told the other runners. None of us had the heart to pass them."

City Paper

About Town with Al - continued

... as I watched that boy being led off to his car, I thought on the courage and determination he has. I was reminded of an old saying my father was very fond of - 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.' Well, there's a lot of fight in Barry. I don't know what he'll do in life, but I do know he'll go far in whatever he chooses to do. He knows and understands how to grab hold and work for what he wants to do.

Good luck, mate.