My first Race

My first actual "race", if you want to call it like that, was a "fun run", the so-called B2Run Business run in Dortmund, May 2017. It's 6.6km long, and it's supposed to be more like a friendly shared sports event than a competition (though I have seen the occasional overeager Head Of Something-Or-Other in full running gear running back and forth with a selfie stick to snap a picture of themselves plus their red-faced defenceless subordinates).

That's why I agreed to join, without any meaningful running experience.
It was horrible, six thousand and six hundred meters of agony, side stitches and pain, done in just shy of 50 minutes. I didn't bother checking the results, I immediately headed home, half-expecting to die somewhere along the way.

Next day, my co-workers told me that I was not only last of our company, but the slowest runner in the entire run. I was not surprised. In fact, it was not until 6 years later, during my second participation at the same B2Run (this time with modest running experience) that I noticed people taking breaks, stopping for a chat, taking phone calls or stopping for various other reasons - something I was unable to notice back in 2017 through all the sweat and agony. There was no way I could have run as I did from start to finish, without stopping, and cross the finish line last.

Turns out^[1] my co-workers were just pulling my leg, with a lie so convincing I never even remotely questioned it.

Last Update: 2025-05-05T17:44:22

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