Dear Laz,
we´ll probably never have the chance to have a a little chat. But as you organize a really fascinating and pretty hilarious running event on those nice Frozen Head State Park-trails we just wanted to let you know that we are huge fans of your events. We are pretty sure you don´t like people who claim to be huge fans of whatever, but this here is a bit different. It is more the reason why you´re doing what you´re doing and your enormous fun behind your organization of your marathons what we really like and appreciate. No common training session, no common race passes without joking about your race, without quoting some of your rules or some of those things participants of your race have said. You just seem the right person to address some assays about running to because your spirit, your way of thinking and of course your effort on designing the track for your race match pretty much with what we think is the essence behind running.
June 12th, 2016: Essay #1
Why we should be allowed to enter the B. marathons
#1 once in our life
Everyone wants to be #1 once in their lifes. It means something. In the common sense it means to be very special or to be even more precise: to be the best. In the world of real sports the #1 is often the one to be expetected to win the present contest, to lead, to fight for the win. Often this person is also honoured with this bib number for a past triumph in an early edition of the event. During those big running events the #1 is the one person running behind that car leading the race. This must be a brilliant, a perfect moment for this very person. The feelings generally connected with being the #1 are those everyone, especially everyone connected to the world of sports is longing for: the perfect moment full of pure happiness and a great deal of adrenalin. The feeling of being invincible. At least of a moment.
This is not the moment and not the feeling we would love to have. There is more. What we have learned from the very nice documentary about your race is, that there is another meaning for beeing #1. A more simple one. Although it means strictly speaking the same thing – being the first – it is so much more. Beeing #1 at the B. marathons means to be special, very special indeed: you´ll be most likely the first person to quit. This information tells and teaches one so much more than this pure adrenalin driven feeling of being invincible. It means that one was brave enough to enter without having a real chance. That one was hoping for something which was far away from any possibilities. In short it means something far more important than to win a race. The #1 at the B. marathons is handed out and have to be taken with humor, has to be worn with a special kind of self-mockery and, in that very unlikely event of handing it back after completing one loop, would lead to the greatest achievement possible in the world of our sport. We would be really honoured if could be the real #1 once in our lifes. We do promise to behave and if you would hand us for example #1a and #1b out we would tear apart those pages we might find on the way. For this act of cruelty we offer you to buy new books for the next years edition.