It’s a long ride from Berlin to Vienna. When I booked this ticket, I just wanted to get into the city, wander about and get to my AirBNB for a late dinner. But complications have ensued. The Wachau Marathon needs me to pick up my bib tonight as I need it for the train ride to the start line on Sunday. They’ll be there until 8 PM. The bus was supposed to get in at 6:05. Traffic in Dresden and Prague city centers has delayed us (so far) 20 minutes. I should still be fine but this is one of those clockwatching scenarios.
To pass the hours on the bus, I’m dozing on occasion though it’s the fitful sleep of moments, not even minutes, the head bob that means you’re JUST about to drift off when a wheel hits a pothole, a fellow passenger flips up their tray table, the sun bursts through a cloud cover to hit you with UV rays that’d make a puppy lying on the carpet stretch out in joy. Inbetween, I’ve alternated between reading GREAT EXPECTATIONS and watching a few episodes of Bill Hader’s freshly minted multiple Emmy-award-winning BARRY. Back in my college days, there’d be an easy comm studies paper comparing those two narratives. But of course paper topics for Comm Studies are like names of British pubs – you just need to smush two nouns or titles together and presto. The Fishmonger and the Telepath. The Rhombus and the Hand Model. The Elephant and the Scales of Justice. The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and 13 Going on 30. Suicide Squad and the Virgin Suicides. Babe Squared — (the talking pig movie) and Babe (about Babe Ruth).
Twenty years ago I was shooting my senior honors thesis movie THE BELL SAVERS right about now. It was over Fall Break that I started cutting scenes and realizing just how poor a job I had done directing and shooting that thing. There was a whole scene that contemplated de-colorizing, dubbing into French, and subtitling to get around the constant hum of an air conditioner on the audio. I wound up reshooting the whole thing a few days before I was screening the movie. I was a mess that semester, desperately trying to get things squared away, convinced that by graduating early I could get started on my life and fixing the lingering issues with me. How naïve I was. How shortsighted. Who leaves college early? As with much of my life, I felt I had gotten all I needed and was moving onto whatever the next thing was, not realizing that nothing comes easy and maybe I should’ve spent a bit more time enjoying the moment. That semester messed up a lot of relationships and friendships and honestly should’ve been a red light warning signal for my obsessive, single-focus mindset when I’m on a project. It was true in school. It was true at work. It’s also kinda true with my running. Probably no kinda about it – it is true.
Lee Peacock at the TravellingFit pasta dinner for Berlin was a great Master of Ceremonies. He introduced some folks hitting milestones – first marathon, Aboriginal Team in Training success stories, a husband and wife who overcame a stroke and got back into running within 12 months… and now were gong to run with their 20-something daughter so she could do her first race. And then he warned everybody that if they weren’t careful they might wind up running a whole lot more. He asked me to stand up and jokingly warned, “You could be doing your 373 marathon like Kevin over there!” It was a funny button to the whole thing, a classic Aussie balancing act between serious and fun and I was happy to go along with it.
It was humbling to have people come up then and ask me about the races. While I ramble on and on about it here on my blog, I usually don’t explicitly state how many marathons I’ve run because, well, that’s me. I’ve been (mostly) fortunate both physically and financially to keep going. It’s usually something that’s more for me than others. And I honestly think WHATEVER someone is doing – a 5K, a 10, a marathon, a triathlon, hell, just getting up off the couch and going for a walk – that’s all reason to celebrate and be proud. Me? Whatever. I’d rather hear about you and your story.
I was surprised folks wanted to ask me about the races I’d done… and Lee said he hoped I didn’t mind him doing it. He knew I would roll with it. I told him I was happy to be his punchline but I told him I did not to be a total jerk about it during his speech, but my total with Berlin was going to be 403. The 372 number was when I first signed up for the tour package. That only added to the weirdness as people would say, “Wow – 373!” And then somebody else would pipe up nearby, “No, no – he’s actually over 400!” I guess I don’t normally speak it aloud. It seemed to throw people for a loop. To me it’s just something I go do so I can eat and drink too much. And to alleviate some stress now and again. When people asked how I did so many, I tried explaining to people, “Yeah, I’m not that smart.” Because running mile after mile after mile… maybe that’s a dumb way to spend my time. But it’s probably just as dumb as reframing “Saved By The Bell” as Shakespearan tragedy.
See – two nouns, smushed together. The secret to Communications.
***
But enough of all that. Words, words, as the poet says, sticking such sentiments into the Prince of Denmark’s mouth. But I don’t get to Denmark until Monday.
Meanwhile, photos from the bus – because unlike, say, US Weekly, which we all read for the articles, Run Kevin Run runs best when there’s less words and a lot more photos:
