It’s also the Starting Line

　　No one has ever asked me this so directly before. Either people like running or they don’t. Either people get it or they don’t. And if they don’t, they just think people who like it are crazy.

　　Which is okay.

　　That makes us even.

　　But now I have to explain why I like it, and I’m not sure where to start. “Uh … running, or racing?”

　　She thinks, then says, “Running. Like this morning.”

　　“Hm.” I try to put my finger on it. “Because it feels like freedom?”

　　She nods thoughtfully.

　　“And your mind travels places where it doesn’t normally go.…”

　　“Huh?”

　　“Like dreaming in real time?” I laugh. “Never mind. It sounds crazy.”

　　She laughs too, so I say the next thing that pops into my mind. “I love the morning air on my face—it’s one of the best things about running. The rest of your body’s warm, but your face is cool.” I laugh again. “I totally get why dogs like to stick their head out of car windows. Running’s like that but with fewer bugs in your teeth.”

　　She laughs again, then sighs and says, “I wish I could feel that.”

　　“What?” I kid her. “Your mom won’t let you stick your head out the window while she’s driving? What kind of mom do you have?”

　　“A good one!” Then she says, “Now racing.”

　　“Huh? Oh—what do I like about racing?”

　　She nods, so I give that some thought and finally tell her, “It’s electric. From stepping into your lane until you cross the finish line … every cell of your body is charged.”

　　“Going over the finish line must be wonderful.”

　　I laugh. “Especially if you’re the first one there.”

　　“But … it means you finished. You made it. Even if you don’t get a medal.”

　　I look at her. “You’re very philosophical about the finish line.”

　　She gives a thoughtful nod. “It’s symbolic.” I nod too, because I’m sure I know what she means, but then she adds, “Because it’s also the starting line.”

　　For some reason this thought startles me. And I think about all the races where this is true—the 400, the 800, the 1600, all the relays—and it shocks me that I have never looked at it this way.

　　Maybe because of staggered starts.

　　Maybe because starting feels so different from finishing. At the starting line you’re amped, set, coiled. At the finish line you’re completely spent.

　　So the thought that they’re the same line gives me a very strange feeling.

　　A sort of uncomfortable feeling.

　　Like discovering someone very close to you has been leading a secret double life.

The Running Dream, p213~214
Wendelin Van Draanen
ISBN 978-0-375-86667-8

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