THE RUNNING CONTEST
Two days ago I went to a public running contest in Iceland with my younger son, who was competing in the 10 km race. The event was huge (as Donald Trump would say), with a few thousand people taking part in the race. Rock n’ roll music was everywhere. A DJ was outside getting everyone geared up for the race, and the overall mood was very high. My son wanted to improve his time down to under 42 minutes, which he did. The race had people at all ages, in every shape you can imagine, men and women The race had people from 63 nationalities, who ran in the rain for many reasons.
While waiting for my son to reach the finish line, I studied the people who were running in the race. I saw the young athletes who compete often and were very serious. I saw the former athletes, now passed their prime in competition, but who still like to be a part of the game. I saw the boys and young men (like my son), who were eager to see what they can achieve in competition and didn’t mind showing off other people as well. I saw the people in the running clubs and groups, doing their thing, and documenting everything for social media. I saw the teenage girls and boys, who were running for pure fun, and loved being a part of something really fun and energetic. I saw the regular but ambitious people, who like setting goals and achieving them, who ran for themselves and liked being in the moment. I also saw people like me, who followed their loved ones to the contest, and took photos and videos on their phone, of their own contestants. Facebook would be generously smeared with these photos and videos later on. And for good reason.
But I also though to myself, why is everyone really here tonight in the rain? The answer to this question is, in my mind, that people like being around other people, they like to be where things are happening, they like to connect with other people. We all like to connect with other people, sharing a smile, laughter and finding joy in being around one another. I saw proof of this when witnessing the contestants reaching the finish line. They were all smiles the last 20 meters to the finish line. They felt joy when other people were clapping for their achievement. Peoples smiles were everywhere and they were contagious. So was the joy. The running contest was definitely worth it.
A.G. Munson
