An Unexpected Gift

When they started, it was dark. The colored lights of the buildings downtown shined brightly and reflected in the still water of Town Lake as they ran along the empty trails.

By the time they finished the five mile warmup loop and found themselves back were they started, the dark had given way to dawn had given way to day, and the trails were no longer empty.

Some of them ran 10. Some 16. Some 18. And a few 20, but this group was small, and most of them were quick, having long since left him in the dust. He ran the 20 miles mostly alone.

At the start, there was RunTex Gatorade. At the boat dock, there was water. On the overlook at the top of Scenic Loop there was more in another blue RunTex jug, and it was cold. At the lady's house at the corner of Balcones and Mt. Bonnell, there was another blue jug of Gatorade, set at the curb by the coach in the wee hours before they began.

And that was it. After the Gatorade at that corner, it was gas stations and grocery stores. And he didn't bring money, so it looked like it'd just be water for him the rest of the way -- only water with 10 miles to go. He figured it would be ok.

But he figured wrong.

Somewhere along Shoal Creek, things started to go bad. Not his legs. Certainly not his lungs. But every five minutes or so, his body slowed to a walk, and he had nothing to do with it. It was his starving brain run amuck, and he had 8 miles or so to go. It was going to be a bad day.

He began scheming in his mind as he ran then walked then ran again. Perhaps a hidden gas station along the road, perhaps an unexpected grocery store, but he didn't have money. Or perhaps Steve and Melody would be up and he could beg for orange juice -- heck even a coke at this point, anything for carbs. He needed to feed his brain to put the pieces back together again.

At 45th street he slowed to a walked for the tenth time or so. By that point, he was resigned to it. So he just walked to the light; there was nothing else to do. Besides, his hope for orange juice was only 10 blocks away.

And then it happened.

As he crossed the street and slowly raised his eyes to the road ahead, angelic voices sang from on high. A golden ray of sunshine slanted thru the trees, landing on the ground across the street where a glorious sight appeared.

There on the corner of Shoal Creek and 45th sitting at the curb, was a blue jug with RunTex stenciled across it in black. And clean paper cups.

He gasped out loud and crossed the street. The cups were large. He filled his three times. And as he filled the first one, he saw that it was Gatorade. And it was good. He felt like a lone tree in the desert after a storm. He felt like a sponge. And his renegade brain reassembled itself. And his legs began to run again.

He certainly wasn't a pretty sight as he finished those last few miles. But those three gift cups of Gatorade got him home.

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RunTex Fall Marathon Training Class, Austin TX

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