I saw him just as I was bracing for the steep incline to the bridge at the South Road Properties in the 21-kilometer race in last January’s Cebu City Marathon.
He was wearing a white running shirt—not the singlet issued by race organizers—and listening to music through earbud earphones.
INNER RHYTHM. Music not only takes runners away to a different place in their mind’s eye but also provides them rhythm for their cadence. (CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO FROM THE FLICKR PAGE OF ZAPHGOD)I made a move to pass him when, inexplicably, he suddenly raised his arms in seeming triumph.
I looked back after passing him and saw his eyes closed. He had an expression of someone who just won a race, in his mind’s eye.
I was tempted to bring him back to half-marathon reality, “Dude! We’re not even half-way yet!” but I was too preoccupied computing whether I could break two hours in my first 21K to bother.