Running Elder Tells Youngsters of Things Called ‘Marathons’
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A local man yesterday told a rapt audience of things called “marathons,” Dumb Runner has learned, describing ritualistic events from a bygone era in which thousands of strangers would gather to breathe heavily and spit near one another for hours at a time.
Charles Dodgson, 78, a lifelong runner, spoke for nearly 30 minutes in his living room before his four young granddaughters. Dodgson himself is a veteran of 18 marathons, he said, “back when we still had such things.”
“Once upon a time,” Dodgson told the girls, “great numbers of people would come together, sometimes from great distances, to one place and then stand right next to each other in ‘corrals,’ talking and laughing and waiting.”
“But they wore face masks, right, Grandpa?” asked one girl.
“Nope,” Dodgson said.
The girls gasped.
“And then they would sing the National Anthem!” he added.
The girls gasped louder.
Dodgson then described the start of the race, with its close-quarters jostling; the race itself, with heavy breathing, spitting, and nostril-clearing; and boisterous post-race celebrations at crowded restaurants and bars.
Through it all, the girls sat, spellbound.
Reached for comment, one of the girls, Alice, 7, said she always enjoys hearing her grandfather’s stories.
“They’re so silly,” she said. “He has a good imagination.”
