With two pin pricks, shaking fingers and absolutely zero progress, Stephen subtly rubbed the tiny pin holes in his leg. He replaced the safety pin back where it started and confidently rose as if nothing had occurred. The word “rookie” slipped out under his breath.
“You know I’m already proud of you.” The man’s somber voice came from Stephen’s right only a few feet behind him.
“No kidding! In thirty years have you ever seen me get up this early on a Saturday?” Stephen looked back to see the bright youthful smile of a lady speaking with a gray-bearded man and weathered eyes. She wore a flimsy pink jacket with black tights and a neon green band around her head which covered her ears. Stephen noted that she was also wearing thin gloves. The maniacs may have been onto something after all. Although it wouldn’t have taken a tremendous amount of foresight to figure out that gloves would have been helpful. He was already regretting not taking that golden nugget of wisdom among the mountain of race advice which had been shoveled at him.
Stephen didn’t think the smiling lady was the typical runner someone would expect to get up early on a weekend and take in a marathon. She appeared to be healthy but only because she wore the extra weight well. Though attractive in her youth, her beauty was somewhat concealed by the lack of tightness in her skin. Stephen suspected she may have been someone who recently lost a significant amount of weight and perhaps the marathon was the capstone adventure to a recent lifestyle change. Nevertheless, her beauty emerged from a joyful glimmer, radiating from her calming blue eyes and a contagious smile which even the anticipation of a full marathon couldn’t hinder.
“You know what I mean.” the man sweetly continued on. Somewhere in his late fifty’s or early-sixties, he wore a thick but faded red and off-white plaid jacket, worn out blue jeans and rugged brown boots with scuffed tips that spoke proudly to the years of a healthy work ethic. “I just want you to know how special you are.” The man’s words rode a slow Southern drawl. “Just want you to know how much you mean to me- to all of us. We’ll look for you on the course but don’t you feel like you gotta be looking for us. You just be careful and you go about doin’ what you need to do. But don’t you feel like you have to run fast. I mean you… you just ain’t gotta prove nothin’ to no one out there today. You just do your best and be careful and don’t you worry about a thing while you’re out there.”
“Daddy…” The young lady tried to interrupt.
He continued on, unfazed. “You just listen to your body and if something ain’t feelin’ just right you don’t go on pushing it or trying to prove anything. You just be careful and you make sure you drink water and you do all the things you know along the way.”
She made another attempt. “Daddy…”, but it was as if she hadn’t spoken at all.
“If anything goes wrong you just tell someone and we’ll be there. And we’ll be there and we’ll be doin’ whatever needs to be done. We’ll take care of making things right as rain. I just want you to know how special you are to us. And just you don’t worry about anything cause we’ll be just as proud of you.”
“Alright, Daddy,” she firmly ended her father’s speech. “Now you’re just repeating yourself.”
“Oh. Sorry about that. I just…” The man gently fumbled his words.
“It’s okay. Please stop worrying. I feel good. It’s going to be a great day and I know I can do this. I’ll be careful and smart but what I need you to understand is that I am going to do this and it’s going to be alright.” The young lady gave her father a sweet but sassy head tilt. “Daddy, do you hear me? Everything is going to be alright.”
“Okay, I know. I’m sorry.” He compassionately leaned his head to mirror hers. “Maybe… it’s just that this is a long time for you to be out there on your own and I don’t want you doin’ anything dangerous out of feeling like you gotta prove something.”
“I know, Daddy. It’s not like I’ll be alone. Look at all these people out here!” She extended her arms as if to introduce him to the sea of bobble heads stretching their limbs around her.
“I know you’re not alone. I just wish you weren’t running by yourself.” His jaw clenched and Stephen watched as the man’s face drifted from concern and dipped into a deep sadness. The young lady’s smile curved into a conflicted grin as she looked up at her father with gentleness. She reached out and touched his forearm. The lively dialogue had come to an abrupt halt. They looked into each other’s eyes and continued their conversation in silence.
Watching the man’s countenance change under the gentle caress, Stephen found himself struggling to hold his composure. It was the look a father gets when the most precious treasure he has ever held begins to pull away and he knows there is no choice but to let her go. Regrettably, it was a look Stephen knew well and it brought a familiar pit back to his stomach. Though it seemed a bit more drama than one would expect before a marathon, Stephen had learned long before that there were no limits to the emotional peaks and valleys which could come from a daughter’s touch. It was true; the gentle caress of a daughter’s hand in those tender moments could take a parent back to the hospital room where they counted each of those tiny fingers for the first time. Stephen related to the girl’s father and the difficulty he felt trying to accept her dismissal of parental hyper-concern.
The father murmured after a minute, clearly struggling to hold it together as his little girl grasped his hands together. “We’re all proud of you. Every one of us. Every…” His voice broke and the man’s lips pressed together as if they were a dam threatening to crumble behind the weight of long-held emotions.
“Daddy, it’s alright. I love you.” She embraced him with a warmth that removed all hint of the morning’s chill. She pulled away and began stepping backwards into the crowd. Her face erupted into a big smile and she thrust her fists into the air as she called out to her father. “Don’t worry. I’m going to be great today!”
“You’re already great.” He lurched up and yelled above the heads, blowing her a kiss before quickly turning to make his exit through the crowd and up to the curb. With the young lady still looking in her father’s direction, Stephen saw the sleeve of her father’s thick plaid jacket rise above the crowd and thrust an exaggerated thumbs up.
Feeling the pit begin to settle, Stephen appreciated how the warmth of their conversation had distracted his own mind from the constant cut of the raw breeze. The young lady turned away and began rolling her neck like the other bobble heads as she made her way to an open area next to Stephen.
She caught Stephen’s eyes and gave an introductory, “Hello.”
“Good morning,” Stephen said with an awareness that proximity had made him an unintentional but obvious eavesdropper to her sweet conversation moments before. Stephen decided to open the door for conversation with a friendly smile. “Sounds like your dad has the pre-race jitters.”
“Yeah. I think he’s more stressed about this race than I am.” Her voice was pleasant and encouraging. “You’d think he was the one lining up in this crowd!”
Stephen thought of all the unsolicited advice he had received leading up to the marathon and how annoying it was when someone began a conversation with questions about whether this would be his first marathon. It seemed like such a dumb line of questioning. Of course this was his first marathon. He tried to imagine what sane person would do this more than once? Stephen tried to think of something less intrusive to discuss, if for no other reason than to distract from his earlier faux pas of failing to disguise his eavesdropping.
“He seems very supportive. And encouraging. It’s good to have caring people like that cheering for you.”