May
9
Bean running moment….
Filed Under Training Adventures
Bean running moments happen often. I have narrowly missed being hit by golf balls, tripped more times than I can remember and found a fish lying in my path when there is no fish source in the vicinity apart from the local supermarket?
With the onset of the chillier weather, and no races on the go, I have had Blogger’s Block and cannot bring myself to write something unless it has some sort of meaning or entertainment value. I have been pondering a topic all week, when something happened this morning, which made me think this was a ‘Bean’ moment that did not happen TO ME, but I would remember as a highlight in my training run memory. For those who may not understand the concept of a ‘Bean’ moment, simply watch an episode of British comedic genius Rowen Atkinson in ‘Mr.Bean’…
For my Saturday morning run, I usually drive out to meet my two friends Arthur and Russell in a hilly part of Johannesburg, as the town where I live is rather flat and mundane. Both guys are very accomplished Comrades Marathon runner’s (that crazy 90k run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg they do here every year), and needless to say, all I usually manage to say to them is “Good Morning” – gasp for 1h30/2h – and then “Thanks for the run” … The rest of the time, I try to distract myself from the strain of keeping up, by listening to the most entertaining conversations about football (I believe the team to support is Liverpool???) , their wives (all good I assure!) and the latest car models!
This morning we headed out in the dark, as usual, at 5am (quiet bliss time in Jo’burg!). We were running on probably what is the only easy section of the whole run, and I thought I might just have enough breath to blurt out a sentence about — Uh-oh! Massive big pothole in front of feet, going to fast to stop in time, sandwiched between Russell and the pavement, am gonna have to stretch extended leg a bit beyond the comfort zone of my hamstring….stretcchhh! Whew! made it over, Bean did an incredible evasive move, hamstring still intact! Russell and Arth say, laughing at my blindness, “Oh, didn’t you see the giant crater in front of you????”. No. Clearly, I did not, but no crash landing – amazing!!!!
A little further down the road, we have to cross another road, this time, on high alert, I spot a river flowing down the road – I warn the guys, “Watch out, that’s a burst sewage pipe!”. Proud of myself, I get them to SLOW down. I decide to go to the right, with Russell just ahead, in order to step over the narrowest flow of grey water and make it over dry. Now I see Russell, (who does not have the longest legs in the world) attempting to cross at a point that is a little to wide for his step…
He steps straight into the drain from which the ‘Dwang’ is eminating – ANKLE DEEP! Now Russell is a VERY neat, very tidy, kind of guy who ALWAYS has pristine shoes and matching clothes! The look of horror on his face was priceless! I cracked up and laughed so hard the tears were streaming from my eyes. “So, Russell…” I ask “Did you not see the big drain that you just stepped into?” I was glowing with a ‘Bean” moment of revenge. Apparently, the pale colour made him think that he was stepping onto the concrete lid of the drain? This is HIS story. Shame, despite my very cruel rolls of laughter, I was kind enough to point out the loo paper hanging off the end of the shoe! He was fuming with disgust, now having to run on a chilly morning, with a wet, squelchy, contaminated shoe all the way home! Everytime his foot landed and the shoe squished I could not help but burst out with laughter.
Moral of the story? Never laugh AT the Bean, revenge may just be around the corner…