Running with Fred Lebow²⁹

After two miles I felt as if I had run a whole marathon. The humidity was so bad, and also it was drizzling. I didn’t mind the rain, but the humidity was so bad that after two miles I wanted to give up. With greatest difficulty I continued.

After four miles I started running and walking. After nine and a half miles, I was absolutely walking for four or five hundred metres at a time. Then whom did I see? Fred Lebow! He came from behind me. When I saw him, I said, “Oh, you were behind me?”

He started running with me. He asked me how many marathons I had run. I said, “This is my twentieth.”

He said, “I am fifty years old and this is my fiftieth marathon.”

I said, “I am congratulating you! For each year of your life you have run one marathon.”

Then he said, “Look behind me. The man there has run a hundred and one marathons.”

I was running with Fred Lebow for some time. I often complain about my stride. His stride is also short, but very quick. He was complaining about the humidity. Finally, he went ahead of me.