Two competitors²¹

In the Vermont Inspiration Marathon, the first time I saw Gangadhar, at sixteen miles, he was smiling. Simon was behind him. The second time I saw them, Simon was ahead of Gangadhar. Simon was so happy that he was ahead and had taken the lead.

When I started running at the twenty-one mile mark, I saw Simon again. He was very glad to see me and said, “Guru, Guru, Guru!” Gangadhar was nowhere near him. I was always waiting to see if I would hear Gangadhar’s footsteps, and I kept looking around. But the only footsteps I heard behind me were not a man’s. It was Prataya. Gangadhar was walking.

Then I saw that husband and wife were going together — Gayatri was inspiring him.

The first time I saw him at sixteen miles, he was quite happy. Then at twenty-one miles, he was not smiling, but Simon was so happy.