A deceptive ten miles7

This morning, starting at about four o’clock, I ran ten miles. Sometimes when I am tired, I enter into Peter’s car. But this morning I ran the whole ten miles. I thought I was going fast, but my timing was not good. So I was disgusted.

Around two o’clock this afternoon, Casey all of a sudden said to me, “The measurement of the ten-mile course you ran this morning is all wrong.” Three years I have been running that course! Casey said that after the third mile, fifty metres was added. And it was after the third mile that I noticed my timing was becoming worse. Then, after that, there are more mistakes.

I asked, “How is it that you are only telling me now?”

Casey said, “I heard it at the Smile a long time ago, but I was in another world at the time. I am only now remembering it.”

Peter said, “That is what I heard too.”

Ashrita said, “Yes, we found the mistake a long time ago, but we didn’t have time to correct it.”

At two o’clock this afternoon they were telling me the news, and I had run early in the morning! When I first used to run the ten-mile route, I didn’t care for timing. But now it is a different story. My road crew knew that the measurements were wrong, but they were too frightened to tell me or their sincerity didn’t come forward.


RB 191. 9 August 1980