The clock read 6 a.m. but there was still a staggering 35 km more to go in the 84km ultra-marathon. A group of torn and injured runners realised that they will not make it to the finish line on time.
That was when Mohan and Debra decided to band together with the remaining runners there are still limping and struggling on the running track to motivate each other all the way to the finish line. As they ran, they clapped, cheered and picked up other walkers along the way. One by one, injured laggards hopped on the band wagon as they clapped, cheered and ran along.
At kilometre 50, the group ran past me. I was limping at that time as I was nursing a sudden knee affliction. As they did with everyone else, the group beckoned over, inviting me to run with them.
“Come on, you’re not going to make it by the cut-off time if you carry on at this speed”, one of them shouted over to me. I did a quick calculation in my head and realise to my horror that he was right. The ultra marathon cuts off at 15 hours. This means that those who make it after 10 am will be disqualified and considered as having not completed the race. At the speed I was limping, I will barely make it.
I decided to ignore the pain and joined the cheerful group and ran along at their speed as they sang and cheered for each other. This little display of group dynamics made me forget about my knee injury, and gave me that little bit of hope in completing the ultra marathon on time.
As we ran, I realised that everyone else in the group who was cheering and clapping for each other, was also just like me. Each of them was suffering from one form of injury or another. What kept them going was the presence of one another – each gunning for the other runner beside him or her.
We ran like this all the way to the finish line. We crossed the mat with barely 45 minutes to go before cut off. It was a group of laggards who barely made it in time. But we were a group of extraordinary laggards.
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