October 17th, 2004
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I am not fast
Today I participated in the 45th annual Honmachi undoukai (athletic meet). Unfortunately I couldn’t get out of bed until close to one as I celebrated a little too much the night before at my twenty-fifth birthday party, so my only assistance to higashi Honmachi came in the form of a late entry write-in for the two hundred meter relay (I was placed in the thirty year-old male bracket).
Despite my best intentions at running on a jittery body sorely in need of electrolytes, I couldn’t make up enough time to save our small corner of Shibuya from finishing last. The race was run on the dirt courtyard of the east Honmachi middle school, so footing was less than ideal. It took everything I had to not have my feet slide out from under me on the turns, thanks to my abnormally high center of gravity. I reaffirmed that I am not fast at all, even though I have been told once before that my soccer form is graceful like a gazelle. Still, I gave it everything I had, pushing aside wondering why I’d never run a relay before in my life. Apparently the announcers took a fancy to me as I’m told my name came up several times on the PA during the race.
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Though strong in second place for most of the competition, higashi Honmachi began to tire late in the afternoon, slipping into a three-way tie for fourth after the relay. Notice the long and underdeveloped legs of the novice runner. This Italian-American may have stamina, but there’s no power in those tiny calves.
In any case, a good time was had by all, and we will try again next year. Upon arriving at the after party fifteen minutes late, I was chagrined to walk in to applause and cheering. Perhaps it was because I was the only person attending between the ages of ten and thirty, or perhaps because I was the only foreigner in the entire competition. Regardless, I got to hold babies and play with children, something that always lightens my heart and makes me feel good and secure, so that’s a plus. I walked home with a handful of onigiri (rice balls), juice boxes, and laundry detergent among other novel fourth place prizes, so I suppose all in all it was quite a successful outing. Now about that marathon in January…
