Butter my bread

True to Seth James DeMoor’s signature expression “butter my bread”, I rewarded myself with a pizza after my marathon as Seth himself set out to run those 42k along the Mary Carter Greenway Trail in Denver. Even as he raced 50 miles to raise money for people who have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 epidemic just a few days ago, I was almost certain that he would be able to set a new marathon PR, possibly even running under the magic 2 hours and 19 minutes qualifying standard for the Olympic Team Trials (had it been a certified race). Yet, for once, Seth turned out to be at least slightly human as his legs gave up about 10k into the race, forcing him to drop from 3:20 min/km to 4:30 min/km, ultimately finishing in 2 hours and 58 minutes (which is still almost an hour faster than what I was able to accomplish today).

As for my own running plans, I just learnt that Urskogsloppet has been cancelled as well. Like Göteborgsvarvet, but unlike Umåker, the organizers are playing foul and refuse to make any refunds. While I fully understand that there are some costs associated with organizing an event like this, and would be happy to pay a few hundred SEK in an “administrative fee”, simply taking people’s money is not the way to build trust. Despite these bad experiences, I am still tempted to sign up for the 70k Kuršių Nerija ultramarathon in Lithuania in October when (or if) registration opens on 1st of June. More than ever, it feels important to not give up on the future and to keep dreaming.