Forget Usain Bolt’s 100M victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he was so dominant he slowed down and celebrated before the finish line. Forget Wayde van Niekirk’s 400M world record at the 2016 Olympics which caused Usain Bolt’s jaw to drop. The best sprint race ever occurred in the north section of Boulder, CO and featured a showdown between a city street sweeper truck and me.
One of my staple six-mile runs in Boulder includes a trail that goes under US36/28th Street. For people unfamiliar with Boulder, this is a major artery through the city. When approaching this underpass on my run, you can first see it from about a quarter mile away. One day while running this route and coming towards the underpass, I noticed that a street sweeper was chugging along the shoulder on 28th, diligently doing its work, and moving towards the spot where it would cross over the trail.
Clouds of dust and debris were billowing into the air as the brushes spun furiously along the pavement. I realized that once it passed over the trail, all of the dirt and debris would be shoved off the road and, gravity being what it is, fall towards the path. Running through it would suck.
I had two choices. Pause, allow the street sweeper to pass, and let the dust settle. Or, there was a riskier route with significance chance of failure: race the street sweeper to the underpass and hope to beat it. There was never any doubt in my mind about which option to go with, and the race was on.
I started pumping my legs and took off like it was a 200M and not a 400M. I did have the advantage of the path being slightly downhill. It seemed that the street sweeper knew I had thrown down the gauntlet and it picked up its speed, determined to make me veer off course at the last second. At 200M in, the outcome was very much in doubt and despite going downhill, I was on my toes, pushing, pushing, for the street sweeper was quickly closing the gap between it and the overpass.
With many clouds of dust, there is the central core which is chock-full and dense, and then there are the surrounding layers which grow thinner and thinner as you move away from it. Given that this was a mass of road crud, I wanted to avoid even the outermost layer of dust, which meant not only beating the street sweeper, but beating it by a decent margin.
Something odd happens when you’re in the final throes of a race and you’re running in a crazed state to accomplish a goal that’s still very much in doubt. All you see is your finish line and the goal measurement. Usually this is a clock at the finish line or a fellow competitor. In this case, it was the street sweeper in my left peripheral vision. The rest of the world goes white and though you feel pain, it’s a tolerable state for you know that relief is coming, and the only thing that matters is victory.
I summoned my remaining strength and escalated my pace towards the bridge, for though I was starting to sense victory, by no means was it certain.
As I came into my last ten or so strides before the bridge, to my left I could see the outer layer of the vile dust cloud, illuminated by the midday sun. I threw in one last surge and crossed under the bridge, having dodged the dust.
As I run under the other side, I checked over my shoulder and saw that the street sweeper was about halfway over the bridge. The margin of victory was narrow, but like so many narrow margins, it was enough.
This was also the point where I remembered that I still had to get back to my building which was two miles away. At first this seemed exhausting, but I was running with the adrenaline of victory and these next miles would be a luxurious victory lap. Me over the street sweeper. Human over the machine.
I didn’t need Usain Bolt’s jaw-drop (though that would be one of the coolest running endorsements ever) to take the crown for greatest sprint ever.
(Author’s reality check: Were I to own and post a video of this 400M race and place it next to Bolt’s and van Niekirk’s online, theirs would get thousands or millions of votes for best sprint ever. Mine would get fewer but hopefully at least four, assuming my immediate family voted for it.)
Running food review of the week: (note–gels, bars, chews, and other items affect everyone differently. Try them on a short run before using them for a key training run or race): Clif Bloks Energy Chews Orange: This product has 25mg of caffeine. I’m not sure how to rate it. Part of my sluggishness may have been the heat the day I used it. My time and energy on the first 3.5 miles was solid but it fell off. Clif is traditionally a good product for me so I may have to give this one another shot. In the meantime, given the heat factor and that the product didn’t adversely affect me, I’d say it’s okay.
Sources used:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/aug/17/olympicsathletics.olympics2008
https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36689353
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