Have you had an out of body experience?  I have and it happened again at Reggae Marathon last December.  This came to me over the weekend as I was doing my hill repeat workout Sunday morning.

Before the start of most races I’m pretty excited.  With butterflies in my stomach I anxiously await the Starter’s signal thinking about hearing the ‘beep’ when I cross the timing mat.  At Reggae Marathon with the start in the dark that excitement goes up a notch.  First of all it’s exciting just to be in Negril. I love beaches and the miles of white sand and warm Caribbean put Negril high up on the list of best beaches in the world.  As I jostle anxiously behind the start line waiting for Race Director Frano to send us off I vascilate between wishing for my race to finish so I can run into the sea and hoping it will never end so I don’t have to leave.

Then the torches get lit and the drumming begins in earnest.  That’s when IT happens!  I have the feeling of floating above the ground looking down and taking in the whole pre-start experience.  It doesn’t last long but it is intense. I can smell the smoke from the torches and see them on both sides of the road just past the Start line…I hear nothing but the beating of the drums.  Then all too soon it’s back down to earth and I’m off running.

Maybe it’s normal, maybe not.  In any case, my out of body experience at Reggae Marathon is real.  And I look forward to it every year.

Until next time…

Reggae Marathon RunninGuy (aka Sugar ‘Tuff Gong’ Bong)

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