8 days to go......Words.....The Road

I think Nike must be absolutely gutted (not often you see a blog post beginning with a line like that eh?). One of the greatest sporting adverts I think I have ever seen, advertising Nike; and Nike never used it! Why? because it was in a film called 'What Women Want'.

The brief and basic plot sees Mel Gibson working for an advertising agency pitching a campaign to the women's division of Nike. His ability to hear women's thoughts (what? and it's NOT a horror movie??!! crap, there goes my chance of a date out of this blog) give him a competitive advantage, and result in the simple image of a woman running on the road while Mel's voice narrates......(note, I have fiddled with the script a ickle bit......only a ickle bit, I promise)

You don't stand in front of a mirror before a run, and wonder what the road will think
of your outfit.
You don't have to listen to its jokes and pretend they're funny, in order to run on it.
It would not be easier to run if you dressed smarter.
The road doesn't notice if you're not wearing aftershave.
It does not care how old you are.

You do not feel uncomfortable, because you make more money than the road.

And you can call on the road whenever you feel like it; whether it's been a day, or even a couple of hours since your last date.
The only thing the road cares about, is that you pay it a visit once in a while.

The road.

No games.

Just sports.

I think it's not only a fantastic advert, it also has a ring of truth surrounding it. The road for me started as an enemy that you dread meeting, even though I knew I had to; then I got to know it, until that imperceptible moment arrived when it became my friend; something I began depending on.

Now, firmly embedded in the tapering phase, I find myself missing the company of that friend; restless. So many things kick in when I run; calm, peace, determination, courage, meditation, thought, contemplation, achievement, and no human being has ever managed to do that (not yet anyway!). Whatever happens in eight days time, I know that I have made friends for life. It may be the end of the marathon, but it will not be the end of the running.

Nike knows it, Helen Hunt knows it, even Mel Gibson knows it; I am obviously in good company.