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7 March 2026 - Erlenbach

One of the things that fellow runners never do is point out my diminishing returns. Today I ran the 11.4 km main run at the Laufsporttag Winterthur for the second time. My performance today was significantly behind what I managed two years ago. An hour and 15 minutes versus an hour. The extra pounds I'm carrying now now do matter. I was more than 10 pounds lighter then. Still, I ran a portion of the race today alongside a young man who would not let me quit - cheering me on late in the race as I did him early on. Neither of us had a chance of winning even our age groups. Why did I clap as he ran off ahead of me toward the end? Why did he seek me out afterward to say thank you for the support? Health benefits aside this is what keeps me running. We are compadres. That runners don't hesitate to pick up a fallen comrade and carry him across the finish line he almost reached is evidence enough that this is the most human of sports.