Challenge Over Therapy

Therapy wasn't even an option

Barcelona in March is a little secret of the time-travellers. If you can brave the icy wind to board a plane at your local airport, you will step out in the middle of a warm spring. Gentle sun on your face, the air rich with fresh blooms, and lively chatter from outdoor cafés.

But I did not arrive to sit musing on a bench. I was on a mission. Soon after stretching my limbs from the confines of the budget airline I went for a run along the seafront. Because on Sunday, 16 March, I was to meet my challenge: the city's annual marathon.

Two mornings later I was already stretching at Plaça de Catalunya, one among the animated crowd of almost thirty thousand runners. Then the countdown hit zero — and Barcelona erupted in excitement.

Streets lined with people shouting '¡Venga, venga!', '¡Ánimo!', '¡Da lo que puedas!', and even '¡Vamos, Vacilando!' Little kids leaning far into the road, arms outstretched for high fives — however sweaty.

It's amusing to see how people want to interact with you just because you run in the street. One might think, for a brief moment, of being a role model — someone performing a feat others only think about. But the reality may be that, for the spectators, we are not more than a curiosity: fools pounding the asphalt for hours in the sun, rewarded with a generic piece of metal and a banana. One of the signs expressed it well: 'You've paid for this, now run!'

There were many other witty posters. Several variants of cardboard signs with 'Touch this for energy boost!' The tongue-in-cheek 'I trained for months to write this sign!' And of course girls with 'Smile if you think I'm beautiful!'

Most of the time I was too exhausted to produce much of a reaction. Attempts to smile resulted in awkward grins at best. Legs stiff with pain. Even thinking hurt!

But then there was a sign that really got me. A young lady at the side of the road waving a piece of cardboard that read: 'Therapy was an option, too!' I burst out laughing.

Ha, not for me! For as long as I can move, I will prefer the pain and sweat of 42,195 metres in a beautiful city like Barcelona over any therapist’s couch :-)

Tomáš Fülöpp

Barcelona, Spain

March 14, 2025 ~ March 17, 2025