Marathon Memory

by Kim Teter

Photo by Miguel A Amutio on Unsplash

The sports photographer sets his camera on a tripod and scouts his surroundings on this cool, sunny day. Noise and movement are abundant, but his keen eye spies a unique opportunity. Pressing the shutter button, he captures an unlikely marathon moment. What story does his picture tell?

The runner in crisp focus is not centered in the frame, but rather off to the left a bit. Her unkempt blonde hair streams wildly behind her shoulders. Her cheeks are rosy, her mouth forming an “O,” as though breathing requires Herculean effort.

Her stride is long—longer than that of any of the other runners around her—and the pink sole of her right shoe is visible. Her left leg is obscured by her right, but it’s obvious her left foot is also above the pavement. She’s in what runners call the “flight phase”—both feet are in the air and her body isn’t in contact with the ground.

She is marked by fierce determination, motivated by mission.

The twenty or so other runners pictured on the street have official bibs noting official entry numbers for Nashville’s Music City Marathon. The runner in focus, however, doesn’t wear an official bib; she wears a magenta hoodie and a black skirt (maybe it’s a skort?) as she runs on the sidewalk. Her left arm is pumping in front of her waist, with her right arm behind, and her right hand is holding a… water jug?

It turns out the littlest runner is a first-grader named Audrey. Her family had arrived at their spot on the marathon route to cheer for Audrey’s aunt. Audrey brought her hand-painted poster for Aunt Claire that proclaimed “You rule it” and “Go, Go, Go,” embellished with lots of colorful hearts.

One of the Gatorade stations for Mile 3 was just a few yards away. A volunteer had prepared a couple of hundred green paper cups with the energy drink, but an entire team of volunteers had cancelled on their commitment. In a short time, 20,000 runners would come flooding down this street, consuming the prepared cups in no time.

Audrey and her family jumped into action, the poster abandoned in a yard. While Audrey’s sister handed cups of energy drink to grateful runners who barely broke stride, Audrey’s dad mixed additional concentrate with water in a large-capacity plastic jug. The Gatorade concentrate came in neat gallon bottles stored beneath the folding table. The water needed to dilute the Gatorade came from a fire hydrant. A couple of houses down from the table, volunteers lined a trash can with a plastic bag and filled it from the fire hydrant. Other volunteers hastily dunked pitchers into the water and then raced the water back to the drink stations.

The first trickle of runners became a stream, then a river, then a gushing torrent of hundreds—no, thousands!—of bodies, reaching out to grab a cup of Gatorade. In spite of the hurry, each runner uttered a heartfelt thanks. Audrey made her trek between the Gatorade station and the fire hydrant countless times.

The photographer, Matt Miller, sent the picture to Audrey’s mom. He captured Audrey hitting “flight phase” on April 22, 2023. She intended to be a cheerleader that morning, not a runner, but Audrey saw a need, wanted to help, and hit her stride at the Music City Marathon. Go, Go, Go!

Kimberly Cross Teter is a native Texan who finds herself happily living in Franklin, TN, with her husband and yellow Labrador. She writes historical fiction for young readers and loves getting lost in research. You can find her on Facebook at Kimberly Cross Teter or at www.kimteter.com.