Page 46 of Your Pace or Mine
“This is amazing,” he said softly.
Jade smiled. “We do what we can. But it’s always a battle for funding. That’s why what you’re doing matters so much.”
“I’m just running a marathon,” Jamie said, voice quiet.
“You’re showing up,” Jade replied. “For them. That’s huge.”
As they walked back towards the common room, the buzz of conversation grew louder. A group of teens had gathered, some tossing glances towards them. One of them, a kid with bright green hair and piercings that looked DIY, pointed in their direction.
“Hey, you’re the marathon guys, right?” the kid called out to them.
Darius blinked. “Oh. Yes, that’s us.”
“That’s cool,” the teen said. “Jade showed us some videos. I hate running, way too much work, but like, good for you.”
Jamie laughed, and Darius couldn’t help but smile at the sound of it. It was nice to interact with people who didn’t care about who his father was.
Then Jade clapped for attention. “Alright, everyone—quick intro. This is Darius. Professional runner, Olympic hopeful, and his partner Jamie, who is raising money for the centre as part of his first ever marathon. Over to you, boys.” She winked at them, and Darius forced a smile, feeling his ears warm.
“Hello,” he said, giving the room a small wave. Jamie followed suit next to him. “Thanks for having us. We’re glad to be here.”
It was met with silence. Darius wasn’t surprised. Teenagers were hard to impress on the best day, and he wasn’t exactly feeling motivational lately.
“Why don’t you tell them how you got into running?” Jade prompted gently.
Darius cleared his throat. “Right. So… I started when I was a bit younger than you all. It was a way to clear my head, mostly. Things were kind of a mess back then, and running gave mesomething solid to hold on to. Eventually, I realised I was good at it.”
One girl raised her hand. “Which one of you is faster?”
He chuckled, casting a helpless look towards Jamie. “I hope me?”
“Darius has been running his whole life,” Jamie offered. “I started like eight weeks ago, if I’m faster then I’d be very concerned for my boyfriend’s career.”
“You should have seen this guy’s first club run,” Darius added. “Collapsed on the grass, gasping for air after like ten kilometres.”
“And I only have to run four times that in April, piece of piss, that. Don’t know why you train so hard. Running’s dead easy,” Jamie said with a wry grin.
Laughter rippled through the room. The ice broke.
“What do you do then?” A boy near the back directed his question to Jamie. “If running is his job, what’s yours?”
“I work in Musical Theatre, I’m a dancer,” Jamie replied.
Darius smiled at the ripple of excitement that went through the room. “Like in the West End?” a girl asked.
“Yeah,” Jamie replied.
The teens were starting to engage more, and Darius smiled as he watched Jamie’s ease with them. His passion for dance came through in everything he said, his eyes sparkling as he talked about his first dance classes as a child. Eventually, the questions shifted back over to running, and Darius had to snap himself out of his Jamie-induced stupor to respond when someone directed a question at him specifically. “Do you ever feel like quitting?”
Darius nodded slowly, giving himself a chance to gather his thoughts. “Sometimes. Especially during training, there’s always a point where I want to throw in the towel. But then I think about the people I care about. Why I started. That keeps me going.”
He didn’t look at Jamie when he said it. But he felt the shift in the air and knew Jamie had picked up on it.
More questions followed—some goofy, some thoughtful—and Darius settled into a rhythm. He even told them about the time he ran the wrong direction in a school sports day and locked himself in a porta-loo to cry. That got a good laugh.
When the session ended, Darius felt lighter than he had in weeks.
“You were great,” Jade said as she handed him a stack of leaflets.
