After rounding half a lap, the spot where the coach was located came into view. Hm?
Beside him, he also spotted Paul Tergat standing on the track. Was he running?
Ihan’s eyes sparkled. Without hiding the fire burning in his chest, he stared at Paul Tergat’s retreating figure. If he ran just fifty meters more, he would be side by side with Paul Tergat. Swish.
The distance closed rapidly. With forty meters remaining, Paul Tergat looked back. Before he knew it, the distance had shrunk to thirty meters, and Paul Tergat began to walk slowly. He’s running…!
Ihan’s pupils trembled. The distance was now twenty meters, then shrank further, leaving only ten. Only when they reached a distance where he could almost touch him if he stretched out his hand did Paul Tergat increase his speed. At the exact moment they drew parallel, Paul Tergat and Ihan locked eyes and put power into their legs. Swish.
Paul Tergat’s speed rose. In an instant, the distance between him and Ihan widened. An Onho and Yeounjae, who had been following behind Ihan, wore startled expressions. And fearing he might give chase, they tried to stop him.
“Senior, you’re overdoing it.”
“If that’s the lead group’s speed for this race?”
“What? That’s absurd…!”
Even Ihan himself didn’t know the basis for that thought. But his intuition, his instinct, and his heart were telling him. That was the true speed of this race. If he couldn’t catch up to that speed, he could never enter the lead group, nor could he ever win. Ihan picked up his pace.
“S-Senior!”
“Whether you follow is up to you.”
Leaving those words behind, Ihan chased after Paul Tergat. The distance that had widened considerably closed in an instant, and only then did Ihan ease his speed slightly.
“Hoo, hoo.”
Perhaps feeling the hot breath at his back, Paul Tergat looked around. Throwing an *as expected* glance, he faced forward again. Swoosh.
He had intended to raise his speed a little further.
“Paul!”
Just then, the coach’s voice rang out. Reflexively, Paul Tergat turned his head to look at the coach. The coach was slowly shaking his head.
“Hoo.”
Unable to overcome his competitive spirit, Paul Tergat had been about to accelerate, but he collected himself.
That was enough.
If he simply maintained this pace, he could shake off the pursuing Ihan. Paul Tergat had trained to the point of drawing blood. He was certain that the current Ihan, who hadn’t so much as entered a competition in six years, would never catch up to him.
“Hoo, hoo.”
He began circling the track in that state for quite some time.
Meanwhile.
With expressions that said they had no other choice, An Onho and Yeounjae followed behind Ihan. But the dozen or so juniors who had been unable to keep up with the pace until now ultimately couldn’t chase after their speed either.
“Hoo, hoo. You guys, match an appropriate pace and follow.”
An Onho spoke to the juniors trailing behind. The juniors forced out a reply between ragged breaths.
“Huff, huff. Y-yes, understood.”
Having heard their answer, An Onho raised his speed. Swish.
He then looked at Yeounjae, who was following behind.
“Yeounjae, let’s pick it up.”
“Haah, okay, Senior.”
The eyes of An Onho, who was running slightly ahead, were bitingly cold. By his own judgment, even at this speed, he could make the lead group. It was strenuous even for him…
But Ihan had said they needed to be faster. He didn’t like that.
*Damn it, why the hell are my legs acting up.*
Thinking that someday he would pay him back for this, he struck the ground even harder. Swish.
He was currently lagging by half a lap, but he would catch up soon. Just a little more…
After running roughly half a lap like that.
Hm?
The forehead of An Onho, who had raised his speed to close the distance with Ihan, twitched. Because no matter how much he ran, the distance to Ihan hardly shrank.
What is this?
This was a speed meant for twenty kilometers, not forty-two point one nine five. If he kept this up, he judged that he would absolutely never finish the race.
“Hoo, hoo. This is insane.”
“Aren’t you too fast?”
“Damn it, let’s go back to the original pace.”
“At that speed… it’s impossible, right?”
“Of course it is!”
An Onho shouted for no reason. It was clearly impossible. But why did he feel so uneasy?
Quite some time passed, and An Onho and Yeounjae were caught from behind by Ihan and Paul Tergat. They suffered the humiliation of being lapped, but forcibly controlled their minds. A considerable amount of time passed like that.
Lap ninety-nine.
Ihan’s breathing had grown severely ragged. He was in a state of near exhaustion, but he wanted to complete one hundred and five laps. However, it was a condition where collapsing at any moment would not have been strange.
“Haah, haah.”
He wanted to stop right away, but if he did, he would be pushed out of the lead group. No—he would lose sight of Paul Tergat running in front of him. That was the one thing he absolutely refused to do, even if he died.
Tap, tap.
Each time he moved his legs, his consciousness grew faint. Perhaps because of that, the figure of Paul Tergat running ahead became blurred. Before he knew it, the world had turned pure white, and in that space, only Ihan remained.
This place is…
Pain began to disappear. His clouded mind cleared, and vitality surged through his entire body. Ah…
The moment Ihan, who had arrived at the entrance of the runner’s high, recognized this world, the white world shattered. His mind snapped awake, and Ihan had no choice but to stop his running feet.
“K-kuk…!”
Of all times, a pain flared in his knee right now, tormenting him. Ihan, who had been standing still trying to endure the agony, eventually sank to the spot and wrapped his knee with both hands. The pain was so severe that crushing force entered the hands grasping his knee.
Crack.
It was a situation where the bones in his knee might break. That was how much strength Ihan was exerting.
“Uu, uuu…!”
He was furious. Rage surged at this maddening pain that always hindered him. But there was nothing he could do. He wanted to carve out his knee to eliminate the pain. But if he did that, he would never run again.
Damn it.
A flood of regret washed over him for this wretched reality.
“Haah…”
At the same time, the pain gradually subsided. But Ihan couldn’t get up from that spot. Every ounce of strength had drained from his body; he didn’t even have the strength to crawl.
Thud.
Lying sprawled on the track, Ihan rested briefly, taking in the clear sky with both eyes. But Ihan knew better than anyone how short that rest would be.
He’s coming.
The dull, heavy sound of the coach running reverberated through the ground.
When the coach arriving from afar reached him, he would have to rise with a nonchalant expression, no matter what. Swoosh.
Ihan sat up. Seeing the coach who had just arrived, he said he was fine and stood.
“Hoo.”
Today’s practice ended here. Even if he wanted to do more, the coach wouldn’t allow it. Perhaps, from this day forward, completing forty-two point one nine five kilometers would be impossible. Judging by the coach’s expression, it seemed he would likely order him to run only thirty kilometers starting tomorrow.
“I’ll head out first.”
“Yes. Starting tomorrow…”
“Coach, let’s talk about tomorrow later.”
Ihan forcibly cut off the coach’s words. The coach looked at him and nodded.
“Understood. Go in and rest.”
“Yes.”
Ihan’s figure as he left the stadium was forlorn. His words, muttered to himself as he walked, made one’s heart ache even more. If on the day of the competition, he were to stop right in front of the finish line…
Muttering to himself, Ihan could not bring himself to continue the rest of the sentence.
It was just as Ihan had expected. The coach no longer made him run the full distance. From the day after he collapsed, no matter how much Ihan ran, he couldn’t run more than eighty laps. He had no choice but to prepare one expedient: increasing the weight of the sandbags he already wore on his body.
*I have to do it this way, at least.*
Consoled himself, Ihan faced each day’s training. Time passed like that, and a day came when the expressions of the coach and the three athletes were drenched with excitement.
“Now, it’s tomorrow!”
Everyone’s nervous expressions were evident.
“Until now, South Korea has won thirteen gold medals. If even one comes from our marathon, it will be the best record ever. Well, to be honest, you might think what that has to do with us, but the hearts of the watching citizens are different. Let’s show a miracle in the flower of the Olympics, the marathon, where all their attention is focused. Understood!”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
“Good. Today is the last training session. Today, we’ll just lightly warm up our bodies and rest for tomorrow. Run just twenty laps of the field.”
The athletes nodded at the coach’s words.
Tomorrow…
Ihan took a map from his pocket and checked the course he would run. He wished tomorrow would come quickly, and he prayed that absolutely no mishap would occur.
Swoosh.
He turned his head to watch the athletes circling the track, then soon turned his back.
I’ll rest today.
He wanted to maintain peak condition for tomorrow. Fortunately, perhaps because he hadn’t run more than thirty kilometers recently, his body felt rather light. Ihan approached the coach.
“I’ll go in and rest.”
“Do that.”
Leaving the stadium with the bag placed in the corner, Ihan debated whether to remove the sandbags hanging from his body right now, but soon shook his head.
I’ll take them off before the fight tomorrow.
Except when washing, he always wore them. When sleeping, when running, and when resting. The weight had now become one with his body. Ihan’s eyes sparkled as he moved his steps toward the hotel.