Running in the rain

It’s raining—heavily this time, as it usually does with rain in Athens nowadays. After many autumn and winter days with no rain at all, this feels unusual (or usual, depending on whether you look forward or backward). And it’s cold outside, so I don’t know how I managed to get out and start running, even though I could easily have avoided it.

My mobile phone is carefully placed inside a zipped plastic bag and then inside my side pocket, and off I go. I’m trying to avoid the heavy traffic, crossing Patision and Alexandras avenues while simultaneously dodging the huge puddles that have formed everywhere. That’s the magic of urban running in downtown Athens: every sense has to be active.

After running for a while, I noticed a pattern—it’s as if everything is orchestrated to remove obstacles from my path: green lights at every crossroad, the rain stopping when I’m on the open road and resuming when I’m sheltered by tall buildings. I had this Coelho-esque moment, wondering if it’s true that “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Until a huge splash from a passing bus ingloriously ended my not-so-deep thoughts.