Vancouver, BC – Super Mario wobbles past, a star bobbing atop his head.
Cramped.
A time is written on it.
More so, a target.
With a weary grin, he raises his plush hands in victory as he approaches the finish line of the Vancouver Marathon. Level up.
Just over four hours have passed since 25,000 runners set out across the city, through the campus of the University of British Columbia and around Stanley Park – the third-largest park in North America. It's an unseasonably high 27 degrees in the sun.
Now, in the final stretch, a din bends around the corner.
So does the tangle of runners' legs that follows.
A pace-setter holds high a paddle, marked 3:56. She has work to do to catch up to herself. And yet, pained faces push hard for the last kilometre, spurred on by cheering fans lining the roadways, holding colourful signs: "You are that bitch!!!"
Some jump and scream in excitement as their friends pass. They have far too much energy to have run the race themselves.
Then, three men slow and lock arms as they approach the finish line. Together.
Support. Camaraderie. An ovation.
It's oddly hard to not become emotional.
