Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 14:12:19 -0700
Title: carried away - who ME? 8-)

Across from the Center there was a large playing field where many
health and competition-conscious lunch-break obsessives worked
out by playing soccer, slow pitch, or just plain running running
running away from lunch.  She had changed into her jogging
shoes shorts top tied her hair back and was now out in the middle
of the playing field stretching, getting ready for her usual 8 mile
jog.  She smiled to herself as she heard her boss chuffing, puffing,
struggling, trying to break his 50 meter sprint time.  Today was the
day he had challenged her to a "world championship 50 meter
race."  She knew she would beat him but he
kept after her, chiding her with the argument that long distance
runners were slow sprinters.    She knew.

"Ready for the run?"  he asked her breathlessly.  She suggested
that he relax for a couple minutes, maybe get his breath, but he
insisted that he would get his second wind 15 meters into the sprint.
She assented and they lined up at the mid-stripe of the field.
"First one between the goal posts?  OK with you?"  and
before she could nod yes he was running!  She couldn't believe
he would do such a thing, but there it was.  Her first three
strides brought her to a speed which would overtake him in
another 6 strides.  When she caught up they were barely half
way so she maintained a steady gait, listening to his raspy
irregular breathing.
Just as she looked over at him to see if he was
all right, he collapsed.  When he went down he landed square
on his face and the momentum of the rest of his body turned his
head under and around and she heard a sickening snap/crunch as his
neck or shoulder or both, broke.
He did not move when he came to rest after
the fall.  He stared into the turf, both eyes blank. His face was
pale with streaks of pink and gray beneath his eyes.

1. pie.bald \'pi--.bo.ld\ aj 1: of different colors : 1a: spotted or
   blotched with black and white 1b: SKEWBALD 2: composed of incongruous parts
   : HETEROGENEOUS
2. piebald n : a piebald animal (as a horse)

She had seen death before, but never quite so suddenly,
and never so close.  It was if she had watched it in slow
motion, the slow lurch forward as his head stopped and the
remainder of his 190 pounds slammed his face further down
into the grass.  She wondered if he had died on the way down
or if his neck had snapped and caused it.

fri.a.ble \'fri--*-b*l\ aj [MF or L; MF, fr. L friabilis, fr. friare to
   crumble] : easily crumbled or pulverized - fri.a.ble.ness n

After the ambulance left she re-traced their run and found one
of his running shoes jammed toe-first into a rut where the
field crew had installed a sprinkler head,  6 meters from where
he had fallen.  The laces, shredded,  had snapped in several places.
"Hmmm," she said, and took the shoe with her
to add to her trophy shelf at home.  "I guess I won that one,"
and took off to do her 8 miles for the day.

love ya,
d.