See You at the Finish Line (Run, Love, Repeat #1)

6. Adam

Hidden Valley 8.29 mi/ 13.34 km

Caleb and I reach the first aid station within an hour and thirty minutes. Mateo is already leaving when we check in, calling out our bib numbers to the race volunteers as we smile our way through claps on the back and words of encouragement.

I’m not going to lie, I look behind me for a brown ponytail and a blue, fluorescent jacket, but with the sun rising, my sight is impaired. I try not to let the thought that she could be close allow me to linger longer than necessary.

This first aid station is extremely important in case anything goes wrong right at the beginning of the race and you need to fix it before continuing. We haven’t had any problems, so we don’t need to stay too long. Within ten minutes I down a banana, refill a water bottle, take an electrolyte tab, and call out my bib number as we exit the aid station.

“Thank you, volunteers, we appreciate you!” I say as we make our way down the rocky path, enjoying the bit of downhill after the initial thousand-foot elevation gain .

“You looked for her, didn’t you?” Caleb grins, and our slow walking shifts into an easy pace as we navigate the tundra of the Utah desert.

“That obvious?”

“Nah, I looked too.”

“Oh, you did, did you?” I don’t know how to feel about that.

“Hell yeah. If you don’t want to make a move, then I’m definitely going to.”

The idea leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It’s not like you can call dibs on a person, I know that, but come on. I kind of have dibs. I talked to her first, I’m her stalker. I cringe inwardly, probably best not to say that thought out loud. This inside joke could get me into some serious trouble if I’m not careful.

Talking becomes more difficult as we start our next ascent, breaking out our poles to climb over large boulders along the face of a towering red cliff. The view becomes increasingly beautiful as the sun continues to rise.

When Caleb’s foot slips a little up ahead, my heart starts to race. He recovers quickly, but I’m snapped out of my daydream of a perfect ass and my hand wrapped around a ponytail, attention now back on the literal death trap we call a trail.

He doesn’t seem to be hurt, but just to make sure, I ask, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just watch the loose rock.”

“Thanks for the warning, I was planning not to look where I’m going and just hope for the best,” I say, sarcasm dripping from my tone .

“Asshole.”

We begin our careful descent and revel in the downhill that leads to the first big open stretch of land on the course. We’ve trained the most for the hard portions of the race, which essentially involves rock climbing as quickly as possible in the dark with little to no sleep.

It’s hard to recreate race conditions, but we managed. I’m already grateful I won’t have to wake up at 2:00 a.m. to run a double marathon up the mountains ever again.

Footsteps sound from behind me, and I turn to greet the approaching runner when a ponytail and the scent of salt and coconut pull up next to me.

“Fancy seeing you here,” she says with a smile.

I look behind me again at the open trail and back to the woman at my side, amazed.

“How did you catch up to us so fast?” I ask by way of greeting.

“Let me guess, you focused more on uphill and downhill training than open trail?”

“You’d be correct.”

“I’ve been running track my whole life. This is where I make up some of the extra time I lose on the rough terrain,” she explains.

Caleb turns to see that our new friend has joined us.

“Hey, good lookin’!” He winks at her, and she starts to laugh but immediately begins to cough.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s super dusty here. You’d think I’d be used to it, but it still gets me sometimes.”

“Are you from around here? ”

“You’re a pretty terrible stalker if you don’t know where I live,” she teases.

“I hate to think what you’d say about my abilities once you realize I still don’t even know your name.”

“You should go back to stalker training, sounds like you need it.”

“What’re you two chatting about back there?” Caleb calls. I can see that he wants to slow down to join us, but he’s too competitive to give up the minute lead he currently has on me.

“Come back here and find out!” I yell, probably using more enthusiasm than I should. The day is starting to heat up and I need to be careful. Conserving every ounce of energy is crucial.

“You wish!” He gives me the finger and picks up his pace, meaning his light shuffle scuffs up a bit more dust than it did a second ago. Pacing in an ultra-race is so important—only the elite like Mateo are really hammering the course.

That’s not to say the light shuffle isn’t running. Any pace, whether it’s slow or fast, is still running. Those who aren’t into this sport sometimes don’t recognize the slow shuffle of new runners and ultra racers as actual running. They would be wrong.

“So . . .” I start.

“So, what?” She turns the full force of her smile and brown eyes on me. My knees go weak. I can only assume my reaction to her is so visceral that my body tries to throw itself at her. And then I eat dirt.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” She kneels at my side, and I try not to show how embarrassed I am. I’m literally tripping over myself for this woman .

“Yeah, I’m alright. Be careful, there are rocks along the path.” Luckily I braced myself mid-fall, landing on my side facing away from her. She can’t see how red my face probably is. If the heat coming from my cheeks is any indication.

She gives me a weak chuckle and helps me to my feet. My elbows are a little worse for wear but overall, no injuries. I need to be more careful.

“Do you have Band-Aids or anything with you?” she asks.

“There are a couple in the small pocket at the top of my pack.”

She goes around me and fishes out an antiseptic wipe and two Band-Aids, giving me more time to collect myself. I breathe in her scent as she cleans my war wounds and patches me up.

“Thanks, Doctor.”

She chuckles. “You’ve been a very good patient.”

“What’s my prognosis?” I ask gravely. She looks me square in the eyes and something passes between us.

With the sun beating down on our necks and a practically empty desert around us, I choose exactly this moment to fall for this woman. At least, that’s what the racing high is telling me to do.

“You’ll live,” she says with a deep sigh. “But only if you keep those big blue eyes open and on the path.”

I nod in agreement, noting the fact that she’s noticed my eyes and how that small fact makes me feel downright giddy. “You should probably keep your distance.” When she gives me a confused look, I clarify. “So I’m not distracted.”

We start running again and she shoves me a little with her hand.

“Ha! This is my fault? ”

“Well, when a beautiful woman flirts with me, I tend to get distracted,” I say, laughing.

“I look at you and you call that flirting?”

“Um, yes,” I say like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Okay, so to keep you alive I can’t look at you?”

“Correct.”

“Or talk to you?”

“Yup. And you can’t run in front of me either.”

She raises her eyebrows, and I point to her ass causing her face to redden as she snorts another laugh that turns into a cough.

When she can breathe properly again, she asks, “So I have to lose to keep you alive?”

“Isn’t my life worth finishing second for?”

She whips her head in my direction, and the gleam in her eyes makes my heart stutter.

“I always finish first.” Then she takes off.

I think I’m in love.