Life’s turning points happen when and where you least expect them. Last Saturday, I attended The Urban Race, an obstacle course, that took place in Marassi, North Coast. Honestly, I’ve been to a couple of other sports events this year, so I had no expectations other than potential heat stroke and absolute dehydration — that is, until I set foot into the premises.
The place left me speechless, which rarely happens. The competitive spirit and the positive energy were — the only way to put it — beautiful. People of all ages, genders, weights and backgrounds were contagiously thrilled. Adrenaline was all over the place but what stood out the most for me was the young man who came all the way from Upper Egypt to challenge himself and the hundreds of participants around him.
The only thing that flashed in front my eyes was a party I attended the day before. It was fun as hell, however the complete lack of similarities between some of the party goers and this guy was alarming and an unexpected wake-up call. The Upper Egypt competitor had nothing on but a pair of black torn cycling shorts, no watch, no shirt, nothing special about his haircut or running shoes, yet everyone was telling me they knew he’d win and you could sense their jealousy when he had nothing but willpower and fitness. They simply realized he’s a superior breed.
Now rewind to the previous day, a party for the elite, where materialism and labels were the main impressive factors. I kept thinking about the girl who knew she looked hot as hell, impeccably dressed yet bitter enough to check out everyone around her, side-eyeing and treating them like dirt just to feed her ego, or the other guy who ignored me and didn’t take a second to say “hi” or even nod just because he had a stick up his ass that day. Don’t get me wrong, not everyone is like that, it’s just those two that I vividly remembered.
I kept wondering how high they could hold their heads up against the simple man who had nothing on but torn shorts and managed to impress the hell out of everyone at a race regardless of the fact that they may be superiorly labeled or ranked in society. I saw him at almost every obstacle, kicking everyone’s butts while covered in dirt head to toe. He was such an inspiration, a human in the rawest form, uncorrupted by a pretentious materialistic world. I was humbled in his presence and seriously jealous of him.
I knew the Urban Race was going to be a huge event yet I did not expect to be inspired, humbled and willing to participate next year and climb that horrific bar lev line while carrying a bag of sand just to be in the presence of genuine and real human beings where materials will do you no good, only power and determination.
Thank you, Urban Race, for the once-in-a-lifetime experience. It would only have been better if we could have the best of both worlds and you threw an after party for all your beautiful people!
WE SAID THIS: Check out live pics and videos of the Urban Race on our Instagram!
