I completed a half marathon this weekend. Fully admit I was slow, but don't think I looked like I was struggling, just gently plodding along, one of the last, but still within the time limits of the event.
At mile 7, a lady appeared at my side. I thought she was a volunteer at first, but it turned out she was a runner, and she wanted to check in on me. I thanked her, explained I was ok, and she continued on. Half a mile later, she came back and offered me some food. I declined, and explained that I knew I was slow, but I just needed to keep my head down and keep going. Over the next couple of miles, she kept coming back to offer encouragement and said she was going to get me through, despite me saying every time I didn't need help, and I just needed to be left alone. At around mile 9 she appeared again, and this time I said quite firmly that I really just needed to be left alone. She left me alone after that, although I kept expecting to see her around each corner!
Crossed the finish line, and I heard someone say 'I told you I'd get you through!'. It was this lady again! I guess I should be impressed that she had the strength to keep coming back and forth, but it had me on edge for the 2nd half of the run that she was going to turn up, which really affected me. I made it quite clear I didn't want her to run with me, but she ignored me! She's also in most of the photos of me crossing the finish line 😂
I think she wanted to be able to say she really helped someone, but surely it's not helping if the person has asked you to leave them alone?