To talk to this girl

[Oysterbabe]

I’ve been walking the same route to work for about a year and inevitably see a lot of the same people every day. What they may or may not know is that I am secretly racing them. There is one girl in particular who is usually walking up my road as I leave the house. She’s pretty fast and sometimes she overtakes me and sometimes I stay ahead of her. We’ve never made eye contact or spoken but I feel sure that knows that we’re racing and I’m sure she purposely swishes her ponytail at me as she’s overtaking. She wears very cloppy shoes so I can usually hear her approaching from behind even when I have my headphones on.

I’m 23 weeks pregnant now and getting a bit slower as my hip has been giving me a bit of bother. She wins most days and this is just going to get worse. This morning I set off down the road and straightaway could hear clop clop clop so I upped the pace a bit, determined to at least beat her to the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill. It was going pretty well as her clops got a bit faster too but weren’t getting any louder so I thought I was holding her. Upped the pace a bit more to the point where I had a bit of a light sweat on and still no sign of her overtaking. Made it to the lights first (yes!) and risked a glance back over my shoulder and saw that no one was there. Was a bit puzzled by this until I started walking again, heard the clop clop clop and realised that my keys had been knocking against my phone in my bag when I walked and this was what I had been hearing.

While finishing my walk to work at a rather more leisurely pace I started thinking about how I’m probably slightly mad. Do other people secretly race to work? Would it be unreasonable if next time I smiled at my swishy haired opponent and maybe said good morning? Would this be breaking some kind of commuter grand prix rule? To be honest she doesn’t look very friendly but maybe she’s just focused on the race.

[DolphinsPlayground]

I secretly race people whenwe leave a venue and walk to the cars. I then always want to be the first with the kids strapped in and out of the car park because then it look all efficient. kids don't know either and faff far too much which makes me loose!

[IKnowIAmButWhatAreYou]

If I see someone running in front of me when I'm running I have to overtake them, but then can't just stay in front of them, I have to keep going faster than them until I'm out of sight again.

Long straights nearly kill me......

[reni2]

I race buses. They don't notice. I also race other school run parents, I think they do sometimes notice, but are kind enough not to show it .

[Naicecuppatea]

I can't 'stroll' either, I have two speeds, fast and extra fast. Luckily the kids usually run ahead or are on bikes/scooters. My DH is an ambler, he ambles along slowly and it drives me so mad that most of the time I am either behind him gently pushing him along or tugging him by the hand so we can walk at a decent pace. He puts up with it somehow!

[Poledra]

Doesn't everybody do shit like this? When I used to give DH a lift to work, we passed a cyclist going in the opposite direction on a particular road. He was known as Skinny Boy - he was very slim, wore a big baggy jumper and was always scarlet in the face. I know if we were late based on where Skinny Boy was on the road.

We worried about him when we stopped seeing him, though DH's theory is that Skinny Boy was in his first job and cycled because he couldn't afford a car (we reckoned he came quite a distance based on the bright red face) and had been saving up for some motorised transport.

This is why I am married to that man

[elementofsurprise]

chrome I often pretend I'm turning into a driveway and hide behind the hedge until they've gone past.

Do you mean you're hiding in someone's front garden?! One day the front door will open and you'll be asked loudly what you're doing, giving the game away completely!

[reni2]

I don't just race people and cars, I try to reach a certain corner before the church bells stop pealing or try and reach a particular lamppost before switching hands when carrying a heavy bag, too. Or get to a landmark (tree) in fewer than X seconds or steps. It's thrilling to be me

[Doyouthinktheysaurus]

I do this when I'm running.

I'm a slower runner, never win anything apart from races other people don't know they are in

It's not just other runners, it can be beating a walker to a narrow bit of path, beating a cyclist up a hill do manage it sometimes or racing the cars in slow traffic. The trouble with overtaking runners is that I feel the pressure to maintain a lead and end up flogging myself.

I had a few weeks off running in the summer so was very slow but on one particularly memorable day, I beat the traffic all the way along my bit of seafront, about 1.5 miles and I was quicker by far

[ThreeBeanRap]

Not only do I race people on my walk to and from the station each day, but if there's no one to race then I do a race commentary on myself in my head, like I'm a horse (or horse rider? I'm not quite sure)...like 'she's done a very fine speed across the car park there, slowing slightly as she reaches the bend and now we can see her lengthening her stride for the hill...I think this is going to be a personal best...' I am 33w pregnant now so giving myself allowances in the commentary stakes. 'with her current situation that really is a very good speed for the alleyway section of the course' etc etc.

[reni2]

Here comes ThreeBeanRap cantering down the allyway, bit of a squeeze past the old lady with the shopping trolly, she makes it past the recycling bins and overtakes reception class from Oldoaks Primary only to be stopped in her tracks by a traffic light. On she goes after the break, will she catch up with the postman, very close, YES she did it, now it is between her and the commuting banker, NOO, he is just too fast for her and settles in her favourite seat on the second carriage of the Metropolitan line. What a race and a respectable second place for ThreeBeanRap.

[reni2]

Alleyway and trolley.

[reni2]

I shall blame you, ThreeBeanRap if I am commentating my own way to the supermarket and then home via school later.

[ThreeBeanRap]

Ha, reni2 I got really excited at your race commentary there, you've absolutely got the knack. Give it a try, honestly, you won't look back. It turns every morning into quite the event.

I do think I am a little biased in my judging though because I don't like to start the day off feeling negative about myself, so I think I am probably unfairly complimentary towards myself. If someone overtakes me I often discount them as being in a different section of the race - like there might be a separate men's race that day, or potentially I've lapped them.

[winewolfhowls]

I don't race but I do make up little back stories for the people I see. Like; oh look greasy dave is looking a bit miserable today, must be Mil night. Oh look braless brenda has had her hair cut, her eyes met with those of the stylist in the mirror and he whispered in her ear; fancy a wetherspoons after this, it's curry night. I don't do this as much now I drive to work, it's the walking that gives you the time to imagine.

Also I do the remember the details of everything in case there is a crime and I am a witness. But I have a shit memory so I'm just kidding myself

[winewolfhowls]

I think you should give the girl a Christmas card (when it's Christmas)

[Berylpeep]

' I’m sure she purposely swishes her ponytail at me as she’s overtaking'

LOVE IT

[Berylpeep]

Just realized I never race anyone. What's wrong with me?!

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

Sometimes I cheat by pressing the pedestrian crossing button so the bus has to stop at the red light

I used to do that, then the bastards removed the crossing.

[teaandkittens]

I live on a busy bus route so there are usually two or three of the same bus going down the road at the same time. I always race the other buses...see who gets to my stop in town first. Can make or break my day depending on who wins...occasionally me and DH have deliberately got on different buses so we can "race" each other.

It's the saddest of all these tales I think as ultimately we have no control over the outcome. I'm occasionally tempted to sabotage....but not sure how....

[TheCunnyFunt]

Do you have a smart phone OP? Get a video up on youtube of a race, and make sure it has plenty of commentary. As soon as you hear her clopping, play the video on your phone. Loudly.

I also race people down the street. I like to race people over crossings too, I like to be the first to start crossing when the green man shows and I like to be the first across to the other side :o

[standingonlego]

We have a special manovre at the traffic lights on the school run....if you time it just right with the right traffic conditions you can blast down the outside, switch across the lanes and make the left turn at the next lights swooshing past the rest of the traffic.

We manage it about once a fortnight....and when we do me and the DC do wild cheering and victory wiggles

[lostoldlogin2]

I "raced" an American Football team walking down the street in Barcelona at 38 weeks pregnant. I won too. But it was a hollow victory because they didn't know, and they were kind of ambling around the outside of a cathedral so I am not sure they were on their A-game.

[stepmad]

I do this too rather annoyed that they changed the bus routes . A neighbour from further down the road would get on it became my Friday night mission to get off the bus first and get home first. I walk into town on a Sunday afternoon for the station up and down two big hills enjoy over taking people.

[anklebitersmum]

I certainly didn't race another pregnant lady whilst doing laps of the hospital in labour with DD2 and I absolutely wasn't supplying my own backing track which kept randomly escaping in my head either. Honest.