The Hidden Key

My last post had me thinking back on something that happened at the Albany Marathon that I ran a couple months ago. At the time, it was quite nerve racking, but in the end, it turned out the be a much more embarrassing situation.

Before the race, I place my car key on the rear tire of my car. I could not carry it in either of my short's pockets since they both had gel packs in them. The race went fine, and I headed back to the car to wash off and change clothes. With my pockets now empty, I decided to put the key in the outside pocket of my shorts. I headed back down to the area along the river where all the post-race activities were going on. About half-way down the path back, I heard a "ping-ping." The key had worked its way out of my pocket and onto the asphalt. Now, this has happened in the past while I was running but never when just walking around.

After this, I decided to put the key in the inside pocket of my shorts. I proceeded to walk around, checking out the other runners coming in, trying to eat and rehydrate, watching the awards presentations, etc. All in all, I walked around for around 1 1/2 hours before I was ready to pack it in and make the 2 hour ride home. I reached for my key...nothing.

At first, I did not panic. I rechecked both pockets and tried to retrace my steps. Then, the reality of the situation set in. For you see, this was not only the sole key that I had with me...it was the only key to the vehicle that existed. This was my company car that I had put off getting duplicate keys made for over the last 9 months that I have been employed by my current company. So, back to the story.

I tried retracing my steps for well over an hour. At this point, I was full on FREAKING OUT. I start weighing my options. Do I call my wife to come pick me up (my phone was in the car), do I just leave it there or get it towed, or do I keep looking? I decided to find the race director and ask if there was a lost and found. No lost and found. There was no news from her that anyone had found a key at any point in time. I gave her my phone number and address, in case it was found.

CONCLUSION: I tried giving the grounds another once over...what else was I going to do. This was a good 2 hours since I decided I was ready to leave. Being male, I reached down to adjust myself. I felt something hard and it was not me. I said a quick prayer, opened up the waistband of my shorts, moved my manhood to the side and out popped the key. How could I not have felt it down there. I felt like such an idiot. I wanted to kiss that key but quickly thought better of it. I quickly headed back to the car and got out of there.

graphics from www.snickersmarathonenergybarmarathon.com