The Untrackable Path

The marathon was almost halfway over and Ron had been closing in on the leaders for the last several miles. The people in front of him had won this race, and similar races, a few times before, but he knew that today was his chance. Ron had heard, from a not-so-reliable source, that halfway through the race there was a spot where their trackers weren’t able to connect to the system, so they couldn’t be tracked by the racing officials. This wouldn’t matter, though, if two things weren’t also happening at the same time. The first being that no one was around because it went through an overgrown forest. The second being that there was a path that just so happened to cut through the tunnel in a fraction of the time that it would normally take. 

Ron, of course, knew that this would be cheating, but… he had come so close to winning the marathon many times before and he really wanted to win. No. He needed to win. The prize for winning the race had more than quadrupled this year and Ron hadn’t been doing so well financially. After over a decade of employment, he had just lost his job at the mill. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but it had provided a steady income for Ron and his family. One that allowed him to work extra shifts, if need be, seeing as it was a 24/7 operation. He knew it was coming, but that didn't soften the inevitable blow. It wouldn’t have mattered as much if circumstances were different, though. The happiest days of his life were when his children were born. His son was eight and his daughter just turned two. He and his wife always wanted two kids, but they had waited in between them because they wanted to make sure they were financially secure enough to give their kids the best life possible.

 After their daughter was born, his wife had waited to go back to work for a time so she could take care of her and recover from a not-so-pleasant pregnancy and birth. Just as she was getting interviews and job prospects were looking promising, they got the news. Their son hadn’t been feeling well for a while, so they had been spending a lot of time in doctor's offices and emergency rooms. To their horror, the diagnosis finally came in the form of the worst news they never could have imagined. Their son had cancer. They didn’t wait around feeling sorry for themselves or their son, though. They were determined to get him the best care possible. They needed to give their son the most positive environment and make sure that he had hope. Because, sometimes, at the end of the day, that’s all we have.

While Ron worked, his wife had stayed home with their children. She took him to all of his doctor's appointments while trying to make sure he kept up with school. Ron hadn’t been able to spend much time with his son during these trying times. He had picked up extra shifts to make sure he could provide for his family. He had been exhausted, which is probably why a part of him had been relieved when his company shut down. That relief had only lasted about half of a second until reality came crashing down on him. The only silver lining was that he could now be with his son more.

His wife was able to get a job. Nothing great, but it would keep them afloat long enough for them to figure something out. In his free time, Ron continued to train for the marathon. One day, as he was rounding the corner of a popular spot for runners, he overheard a few guys talking about the race. They recognized him as one of the guys who had come in second a few times and waved him over.

“Hey! Are you Ron?” One of the men asked.

Ron nodded as he took one of his earbuds out. They continued to complain about how unfair it was that the only person who got any money out of the race was the winner.

“One hundred grand,” is a lot of money for winning a measly race. Don’t ya think Ron?”

Ron nods again as they begin to tell him about the shortcut. At first, he thinks it’s just funny and that they’re just talking hypothetically. He then gets a little wary when they all look at him and say they’d take it in a heartbeat if it meant that they’d win the race. He nervously laughed and said that he had to go. He then jogs off, puts his earbud in, and tries to forget about the whole thing. Once home, he takes a shower and snuggles up on the couch with his wife. He tells her that their son had a good day today. He was laughing, eating, and just in a good mood. These days have been few and far between, so they made the most of them when they could. 

Every night after they put the kids to bed, he and his wife made sure to talk about anything that was on their mind. They were a team which meant they had to make decisions as a team.

“I really don’t think we can sustain this for very much longer,” said his wife.

“I know, it’s not going well,” Ron said.

“Maybe after the race you could start applying to more places?” His wife asked hopefully.

“I probably should… I just don't know what to apply to or where. Nobody is hiring right now,” he said.

“I know I know,” she said, understanding. “Let's revisit this after the race and we can figure something out. If all else fails, there are some openings at my job. Maybe I can get you in on a different shift than me. That way someone is still always with the kids.”

Ron nodded and said he thought that would be a good idea. He didn't like it, but thought that it was their best option right then.

On the day of the race, he still hadn’t told his wife about the detour, but Ron had not stopped thinking about it. One hundred thousand dollars was a lot of money. He’d been training hard, so he thought he might have a chance this year, even without taking the detour. He was wrong. They introduced several runners who had won the race in the past as well as winners of the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon, and several, former Olympians. And then there was Ron. Sure, he was a former track and field star in high school and college. Sure, he’d run this race countless times before, but he had never won it. He’d come close, but, like so many other things in his life, he’d come up short. 

Once the race started, Ron was surprised that he was able to keep the elite athletes in his sights. They had started to get away from him, but he could still see them. Once Ron was about to hit the midway point of the race in the forest, he struggled to make his choice. He was close enough to the runners in first place to see them but was far enough from the next batch of people that they couldn’t see him, so there wouldn’t be much risk if he took it.

As he ran past the detour, Ron felt that he had made the right decision. The weight of it all fell off of him. Knowing that he was free from the burden of this choice. He would be able to look his wife in the eyes and he wouldn’t have to pretend he was a good person when he was around his kids. Ron happily ran past the detour thinking that it wasn’t that much money in all reality. They would be fine… Right? They’d be… fine… 

Rob stopped, looked back, and rushed into the detour. He didn’t have a choice. He needed that money for his family. They wouldn’t be able to survive for long without it. Not only could they be financially independent, but they could also make sure their son got the best medical care possible. It was a win-win. No one would get hurt. The perfect plan.

Ron ran as fast as he ever had to get through the detour to ensure that it was worth the risk. It took so little time for him to emerge from the forest that he was worried that it would be too obvious. Fortunately, he emerged thoroughly enough ahead of the other runners as to not be seen. Ron kept his pace up and crossed the finish line. As sweat poured out of his body, cameras and people from the media swarmed around Ron.

“How does it feel that you broke the all-time record?”

“You have the fastest time ever, how does that feel?”

“What are you going to do with all the money?”

“How did you do it?”

“Excuse me. Excuse me!” Said a voice over the intercom. “Please let our winner get up to the stage so we can properly award his amazing accomplishment today.”

The sea of media parted ways as Ron walked up to the stage. His legs were like jelly, but the rush of winning was unlike anything he had ever felt. He knew he should be exhausted. He knew he should be ashamed of what he did. The thing was, though, that he didn’t feel ashamed at all. He felt happy and confident in his decision. As the man on the stage announced his victory, Ron looked to his wife, who had tears of joy in her eyes, and knew that his family would be ok. That is until the chairman of the racing committee came up to give him his prize. It was a check for $100,000. Ron couldn't believe it. It was like a dream come true. A dream come true for his wife and a dream come true for his children. Unfortunately, as Ron was about to find out, that dream was about to turn into a nightmare. After Ron had been handed his prize, the chairman pulled him aside and had a little talk with Ron.

“We know what you did,” the chairman whispered.

“What… what do you mean?” Ron asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” chastised the chairman. “We are the ones who told you about your little ‘detour’ a few weeks ago. Remember?”

Ron’s eyes widened. He was dumbfounded. He had no words. Was this all a setup? Was this all part of some plan? Why him? Ron couldn’t keep track of his thoughts.

“By the look on your face I take it you do remember. Well, don’t worry. We don’t plan on telling anyone about your little trip through the forest. That is… as long as you share some of those winnings with us,” he said with a wry smile.

“Share? You…”

“Call it a… finders fee of sorts. We did share that piece of information with you after all. Oh! Before I forget,” the chairman took out his card and put it into Ron’s shirt pocket. “If you’re ever in need of some… work, feel free to give this number a call. I know times have been tough for you and your family. My mother had cancer years ago and it was a battle, to say the least.”

“But why me?” Ron asked.

“Just call it a favor for a favor. You needed some help and soon, we’ll need some help,” the chairman patted him on the shoulder as he started to walk away. The chairman then turned around and said, “One more thing, if you don’t give us a call, we’ll be giving you a call real soon. And I don’t think you’ll like it if we give you a call. Have a good day Ron. And uh… Congratulations on winning the big race.”

Ron stood there as the chairman walked away. He was in a trance. He didn't know what to do or what to think. Why had he taken that detour? He was so stupid!

“Ron. Ron!” He looked up and his wife was running over to hug him. “Congratulations honey! I can't believe you did it!”

As she hugged him Ron noticed a lot of people were staring at him. And not in a good way. Some of the racers were looking at him suspiciously and so were a lot of other people. Ron knew that they knew, but as long as he did what he was told, he wouldn’t be found out.

“Let’s get out of here, I’m exhausted,” he said.

“I bet! You look like you could use a shower and a nice meal,” laughed his wife. “So, what was the chairman talking to you about? It seemed pretty serious.”

“Oh, that? It was nothing. He was just talking to me about some job opportunities.”

“Really? That’s amazing! You should call him right when we get home. We need to save as much of this money as we can,” she said.

Ron walked arm in arm with his wife to their car, not knowing what sort of life awaited him on the other side of this phone call.