Chapter 6: The Pornkley Marathon

The ride from Ludlear to Kansas City was uneventful, save it being her longest bike ride in her life. She arrived five days early.

Two days before the event came a moment she was nervous about in meeting with race officials and dropping off her gear.

On her bike again, Jill navigated to a heavily forested area five miles outside of town. She noticed a vineyard nearby.

In her nervousness, she did not notice at all the largeness of the house, mostly hidden by the surrounding trees, nor the massive amounts of hidden surveylance.

But, she knew from the instructions she was in the right place. Per the instructions, she knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a causally dressed middle aged woman, a large smile on her face. “Hello, Jill,” she said warmly. “Welcome, come in.”

Jill followed her inside, walking through a hallway until coming to a casually decorated living room, a table with cardboard boxes sitting to the side.

“I am sure you have surmised I am Mallory,” Mallory said as she went behind the table, taking a seat. Jill did the same on the other side. “I am so pleased you have chosen to participate this year! We have, I think, a very good collective of new participants and veterans this time. I assume you have gone through many of the profiles and have virtually come to know a lot of them, along with ones you have chatted with. Perhaps have even picked out some options,” she said with a wink. “I know I have!”

Jill laughed nervously. “I’ve done that, yeah, but I’ve been focusing a lot on the running stuff and stuff like that.” She cleared her throat. “You know.”

Mallory smiled warmly and nodded. “I certainly do. The distance alone is quite a task to undertake. But, I have been following you to know that you will do quite fine. But, I also have followed you enough to know that you know your own body and know exactly when to stop.”

Jill opened her mouth, nothing came out as she nodded her head in agreement vigorously.

Mallory smiled warmly again. “We obviously will not be tracking you with bibs. We have yet to find a bib which will attach comfortably to flesh.” She let out a little chuckle, which Jill answered with her own. “However, we do track to ensure the safety of the athletes, as well as making sure they have a safe and honest race.” From one of the boxes, she pulled out a clip of sorts. “I am sure you have run races in the past with shoe chips, though the popularity of those has waned by quite a bit in recent years. This is the same concept, except it is easy to put on and easy to remove when you wish to change shoes. Here, allow me to show you.”

Mallory rose from behind the table, stopping before Jill and kneeling before her. “Do you have a preference on your left shoe or right shoe?”

Jill shook her head.

Mallory smiled and gently took Jill’s left foot, pulling it towards her.

Perhaps it was the years of isolation from human touch, the months of nervous anticipation for the event, the casual graceful beauty of the woman kneeling before her, or the casual comforting feel of the house she was within, but Jill thrilled to the touch of the other woman, as she felt a small shiver go through her spine.