Earlier this semester my roommate and I decided to take it upon ourselves to run the Sevilla 5K. Since I had trained and finished a sprint triathlon over the summer, I assumed it wouldn’t take much training to get back into shape for the 5K. The preparation for the run began. A few weeks before, my roommate and I eagerly signed up for the run and I started to go on runs in preparation. The morning of the race arrived quickly, as we wanted to be in the best mindset before the run, we made sure to get a adequate sleep the night before. We woke up the next morning very early because we had yet to have gotten our bibs and shirts for the race. I quickly scanned the confirmation email again to ensure that I had the correct dates and times, I did. I had a light breakfast and searched online how long the walk would take from our apartment to the meeting place for the race. Since I had ran a race earlier this year I was very knowledgeable as to the protocol for races. I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get to the location, and have time to stretch, and hydrate. Moreover, I wanted to give myself enough time for the long lines it took to wait in for the t-shirts and race bibs. It was a tedious process, but if I planned it out correctly I could mediate some of the frustrations.
We set out to our race from our apartment with plenty of time to get there and maybe even skip the lines. It took about 15 minutes to walk there and the t shirt pickup time was scheduled for 8am. When we arrived, we were shocked to see that absolutely nothing had been set up. The tents were collapsed on the floor, the blow up finish line was still deflated, and there was not a single racer in sight. I scrambled to double check my email, but the meeting time was indeed 8am. It was 7:45am and everything was in disarray. An employee asked us why we were so early and we explained that the meeting time was supposedly 8am. He chuckled at how naive we were, and that’s when I recalled that in Spain nothing starts on time. We waited another 45 minutes and watched the entire race be set up, and at their own pace of course. Finally we got our bibs and shirts, but the race didn’t start for another hour and a half. We walked to a cafe slightly embarrassed and exhausted. We waited for our race to start, and once we ran it we had forgotten about the ordeal earlier that morning. Coming from the United States, where everyone is punctual, it was surprising to see that in Spain even large events started at their leisure. Having family from Ecuador, it is clear to see their laid back way of life is also similar to in Spain. There is something to be said about living laid back, and we can all take a lesson from the vast cultural differences regarding how we interpret time. Not to say one is more effective than the other, and they both have their advantages and drawbacks. However, it’s important to note that every so often, as Americans, we should strive to slow down and not do everything with such haste.
We set out to our race from our apartment with plenty of time to get there and maybe even skip the lines. It took about 15 minutes to walk there and the t shirt pickup time was scheduled for 8am. When we arrived, we were shocked to see that absolutely nothing had been set up. The tents were collapsed on the floor, the blow up finish line was still deflated, and there was not a single racer in sight. I scrambled to double check my email, but the meeting time was indeed 8am. It was 7:45am and everything was in disarray. An employee asked us why we were so early and we explained that the meeting time was supposedly 8am. He chuckled at how naive we were, and that’s when I recalled that in Spain nothing starts on time. We waited another 45 minutes and watched the entire race be set up, and at their own pace of course. Finally we got our bibs and shirts, but the race didn’t start for another hour and a half. We walked to a cafe slightly embarrassed and exhausted. We waited for our race to start, and once we ran it we had forgotten about the ordeal earlier that morning. Coming from the United States, where everyone is punctual, it was surprising to see that in Spain even large events started at their leisure. Having family from Ecuador, it is clear to see their laid back way of life is also similar to in Spain. There is something to be said about living laid back, and we can all take a lesson from the vast cultural differences regarding how we interpret time. Not to say one is more effective than the other, and they both have their advantages and drawbacks. However, it’s important to note that every so often, as Americans, we should strive to slow down and not do everything with such haste.
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