“The Gods created certain kinds of beings to replenish our bodies; they are the trees and the plants

Running has been the latest manifestation of my health and wellness exploration. Convinced for years I was "just a sprinter", it was an activity I long avoided primarily out of confusion as to where the appeal lay in such a seemingly monotonous passtime. I've come to love it, favouring 10k and the only peculiar happening so far was at the end of yesterday's Winchcombe run.

Three things were immediately thrust at each of us as we crossed the finish line; a cup of water, a medal and a packet of sausages.

"Well done, well done, help yourself to apples from the crate." It was a lot to take in while our pulses still raced.

"No thanks, I'm vegan", I spluttered as I ducked toward what looked like Royal Galas.

"No problem love. We were just saying seems there's lots of vegans this year." My ears pricked and, on hearing this, recollections of the revolting yet well-intentioned offering I had just narrowly dodged were quick to fade.

The event had been sponsored by a medal engravers, a gas company supplying branded lanyards, a protein bar company and a local butchers distributing celebratory pig bits. It struck me that this might be a bizarre benefaction even to carnists, which post-race chatter confirmed. If that discussion was anything to go by the decade-long tradition might not feature in the 11th Winchcombe run, which I would be an even greater success than my mighty 13th place.

#vegan #running #medicinalfood #contemplation #Plato