Win the race and be honest

Dear Sir or Madam,

In Joana Petiz´s article Das cosas boas desta cidade, the journalist has given me a little joy. In that article she makes an itinerary about the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes.

I´m ashamed at telling you that I can say I know this long-runner and I once ran next to him even.

It was place in Chepstow, Wales in 1976. I´m going to tell you how it happened.

When I was in the Borstal there had one way to feel free, at least to me: running; so being working in the cement factory -a little grown-up, yes- I did it again. Would it be a desire of quitting that tedious work? Could it be a piece of advice given me by the Borstal´s governor?

“Win the race and be honest”

That´s fine, but the race he thought wasn´t mine and the honesty he wanted to wasn´t my honesty. Only in a deep meaning, the mandate spitted out by that bastard could be something positive.

My race was going to be my own life.

For my honesty I wasn´t going to move a finger.

In such a way that I started to run again. Eventually I ran as when I was fifteen and quickly joined the national team. I was excused from doing my work two days, Saturday and Monday, for the race took place on Sunday. It´s better than nothing.

I remember the race was won by Carlos Lopes, followed by the British Tony Simmons and Bernie Ford. We won the team classification as well. But don´t ask me which my place was, please. What I can confess to is that I finished that race. Damn it! For on the way to the factory I had to put up with the workmates´jokes for a several weeks.

Likewise I remember the women´s race. In the women event you couldn´t forget the number one, the Spanish winner Carmen Valero. Almost all of us were in love with her. Almost all of us and a fair amount of women. Brunette Carmen!

We were talking about the great Carlos Lopes, the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes and the Joana´s article. If it´s all right with you, let´s continue.

At the beginning of this writing I wrote I once ran next to Carlos, but the truth is that it happened during a brief moment at the lime line because when the start shoot sounded I saw the Mr Lopes´s trainers´ spikes more and further away.

I played in the League One. They played in the Premier.

From my Borstal.

LDR