Yesterday was father’s day here in Austria. We celebrated like thousands of other Austrians, by going to the women’s 5K and 10K race at Vienna’s Prater park, a nice place to run. 12,000 women were registered for the race. Gamma ran in a shorter kids’ race the day before and got a medal, like all the other kids who finished.

12,000 women, most of whom brought more than one spectator. It was crowded and noisy. Gamma and I watched the start, then hurried to a spot we had picked out about 80 meters before the finish line to scream at Alpha and Beta when they would run past, to give them a little extra spurt of energy, and to take their picture.

My wife and eldest daughter were in the “C” group of starters. After we had been there about 10 minutes, it seemed, the first starters zipped past, the professionals. Eventually, more A’s ran past, and after them a few B’s, a few more A’s etc.

Alpha was wearing the official race t-shirt, a light blue running shirt. As were about 10,000 other women. At times, hundreds were running past all at the same time. Imagine looking for a blonde woman in a blue shirt when that describes 80% of the participants. I looked for Beta too, a young dark haired woman in a black tank top, but never saw her either.

Gamma and I stood there for nearly an hour waiting for them. Since it only takes them less than half an hour to run 5K, we knew something must be wrong. We went to the place we had arranged to meet, but they weren’t there. I didn’t know if we had missed them running past in one of those scrums of blonde women in blue shirts, or if something had happened.

Then my mother-in-law called me on my mobile phone and told me Beta had collapsed 600 meters from the finish line.

So Gamma and I walked that direction. I stopped an ambulance and asked him what he knew, he gave me a number to call, which I did, in an attempt to find out where Beta had gone and whether Alpha was with her.

Gradually, as we called around, the park emptied out. We arrived at the spot Beta had collapsed around the time I finally learned that she, together with her mother, had been taken to a certain hospital.

Gamma and I walked about a mile to the parking lot where we had stowed our car. On the way we stopped to buy her a sandwich and take a pee. Then we drove to the hospital.

They kept Beta overnight, and will keep her there tonight again. I don’t know yet what is wrong. I’m going to go visit her again on my lunch break.