K&H Evening Half Marathon 2023, 1st place (relay)

_Heroes' Square, sunset,_

_9pm, 21 km._

_Hundreds of enthusiastic athletes becoming one,_

_running out into the night._

_The flow is immense – it feels like being at a festival._

_Because we are: a summer evening running festival._

_Music plays, the rhythmic footfall of blissfully happy runners echoes down Andrássy Avenue._

_Running through the streets of Városliget, we celebrate life, drinking isotonic refreshments instead of 'alcohol'._

_We reach the altered state of consciousness not through 'substances', but through the joy of movement._

_The ingredients of the 'hormone cocktail':_

_a bit of endorphin, dopamine, oxytocin, anandamide, adrenaline and their companions._

_All 'dosed' at once._

_Not from outside, but from within – the human body handles it._

_It knows how much of what is needed: the Homo sapiens brain provides the right dose, switching physical and mental performance_

_into Super Sapiens mode._

_1km, 2km, 3km… the team flow thunders on._

_Hundreds of runners already in an almost 'transcendent', altered state of consciousness._

_We race through the darkness._

_Thousands of spectators contribute to one of the pillars of flow, immediate feedback: 'go on, hang in there, don't give up, good pace!'_

_From the side of the track, thousands of loved ones cheer enthusiastically: friends, girlfriends, teammates, fellow athletes and fellow travelers –_

_but above all, fellow human beings._

_If only Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the creator of the flow concept and its world-renowned researcher, could see this._

_(Professor, may he rest in peace!)_

_19 km, 20 km, 21 km, the flow is over._

_The kilometers have run out,_

_the show is over._

_The dopamine pathways got what they were owed._

_In the Budapest night, hundreds of runners walked along singing indeed, but not like_

_the 'Welsh bard going to the stake' –_

_here everyone gladly said,_

_long live the running world:_

_long live the evolutionary heritage of Homo sapiens,_

_the capability of a body 'adapted for long-distance running'._

_Thank you to the organizers (BSI, Budapest Sport Office – Move With Us!),_

_for providing the flow experience to thousands in the Budapest night –_

_to runners, spectators, fellow athletes and fellow travelers alike!_

_#runbelievelive_

_#supersapiensbook_