9th September 2012
P*A*St ran the 2012 Cardiff 10K race with their drawing device, Pheidippides # 2, creating a live illustration at every kilometre marker.
Pheidippides proudly wears his 10K medal.
Words of inspiration were garnered from project followers and the ‘Oblique Strategies’ (Eno/Schmidt) ahead of the race and applied to the paper scroll by Peter – out of Amelia’s sight. As the P*A*St runners crossed each kilometer marker of the race, the scroll was wound-on revealing a blank drawing-space on the scroll, headed by one of the inspirational phrases to which Amelia – seeing it for the first time – responded through illustration.
P*A*St completed 10 illustrative entries of the scroll and 10 kilometers in 57.41 minutes.
Here follow the 10 illustrations and the phrases that helped inspire them (click to enlarge):
1. Pay attention to distractions.
2. Emphasise Repetitions.
3. Use and inappropriate colour.
4. Remove the middle, extend the edges.
5. The Unicorn is a Lunar Creature and as such, is constantly fighting the Solar Lion.
6. “…I can’t do without.”
7. “Nice and Simple, Nice and Simple!”
8. Do we need holes?
9. Decorate! Decorate!
10. You are an Engineer (revealed whilst crossing the finish line)
Race Notes:
– Race day was glorious; warm and sunny, the smell of sun screen in the air. Cardiff looked mighty fine.
– The mood of the crowd (of those assembled to run as well as those who came to watch) felt extremely buoyant. There is nothing quite like doing – or witnessing something – ‘en masse’ to invigorate oneself.
– At the first marker/drawing a unknown female runner in pink baseball cap jovially grabbed a blue pen and scrawled a heart shape and an illegible message before running ahead (see top left of 1. Pay Attention To Distractions). Could future illustrated runs make more of the participation – invited or otherwise – of fellow runners?
– The running pace slowed considerably to that of a jog whilst working on each drawing – though was quicker than in previous practice runs.
– P*A*St, keen not to be left behind (or accused of taking it too easy), found themselves running faster than their usual pace between drawings in order to “Catch up”, overtaking many runners on the way, only to loose the meaningless ‘place’ again at the next marker/drawing. It made for interesting pacing and an urgent, high energy (and breathless) approach to drawing, but this strategy was perhaps too physically intense to be sustained at a marathon distance.
– Pheidippides felt markedly more solid since removing the now seemingly unnecessary suspension springs.
– A loud rattle from the scroll’s spindle punctuated every step. Dampening needed! …At least people knew we were coming – running in a tight pack can be pretty treacherous!