The scents of running

I mostly run in the late afternoon / evening. It's a time when there are so many wonderful (and sometimes, not so wonderful) scents around. I was reminded of this yesterday evening when I ran past a guy who was a smelly smoker and then past two women who smelled of coco butter lotion. Further on I ran past houses where aromas from dinner were wafting out on to the street and then past an open piece of ground where the scent of wet highveld grasses dominated. And then down a main road where a queue of cars were waiting for the lights to change: nasty, choking car fumes.

Scents are, for me, very much part of running - whether on road or off. Fragrant flowers in bloom, animals - horses, cows, buck, droppings, dinners cooking...

Some of my strongest - and fondest - memories from races are of scents. There's the incredible memory I have of a surprising, fresh citrus scent that I noticed as we rode through a little settlement in the Cederberg in the early morning. There were no people around, just this lovely scent surrounding the few homes. This was the Cederberg 500km adventure race. And at Jungle Marathon in Brazil, a staged-ultra, I remember clearly the rich, fertile scent of the jungle floor. It was one of those smells that literally hit my senses as we started the first stage, moving from the clearing near the river into the jungle proper.

Smells also stand out for me in normal everyday interactions. I got a giggles a few weeks ago while picking out a DVD in my local store. A woman walked past me and I thought that she smelled like toilet air freshner... The smell persisted for a while after she passed so I looked around and spotted one of those automatic air freshener dispenser things. It must have dispensed just as she first walked past me.

I've never quite understood room air fresheners because they smell like toilet air fresheners, which never really smell like 'ocean fresh' or 'green meadow'. Toilet sprays are designed to transform the odour of poop and when they're sprayed in rooms other than the toilet, they still smell like toilet sprays. Ja, room sprays are meant to be different to toilet sprays, but they're not really. And, as a result, I though that poor lass smelled like a toilet. Hahaha.

When you go out for your next run, open your nostrils and give some attention to the scents around you. I do find that taking in more than just what I can see makes my runs more enjoyable and memorable.