Author's Note: I am not an editor or a professional writer. I will write this and edit it to the best of my ability. I also do not own Uma Musume, which is owned by Cygames. Watch the animes and read the mangas, for they are pretty good. Finally, please enjoy
Local Newbie Player POV
Oh my, the coach is really angry with what that person just said. It makes sense, honestly, with our team being decimated in the first race. Now it's my turn to race and I'll prove to them you can't judge a team by one relay. Our team Island Galaxy will win this race and I, Holy View will bring us to victory. I am a stayer specializing in a safe and controlled style.
Unlike others who run until they drop or get there as fast as possible. Still, the length and lack of strategy for marathons have made it a hot-button issue on whether they should keep it or not. It's a difficult race to strategically figure out it's too long for fast racing, and slow durability races. There are also too many changing tracks and easy to get lost in paths. They at least fixed some issues by having watchers on the track and water cups for hydration.
Still who would stop to drink water while there and lose precious time? We even have a stop clock that if no one crosses it they move on to the next race. Heck, people use this time to shop around and go to the restroom. Still, I hope they don't take this race away cause I would be out of the job. Soon the gun fired and the running began, and I saw the runner the Bloody Broncos sent in she was adorably short.
She didn't look strong at all how could she possibly win? Her name's Agent Ivory it seems, and soon she began running. She was fast, but she wasn't sprinting like the fast ones. I'll try to match her pace. She looked at me and said," Sup babe you got a nice ass wanna grind on me later?"
Did, did she just hit on me mid-race, and what sounded like complete sexual harassment? I tried to outpace her to just ignore her. She then spoke saying," Hey kid if you go that fast you'll ruin your pace and run out of energy before you get there. You're usually one of the slowpokes right not the reckless idiots you don't need to run that fast and pass out midway." How dare she call me a slowpoke I sped up and mockingly told her," I'm not listening to a pervert like you."
I soon started running and running, but she was still behind me running at the same pace at the same speed. She was faster than the cautious runners, but slower than the all-out speedsters. What could she be aiming for? Soon enough I just ignored her and kept my distance from her. That's when I noticed I was out of breath and I was slowing down.
I soon fell to my knees as the world became distorted. It can't be that I was passing out, and the race barely just started. That's when I saw her pass me and she soon told me," Told you." That bitch and soon everything went black. I awoke and saw I was in one of the mobile medical tents.
I was attached to a rehydration machine and was covered in ice packs. It was November so I realized I had passed out from heat stroke. It's Summer right now in New Zealand and I sped up too fast for that. I soon got up and the doctor tried to put me down saying," Miss be careful your body is cooling we need to keep you down until your body has reached the proper internal temperature." I then spoke asking," Can you at least tell me who won the race I was in?"
He then smiled saying," Of course Miss, it was a wonderful record-breaking race. I finally understand the appeal of Marathons after seeing her race. She proved its greatness today." I then interrupted asking," Doc, quit teasing and tell me who." He then told me," The King of Stayers herself Agent Ivory." I was speechless, that douche bag pervert won the race.
I then screamed," Doc you gotta be kidding me. How can that perverted jet of a midget win the race? Show me the film of the race." The doc said," Cool down first and I'll show you the video while you do so." I then said," Thank you, and sorry for yelling."
He responded," It's okay, just relax and enjoy the show." He turned on the TV, and soon I was watching the race. What I saw made me change how I saw this race and the strategies she used were revolutionary. I was speechless at such brilliance and greatness. Damn, we're here to stay after all.
International Big Team Veteran POV:
It is time for I Grave House to challenge my nemesis the marathon once again. My style sprinting what's more exciting than a full sprint from a stayer? I run and run until I run out of stamina and reserves. The crowd cheers for me as they watch to see how far I'll make it. I work hard to complete it but I either pass out or get there even after everyone has lost interest.
I did not care about the coach getting angry at what the last race's winner said, for I only have one rival and that is the race itself. Soon the gun fires and I run as fast as I can. I look around and with me are the usual faces. It was us crazed daredevils willing to sprint the longest distances. We ran until we reached the first water station and stopped knowing we were far enough from those slowpokes gambling on us collapsing first.
We drank as the staff was handing out drinks. The rule is we could rest as long as we didn't block anyone from getting a drink and we had to give back the cups for disposal. We were resting and saw someone with a strange pace style coming. She wasn't like the slowpokes running to preserve as much energy as possible and she wasn't sprinting like us running the same controlled pace. She soon came to the water station got some water, but kept running only slowing down a little to drink.
A staff member yelled," Ma'am it's against the rules to leave with the cup!"She wasn't listening, but after drinking the whole cup she threw the cup back at the staff member. She yelled back," Next time put a trash can by the water station." She then left as everyone was speechless at the uncaring disrespect that had just happened. Never stopping the whole time she left our sight.
Oh hell no, I had to go no way such a douche is going to be ahead of me. Everyone felt the same way as we all sprinted away and passed that douche as she was still running the same pace. We ran until we got to the next station and again she appeared grabbing a cup and throwing it to either a table or a staff member not stopping at all. We soon all left again to get ahead of her. Then the next station and it happened again.
Then the next one and the next one, the same pattern over and over again. We were all tired, but this girl never got tired for some reason even though she never stopped. We were so exhausted that many dropped out or collapsed and only some of us were left to pass her one last time. I finally reached the last water station and saw that no one else was around me anymore. Then there she was still going breathing controlled and form fixed.
She did the same thing get water, drink, throw back the cup, and continue. I exhaustedly ran after her to pass her one last time, but it seems I've lost my speed. I could only run by her side she looked at me and spoke saying," Why do you run so fast and not pace yourself this is a marathon not a sprint. Your way of running will only result in you either puking out your lungs or making your eyes see black and teleporting to the nearest medical tent." That only pissed me off and I ran faster to get away from her but soon my body collapsed and I fell on my knees.
She then caught up to me again and told me," Hey since we're in the last 1000m want to see something I've discovered as an Uma Musume. You see since we're all half-human and half Uma I can use the human-enhanced half for the long-distance part and the Uma-enhanced half for the bursts of speed. Now that will be all for my Ted talk today see ya loser." She then burst forth sprinting like she was chasing down the front runner in the last 1000m. Goddesses damn it all, I soon blacked out.
Big Team Coach POV:
I was pissed after what happened earlier, but I soon calmed down. I soon watched all the long-distance Uma Musume line up for the marathon next. Guess it's time to relax a little and use the restroom and get some snacks for myself. Still, I had a feeling I was going to see something special today. My instincts were usually correct on things like this.
I saw Grave House at the front she's always been a sprinter with a ton of stamina. Especially with the way she runs these marathons always testing her limits on them. Truthfully this event has been a stinker since it was introduced years ago. It's so long that sprinting methods barely worked and energy reserve methods are too slow. That's why after an insane amount of protest they added assistance staff, medical tents, and water stations just in case.
Then they added the race timer to make the tournament move on if no one finishes the race within a certain amount of time. The tournament starts the next race, but the marathon keeps going until either all the competitors are out, a winner is crowned, or the tournament itself ends and the closest to the finish line wins. It was boring, stupid, and a waste of time and resources with the league only keeping the race to challenge the NRL in variety. Most teams literally sent a player to just do their best until the race ends and ignore the race entirely from our plans. That's when the race began and it was the same old story.
Some people went to buy food and use the restroom as the commentator tried to entertain the crowd by doing the race in a way to make it interesting. Like how long will this person sprint until they drop out, or how long until the energy savers catch up to the sprinters? It was all boring as I left to use the bathroom. Once I got back everyone was watching the screen. I asked one of my assistant coaches," What's going on?"
The coach I asked told me," Coach Hall we're watching the marathon." I told him," I see that, now why is that it's usually not that good?" He replied," You gotta see it for yourself, someone named Agent Ivory has been keeping the same pace the whole race neither reserving energy nor sprinting. She doesn't stop only slowing down to grab water, drinking it, and throwing the cup back at the staff. She's showing everybody a revolutionary way of doing this race, it's an absolute masterclass."
I look at the screen and my goddesses here were right. The way Ivory made sure the slow ones could never catch her and the fast ones are systematically broken down as time goes on. Her pace, her form, her physicality, her breathing, her rhythm, and her strategy were perfect. I watched as her pace was faster than a human's still kept a pace that if I calculated correctly would finish the race in less than an hour. She kept going with me seeing only Holy View from Island Galaxy was keeping up with her.
Still, before the last 1000 meters Holy View fell as well, but Ivory slowing down said something to her before changing her form and soon boom. Her pace exploded, her breathing intensified, her rhythm quickened, and soon she ran like a late surger chasing down the front runners. She blasted through the finish and soon the time was recorded and shown. It screen read, 'New World Record,' on it, she not only beat the timer but every record in marathon history. That was the greatest marathon performance and marathon race I've ever seen, and I know greater things were coming.
The interviewers soon came to her and gave her some water and a hand towel to dry off. Not even removing her mask as she does so. The interview soon began cause no one was waiting for the others to get here. They even announced to the runners that someone had won the marathon already and if they haven't finished by the time the timer runs out the race will conclude. The interviewer a woman asked Ivory," Amazing, Ivory could you give us a comment on that?"
Ivory snatched the mic out of the lady's hand and spoke saying," Starting now I'll ask the questions and give you all the answers you all need to be educated." Damn, what a dick, as I and I felt everyone watching thought. She then continued," You see Sarah, I'll call you Sarah, humans and Uma Musume are the top long-distance creatures on land unequalled by any other creature. The marathon is the race that represents that dominance. What did you see today, you ask?"
She then answered saying," You saw a masterclass of how this race should be done. Why did I do this you ask? You see this race doesn't care what position you're in or how desperately you run it only requires you to have the pace, the technique, the stamina, and the endurance to withstand its length. You see folks I'm so sick of watching idiots run this race like they're waiting for us to die of boredom or they have a desire to puke their lungs out. What's my point in doing all this you ask?"
She then looked at the camera and told us," This is an introduction and a statement you see I wanted to tell you that I am Agent Ivory, that I am Miss Marathon, and that the King of Stayers has arrived. Now you want this title, then race me on the place where all Stayers can shine, where the race is never too short, the Marathon. Miss Marathon out." She then threw the mic back to the reporter whose name was probably not Sarah and left her and everyone in the stadium speechless.
Man, I've seen levels of douchebagginess in my life but this is one of the highest. Still, I looked around and saw my players. Then one of the long-distance stayers I reserved for today Sunny Bright came to me. She asked me," Coach I want you to train me in marathons." I was surprised she usually only cared about medium and regular long races. That's why I asked," and why do you want to do that?"
She looked at me straight in the eyes, pointed at the image of Ivory on the big screen, and replied," 'Cause I want to kick that bitch off her throne." My eyes widened before laughing out loud. She replied," Coach I'm serious!" I then calmed down wiping a tear off my eye and replied," Yeah, I'll study her video and figure out how to train you and Well Spring who we sent out on the race earlier. Cause I'm sure after watching the replay she'll want to do the same thing."
She nodded at me and agreed. That's when the bell rang loudly signaling the race was over. I then told an assistant coach," Hey pick up Well Spring from the track, use the jeep if you have to. She then replied," Gotcha coach, I'll contact the staff to find out where she is as well." I agreed and soon Sunny and I went back to our dugout. We have another race to prepare for today.
High Spice POV
Man, when I first got to the org I watched how they did marathons. They did my whole thing dirty. I even asked Tsukasa what the fuck I was watching. He told me this was a marathon and how hard the strategies for this race were. I almost slapped him across the face for telling me something so stupid. Instead, since he's going to be my coach I opened his eyes to the truth.
I told him and Yuto to get on their scooter and to follow my run. They did so and after telling them to watch and learn we went out running around the base. Still after the run they asked why we had to do this, I just asked him two questions, how long the distance was, and how fast I ran it. They looked and they were speechless I ran an entire marathon's distance in less than 45 minutes. I then told them," That's how you run a marathon, with controlled pacing, endurance, and proper technique."
I then told them to come back inside the training facility with me. After that day with my help and Jo, we improved our marathon strategies and training. Now I have arrived in this tournament deciding today is day one of school for these fools. It's going to be both an introduction and a lesson. I watched as my teammates obliterated the first race so well that Lily started crying at how weak they were.
Soon it was my turn to enter the field and I saw the crowd getting ready to use the bathroom or eat. I decided by the time I'm done these motherfuckers are gonna be watching this race like it's life and death. The shot was fired and I began running at my pace. The idiots sprinted fast away from the group while I started running with the slow as hell pussies. Still, I knew my pace and looked around and a lot of these ladies looked fine in their own way.
I even had a juicy conversation with one of them before she passed out from overexerting herself. I pass by them all easily, as they were in all honesty slow as fuck. This is what happens when track athletes do marathons and are both too scared to run too fast and don't know what the fuck they're doing. I forgot the first water station slowing my pace to rehydrate not stopping. Someone told me I couldn't take the cup with me so I tossed it back and kept going.
The sprinters resting there begin to run, passing me. I didn't care they look like they're about to collapse. I was right by each water station the same process for me, but overtime less and fewer sprinters were coming. Until the last one was barely passing me as she ran with an empty gas tank. I knew she was about to pass out, and since the crew is nearby I didn't need to help her ass.
That's why I decided to show off, and speak to her saying," Hey since we're in the last 1000m want to see something I've discovered as an Uma Musume. You see since we're all half-human and half Uma I can use the human-enhanced half for the long-distance part and the Uma-enhanced half for the bursts of speed. Now that will be all for my Ted talk today see ya loser." I soon use the technique I created with Jo and the coaches embodying the final kick all Late Surgers and End Closers possess. I knew it was in the beginning stages, but I wanted to test it on real grounds.
I soon explode and run the last 1000m. This was the speed of an Uma Musume, so many possibilities, so much power. I loved every moment, and I wanted to go faster. Still, the race ended and I ran through the finish line. Slowing down after crossing and soon stopping.
The interview team was there waiting and they gave me water and a wet towel. Times like this are why I hated this mask on my face cause I couldn't wipe the sweat until I'm back in the locker room. I drank the water, took some fresh air, and rested as they were setting up around me. They made an announcement saying the race will end once the alarm rings, cause they already crowned a winner. Appropriate cause those idiots and pussies have been ruining my kingdom for a few years now, guess it's time to restore it.
The interviewer came to me, I didn't know her name so I decided to call her Sarah cause she reminded me of one. She spoke saying," Ivory that was amazing could you give us a comment on that?" I didn't want her asking the wrong questions or interrupting my speech so I grabbed her microphone. I then began to speak saying," Starting now I'll ask the questions and give you all the answers you all need to be educated. You see Sarah, I'll call you Sarah, humans and Uma Musume are the top long-distance creatures on land unequalled by any other creature."
I spoke the truth look it up and soon I continued my message," The marathon is the race that represents that dominance. What did you see today, you ask? You saw a masterclass of how this race should be done. Why did I do this you ask? You see this race doesn't care what position you're in or how desperately you run it only do you have the pace, the technique, the stamina, and the endurance to withstand its length."
I soon decided to speak of how I felt watching marathons until now," You see folks I'm so sick of watching idiots run this race like they're waiting for us to die of boredom or they have a desire to puke their lungs out. What's my point in doing all this you ask?" This is an introduction and a statement you see I wanted to tell you that I am Agent Ivory, that I am Miss Marathon, and that the King of Stayers has arrived. Now you want this title, then race me on the place where all Stayers can shine, where the race is never too short, the Marathon. Miss Marathon out."
I left deciding to go back to the tent so I can ask to go to the locker room to wipe my face and take a piss. I soon noticed every person looking at me. I recognized these gazes. Some looked at me with respect, others wanted to kick me off my throne, and some even though they were the fewest wanted my crown." I smirk and walk to the team's area I see my team having different reactions to my speech.
ImP spoke first saying," Goddesses damn it Spice why the fuck are you trying to pick a fight with everyone?" I had no reason to answer her and just scoffed and ignored her question. I then spoke," Hey I'm going back to the locker room, gotta wipe my face under this mask, and use the toilet. Who wants to join me at the back?" All of them sighed and the ones who already raced, the ones who needed to use the restrooms, and a few staff and security came with me.
We all soon left with people still looking at me. These people need to worry about themselves cause Norn is next. They don't know it yet, but she's about to steal their attention whether they like it or not. I hurry up, cause I wanna get back soon and not miss a thing. It's our first in-person viewing of an obstacle race and I am excited.