Runners in the sun

Apart from the distant clatter of a train, the only sound is the breeze in the trees and my running footsteps. I’ve left behind the muted light and pleasant musty smell of the woodland track and, as I leap down from the stile into the open field, I’m startled by intense light as if emerging from a cinema in mid-afternoon. Out in the sun, I see a tall, lean runner keeping pace with me. She’s wearing exactly the same clothes but I’m envious of how tall and lean she looks stretched out on the ground in front of me.